Snow Peas

If I could only grow one type of vegetable, it would be snow peas. I love the flavor, they are easy to cultivate, and pea patches are charming. This year I planted Oregon Sugar Pod II from Burpee (left over from last year) on February 22, followed by Sugar Snow Sweet from Johnny's Seeds on March 14th, and more plantings roughly every two weeks afterward until July 15th. Although snow peas are a cool weather plant, I've had no problems succession-planting them through mid-summer. I plant the new rows in front of the old ones, and although that makes harvesting a little trickier, the old vines seem to provide enough shade to the newer ones that they do fine even in the heat of summer. I like both varieties I planted this year equally. The Oregon variety germinated more quickly than the others, even though they were planted in cooler weather, so they have a slight edge, but I would recommend either one for this climate.

Below you can see the patch, with the older vines turning yellow as they die back.