Easy to Grow Peas

Theres nothing like fresh peas straight off the vine. Theyre great for salads and stir fry-ing. And, theyre easy to grow with a little help from trellises.

Produced by K-State Research and Extension. For more information, visit our website at: http://www.kansasgreenyards.org

Transcript:
Easy to Grow Peas

Peas are a cool season vegetable that you can plant after the last danger of frost. You can start planting these in April. You can plant them from seeds, or transplants, but seeds are usually more economical. There are couple different types of peas. Some are the sweet, tender pea variety that many people like. Another type of pea that’s available is the sugar snap pea. You can eat the pea and the pod, which is great for stir-frying and fresh eating.

After seeding, you’ll want to make sure that you have a support system in place to allow for the peas to climb on grow up. One of the reasons to do this is to get them up off the soil, so that you don’t have dirty pods. You can also make room in your garden by allowing the plants to grow up rather than grow out in your space. If you have a small space, trellising can work really well.

There are several different types of trellises. This one is a simple garden border cage to allow the peas to grow up. Or, you can use a hog wire type of fencing. Another style of trellis is to make a simple frame and tie parallel strings to the framework of wood. The peas then climb up the parallel strings. It’s a very inexpensive way to trellis peas and allow them to get some vertical growth in the garden bed.

The peas don’t need help to climb onto the trellis because they have tendrils, or little arms that grow. As soon as they find a structure, they spin around and cling onto the structure. So, peas are self-climbing. They’ll help themselves up the trellis, which allows for better air circulation for the peas, more sunlight to the plants, and it allows an easier harvest when picking the peas off of the vines.

This feature story prepared with Chelsey Wasem, former Kansas State University Research and Extension Horticulture Agent, Johnson County. For more information, visit your local county extension office or visit our website at KansasGreenYards.org.