Peas

Sugar Daddy and Easy Peasy are compact, self-supporting snap pea varieties that go into Luke's Decatur garden as a late-winter to early-spring crop, growing 24-32 inches tall without a trellis, offering pea shoots as an early bonus harvest, cropping stringless sweet pods for several weeks, and finishing as summer heat shuts vines down.

1. 1

   Late Winter Direct Sowing

   Zone 8a spring window: mid-February through early March, about 4-6 weeks before the last frost (~Mar 28).

   You'll see Bare, cool soil with pea seed pressed about 1 inch deep, spaced 2-3 inches apart in a block or short row.

   Do Direct-sow as soon as soil can be worked in mid-to-late winter; do not wait for the last frost date, since these peas are cold-hardy and germinate fine in cool soil.

   Details
2. 2

   Seedling

   Days 7-14 after sowing, depending on soil temperature.

   You'll see A pair of thick seed leaves gives way to the first true compound leaves with small leaflets; Easy Peasy in particular shows striking blue-green foliage with distinctively curly tendrils even at this early stage.

   Do Keep soil evenly moist as seedlings establish; no trellis is needed since both varieties are bred to be self-supporting.

   Details
3. 3

   Bushy Growth Without a Trellis

   Weeks 3-6 after sowing.

   You'll see Plants stay compact, reaching roughly 24-30 inches (Sugar Daddy) to about 32 inches (Easy Peasy), with dense branching and tendrils that interlock with neighboring plants rather than climbing a tall structure.

   Do Grow these in a block or double row spaced closely enough that plants lean on and support each other; light twiggy brush or a low, knee-high support can help in windy spots but a trellis is not required.

   Details
4. 4

   Pea Shoot Harvest

   Any time plants are 8-12 inches tall or more, taken sparingly alongside other growth.

   You'll see Tender young growing tips 2-6 inches long with 2-4 pairs of small leaves, a curling tendril, and sometimes an unopened flower bud at the very end.

   Do Snip a few growing tips per plant with scissors or garden snips for a fresh, pea-flavored green, taking care not to strip so many tips that the plant's flowering is set back.

   Details
5. 5

   Flowering

   Roughly 30-45 days after sowing, varying with temperature.

   You'll see White flowers appear in the leaf axils along the compact stems, self-pollinating typical of edible-podded snap peas.

   Do No pollination help needed. Protect open flowers from hard freezes if an unusually cold snap threatens during late-winter flowering.

   Details
6. 6

   Pod Harvest

   Roughly 60-70 days after sowing, continuing for several weeks.

   You'll see Sugar Daddy forms plump, stringless, rounded pods about 3 inches long, the first stringless snap pea ever bred, with two pods typically setting per node near the top of the plant. Easy Peasy forms similarly plump snap pods on striking blue-green vines, often carrying 10-11 peas per pod.

   Do Pick pods once rounded and full but still tender and before they toughen. Harvest every 1-2 days to keep plants producing.

   Details
7. 7

   End of Season

   Shuts down as temperatures rise into the 80s, typically late May to June.

   You'll see Vines yellow, stop flowering, and pods toughen quickly as heat sets in.

   Do Pull spent plants once heat has clearly ended production, leaving root nodules in the soil, and clear the space for a summer crop.

   Details

Techniques — transplant, prune, propagate, divide, seed