In the vast history of food and farming, green peas (Pisum sativum) are an ancient crop. But the sweet, succulent sugar snap pea that we enjoy today is a recent innovation, thanks to a Utah-born plant breeder named Calvin Lamborn. In 1969, while working for the Gallatin Seed Company near Twin Falls, Idaho, Lamborn crossed an unusual thick-podded shelling pea with a snow pea, resulting in a tender pea with a crisp, edible pod. After a decade of research and selective breeding, this new pea, named simply ‘Sugar Snap’, was introduced to American gardeners and was awarded the 1979 All-America Selections Gold Medal for breeding breakthrough.
Lamborn’s fruitful breeding efforts also resulted in a series of popular bush varieties of sugar snap peas, including ‘Sugar Bon’, ‘Sugar Ann’ (an All-America Selections winner in 1984) and ‘Sugar Mel’, named after the women in his life: his wife Bonnie, and daughters Ruth Ann and Melanie.
Though Dr. Lamborn passed away in 2017, his family continues his legacy through a breeding collaboration with Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Their latest seed offering, a collection called Calvin’s Snap Peas, includes green ‘Sugar Snap’, yellow ‘Honey Snap II’ and purple ‘Royal Snap II’. Attractive and versatile, this colorful trio of edible-podded peas is especially appealing to chefs and home cooks.
Other notable sugar snap varieties include ‘Cascadia’, a disease-resistant pea on 32-inch vines; ‘Sugar Magnolia’, a tall climber with striking purple pods and two-toned violet blooms; and ‘Snak Hero’, a 2020 All-America Selections winner that tops out at 24-inches and is ideal for patio containers. Experiment with any of these varieties, or better yet, ask for recommendations from pea-planting gardeners in your area.
Sugar snap peas can be eaten at any stage, though their flavor and sweetness peak as the pods swell. They can be eaten raw or cooked and are often enjoyed while gardeners stand in their garden. The fully developed, plump pods are customarily consumed whole, but they can also be shelled for the sweet and tender peas inside. Not only are they tasty and nutritious (a good source of vitamins A and C, calcium and fiber), sugar snap peas are also a perfect on-the-go snack for young children. They are not sticky or crumbly and can be neatly and easily consumed in a car, on a plane or in a shopping cart. Little ones can also help re-move the strings that are a common trait in most varieties.
Snow peas are another edible-podded pea that can be grown at the same time as sugar snap peas. A popular addition to stir fries and fresh salads, snow peas should be harvested when the pods are smooth and flat, before tiny peas have begun to swell. If left on the vines beyond that ideal harvest window, the developing pods will be tough and stringy with unappealing starchy peas on the inside. Classic snow pea varieties include ‘Mammoth Melting Sugar’ and ‘Oregon Sugar Pod II’. ‘Dwarf Grey Sugar’ can be grown for green pods but is also prized for violet blooms and tender, slightly pea-flavored shoots that make an interesting addition to salads. Sow seeds thickly for shoots, which can be harvested about 10 days after germination. For a change of color, try Calvin Lamborn’s purple-podded ‘Royal Snow’ or ‘Golden Sweet’, a bright yellow vining heirloom variety from India.
Peas are hardy plants that grow best in cool, moderate weather and must be planted during a short window of opportunity for a successful harvest. If it’s too hot, production plummets; if too wet, they succumb to powdery mildew; if too cold, they drop their blooms and potential pods.
Garden guides often refer to planting peas “as soon as the soil can be worked in spring,” but that advice is directed at gardeners who live where the ground is snow-covered in winter and mucky-wet in spring. A better guideline for Texas is to plant peas in early fall so that bloom and pod production occur before the coldest weather, two or so months before your first expected freeze in fall. This means late August to early September in the northern half of the state and mid-late September in Central and South Texas.
Garden beds will be hot at these recommended fall-planting times, but shading the soil with row cover, burlap, shade cloth or several layers of newspaper for a week or so before planting will help moderate the temperature. Planting after a rain is ideal. If you are not so lucky, be sure to irrigate a day or two before planting, so the soil will be moist and ready to receive seed. Because pea plants are tolerant of cold temperatures, a second sowing of seeds can be made in January or February, about four weeks before the last expected freeze in your county. Pay attention to the forecast and be prepared to harvest any pods and to cover plants if temperatures are predicted to drop into the 20s.
Before planting, loosen the soil and work in a one-inch layer of compost together with an all-purpose gar-den fertilizer, following package instructions. Because peas are legumes, they have a special relationship with beneficial soil bacteria called Rhizobia. The peas allow the bacteria to live on their roots, while the bacteria extract nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form the plants can use. If you are planting peas in a new garden, a container or an area of your garden that has not hosted legumes before, you can encourage this relationship by inoculating the pea seed before planting to ensure that the bacteria are present in the soil. The inoculant can be found at some garden centers or can be ordered through online seed catalogs. The process is simple and involves nothing more than coating the dampened seeds with the inoculant powder before planting.
Plant the seed an inch or so deep and about four inches apart. Bush-type varieties that reach 24–30 inches are considered self-supporting if grown in double rows about six-to-eight inches apart, but I find that they are easier to tend and harvest if they are not grown in an unruly tangle. They also get better air circulation and are less prone to disease if grown upright and off the ground. Twine or chicken wire tied between stakes is sufficient for low-growing varieties, but tall, vining plants (like ‘Super Sugar Snap’ and ‘Magnolia Blossom’) require a solid framework and should be planted at the base of a sturdy tomato cage, a metal fence, bamboo tepee or trellis.
My favorite support for shorter plants is a folding metal pea fence I purchased online from Gurney’s (https://www.gurneys.com/product/pea_fence) several years ago. Eight feet long and 32 inches high, this fence can be configured in a straight line, a zigzag, a square — whatever fits the space. It can be folded for storage, but I use it throughout the year to support bush beans and compact varieties of cucumbers and squash.
Most pea varieties will start blooming 45–50 days after germination, and pods will be ready two-to-three weeks later. Give plants a dose of liquid fertilizer when the blooms appear and don’t let the vines dry out during blossom and pod development. Once your peas start producing, pick pods frequently to encourage more production. But remember, no yanking on the pods or else you risk uprooting an entire vine. Always support the stem with one hand and remove the pod with the other.
Peas produce self-pollinating flowers and all of the varieties mentioned in this article are open-pollinated, which means you can easily save your own seed. Ideally, you want to save seeds from the first pods, since those most likely contain genes for earliness. That’s a desirable trait here in Texas, where it’s a race to either beat the cold or beat the heat. Set aside a few extra plants specifically for saving and let the pods from those vines mature until they have faded to brown and the peas inside are dry and hard. Harvest and shell the seeds and place in a small envelope or container. Label with variety name and date, then store in a cool, dry location. For greatest viability, plan to use seed within three-to-four years.
By Patty G. Leander, B.S.
Contributing Editor
Advanced Master Gardener — Vegetables