Snow Peas

Those deliciously crisp snow peas in your stir fry can be grown at home.

Harvested snow peas (Shutterbug75) Pixabay

The story behind pea evolution is fascinating. Even more intriguing is why more people don’t grow their own snow peas at home.

Snow pea plants

Snow peas are flat-podded peas that are eaten whole while unripe. Like sugar peas, snow peas are indehiscent, which means the ripe pods do not open on their own. Shelling peas, which are grown to be dried and used in cooking, have a much tougher pod that is dehiscent.

All pea plants are legumes, which means they play host to beneficial rhizobia bacteria in their roots. These bacteria help plants fix atmospheric nitrogen into a form plants can use.

​How to grow snow peas

Like fat-podded sugar peas and shelling peas, snow peas are a cool season crop. In fact, that’s how snow peas got their name, being grown in winter.

Snow pea plant (JS - JS) CC BY-SA 3.0

Seeds should be planted 1-2” deep and 5” apart in loose, nutrient-rich soil. Snow peas use tendrils to climb supports, such as stock panels and trellising. Harvest pods as they form to make the vines keep producing. Once plants sense that they have completed their reproductive cycle, pod production stops.

Snow peas are so easy to grow. You can add them to your stir fry garden, salad garden, or just grow them! Did you know that the immature leaves and stems are also edible?

Now you know!