Growing Different Types of Peas in Your Garden

Growing peas in your home vegetable garden is easy and a great way to add fresh vegetables to your daily diet. Most gardeners become familiar with a single type of pea and don’t try anything different because they are unsure or unaware of how to grow them. There are several different types of peas that you can grow in your garden, some of which you might never have eaten yourself.

 

Expand the variety in your garden and diet this year with these different types of peas.

 

Edamame

Edamame is a popular Asian pea that is growing in popularity in gardens and dishes every day. Also known as the Asian soybean, edamame is packed with nutrition and flavor and can be added to so many different types of dishes. Edamame is a great addition to the garden, growing when your cool season peas are done growing because they are strict warm weather vegetables. Add the peas to organic rich soil that is well drained and allow them plenty of space to spread out.

 

Pea Shoots

If you only have a few containers to grow vegetables in, pea shoots are the perfect option. These greens can be grown in abundance and within a short amount of time so that it is possible to always have pea shoots on hand. You can use your favorite type of pea for growing, but it is important that the peas are well soaked in water for at least two days before adding them to a container. After two weeks you will have enough growth to start harvesting shoots to add to sandwiches and salads, leaving a quarter inch growing.

 

Sugar Snap Peas

Snap peas have become the most popular type of peas to grow in the home garden because they are maintenance free and have a sweet, crisp flavor that everyone loves. Snap peas can be grown in rotations, with a couple different harvest possible. Because they prefer cold weather, you can add them to the garden at the beginning and end of the growing season, and make way for other crops when its warm.

 

Snow Peas

Snow peas are great cold weather varieties of peas that fill midwestern gardens every spring. The pods are preferred for their flat shape which is easier to add to cold dishes or stir fries which call for a quick fire. The time of year that you plant your snow peas will greatly affect the amount of pea pods you grow versus green shoots and leaves. Try to plant them as soon as you can till the ground to sow them in. Snow peas need cool temperatures to thrive. Harvest pods before they begin drying out or any pods split open.

 

English Peas

English peas are the traditional pea variety that we think of when we think of shelled peas, enjoyed out of their pods. Grow English peas in a wide variety of soil as long as it is well drained and loose, which is necessary for the fragile shoots to grow up out of. This variety needs support because they grow very leggy and tall, with shoots reaching out all the time. Sow this type throughout the growing season, removing spent plants as you go.