Snow peas...
 

My dear wife loves snow peas and last summer asked me to grow some...I had a small amount of space that I tried some. It was some dwarf bush variety from Burpee--seeds I found on the rack at HD. They did not do well at all :(

This year I would like to find a climbing/vining type...I have a small space again...but have a trellis I could grow them on.

Any experiences or suggestions welcomed...

I have found that snow peas are best when grown in slighly cooler weather. The best snow peas I have had are from coastal growers in Marin and Sonoma County. Cooler morning and evening temperatures, with some heat during the day. They respond well to lighter soil textures and adequate moisture. I have also found that bean and pea innoculant helps with getting them going from seed. My dad grew excellent peas and he believed in giving them a big shot of nitrogen early on in the season to kick start them.

Thanks Bob for the advice...I've come across a few things now that mentioned they like cooler weather. Will just have to try them and see how Mother Nature treats them. I do have some innoculant stored from last summer...so will use it.

I started my sweet peas & snow peas about 3 weeks ago. Even tho it's been 30's at night and 40's during the day quite a bit (With a rare few days in the 60's), they seem to be loving it. I know the back of the seed packet says to plant them several weeks BEFORE your last 10% frost date.

Some gardening books simply say "Plant snow and sugar peas as soon as the ground can be worked", in other words when enough snow has melted and the ground is no longer a hard, frozen crust. ;)

Carrots, Parsnips, English Peas (snow, snap), Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts love cool weather. Parsnips actually improve in flavor substantially from a few freezes. In Houston, people have been known to bring container-grown parsnips into a walk in freezer for a day or two to encourage this flavor. ;)

A friend of mine grew 3 colors of snow peas last year. Green, Yellow, and purple. They looked great in the stir fry.
Anyone else grown the different color ones?

Bill

In additon to the pea pods, young snow pea shoots are great stir fried or in salad.

dcarch

We also like pea shoots. We pick the shoots from our cover crop of winter peas . We sautee them like spinach.

[color=blue][i]" I do have some innoculant stored from last summer...so will use it."[/i][/color]

Adenn1,

I made pretty much the same remark to a horticulturist friend who immediately told me it was useless.. Whatever is in the innoculant has died, and is of no further use. You might want to ask elsewhere about this.

I'm growing sugar snaps and snow peas this year. My snaps are already in the ground, but busy-ness and laziness have kept me from planting the snow peas.

Michael in OR.

That's probably true unless you've just bought the inoculant. It has an expiration date printed on it and it's usually only good for one year. See if you can find a date on the package.

Thanks Michael and Michele for the information about the expiration date on the innoculant. I tried to find it the other day and could not...so may have to buy new anyway!