March is the ideal time to plant green peas in the garden. They can handle fairly cold weather, but it’s the heat that usually takes them out. I planted my snap peas this week and you can plant peas until the middle of March for most of middle Tennessee. Green peas prefer cooler weather and mine typically die out in June. When the peas die off, you still have plenty of time to plant beans or other warm season vegetables. They prefer to be directly planted by seeds directly into the ground. I normally plant my peas in tight rows and space them 2-3” apart. Most cultivars of peas need around 60 days in order to mature fully.
There are three main types of green peas: snap, shelling, and snow. Snap peas are the ones where you eat the entire pod. Snow peas have flat pods with tiny green peas inside and shelling peas have fibrous shells and need to be shelled. With peas there also comes different heights on them. Some peas stay dwarf and do not require a system for them to vine up on. Many of the older cultivars need to be staked just like green beans. They can vine up to 70-80” pretty quickly when it warms up in April. Be sure you know which type you’re planting so that you can be prepared for staking them or not.
Snap peas are my favorite because my children love going to the garden and eating the pods right out of the garden. It really is the perfect thing to grow for kids. There are numerous cultivars of snap peas, but good choices seem to have sugar in the name such as ‘Sugar Snap’, ‘Sugar Spring’, and ‘Sugar Ann’. Snow peas are also an excellent pea to grow and work well in the kitchen. ‘Avalanche’ and ‘Oregon Giant’ would be good cultivars to try this year. Shelling peas have a tough fibrous shell and need to be shelled to reveal the sweet green peas. Good selections of shelling peas include ‘Early Alaska’, ‘Strike’, and ‘Wando’.
Make sure you harvest accordingly in the garden. Peas should be harvested when the pods start to fill with the peas. You may have to sample some throughout the week to ensure you’re harvesting them at the correct time. They can over-mature quickly, so make sure you check them daily.
As always, if you have any questions regarding any horticulture facet, feel free to contact Lucas Holman, UT Horticulture Extension Agent, Wilson County at 615-444-9584 or Lholman1@utk.edu.
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