Janet Wade believes you can’t beat the taste of fresh peas straight from the vine.
While the saying ‘as alike as two peas in a pod’ holds true, there are many different types of pea pods from which to choose. The varieties most commonly grown by home gardeners are English (or garden) peas, snap peas (commonly known as sugar-snaps) and snow peas.
Most commercial frozen peas are English peas, but because they are so readily available, and need to be shelled, they are less popular than snow peas and snap peas with home gardeners. Snap peas have rounded pods, like English peas, but are tender enough to eat, pods and all, provided you harvest them young. The flat pods of snow peas are also edible if they are picked young, before the peas begin to swell.
Pea plants range in height from 60cm dwarf varieties to 2m high ones. Unlike bean plants which twine around a support stake,
peas hold on with tendrils, so for the taller varieties, strings need to be run horizontally, 25cm or so apart, between support poles. Alternatively, netting can be fixed between poles. If you have neither string nor netting on hand, nylon netting designed specifically for peas can be bought quite cheaply from garden centres. Bare, twiggy branches inserted into the ground make good supports for medium-height varieties. In theory dwarf peas don’t need support, but even if they are grown close together in a block (so that they intertwine and hold each other up), some sort of support is a good idea.
Peas are a cool-weather crop that can be planted between February and October throughout most of New Zealand with the proviso that they are planted into free-draining soil. In poorly drained soil, the seeds will rot and the plants succumb to root rots. That said, the best harvests are usually produced from crops sown in early spring.
Pea seed is best sown directly into the garden in a position which receives full sun (or part shade if grown later in the season). Plant the seeds at a depth of around 2.5cm, spaced 5cm or so apart. Leave at least a metre between rows of taller peas to allow access for harvesting. Soaking seeds overnight can speed up germination.
Pea seedlings need protection from slugs and snails, and birds. Even the mature vines may have to be netted to protect them against birds at times when there isn’t a lot else around for them to eat.
Peas are light feeders, but are a thirsty crop. All that is necessary in the way of fertiliser is compost or well-rotted animal manure, lime, and one application of general fertiliser dug into the soil well before planting time to avoid burning the delicate roots. Peas fix nitrogen which is stored in nodules on their roots, so definitely avoid any high-nitrogen fertilisers or your crop will consist of leaves rather than peas.
Water requirements are at their height when peas are setting flowers and when the pods are swelling – which is another reason to grow them early in the season when there is less risk of them drying out.
Modern varieties of peas have been bred to be far more disease resistant than they used to be, but even so, keep a watch out for aphids as the weather warms up. Not only are they pests in their own right, they can also still carry viruses to the crop.
Depending on the variety, it normally takes between 55 and 70 days for peas to be ready for harvest, and plants will keep producing for a week to 10 days. To prolong the harvest, sow further seeds every two weeks. Pick the peas every couple of days to keep them coming. The pea pods hold on tightly to the vines so, to avoid damaging the plants, hold the stem in one hand and pull off the pod with the other or cut off the pods with scissors.
