Growing Spring Peas in the Organic Garden

A Cool Weather Vegetable That’s Easy to Grow and High in Viatmins

Feb 16, 2009

Organic gardeners eager to plant vegetables after a long winter must add peas to the garden plot. Peas grow quickly and aren't bothered by many pests or diseases.

Garden peas, snap peas, and snow peas taste best fresh from the garden, as their sugars quickly degrade into starches after picking. These vegetables prefer cool spring weather and mature quickly, leaving a space in the garden for a summer crop after harvest.

When to Plant Peas

Except in areas with cool summers, gardeners should plant peas as soon as the soil can be worked in early spring. Southern gardeners may still enjoy fresh garden peas, but plant them in the fall to maximize production.

Choosing Pea Varieties

‘Premium’ is an extra early shelling garden pea for those in a rush to clear out their pea plot for a summer crop. The vines are short, so gardeners may grow them without using a trellis. Nurserymen tout ‘Eclipse’ as a variety that is slow to convert its sugars to starches.

Gardeners like the snap pea ‘Sugar Ann’ for its early production and short vines. ‘Sugar Sprint’ is a snap pea variety that doesn’t require stringing. The short vines of ‘Snow Sweet’ can yield snow peas when harvested early, or can be left on the vine to produce snap peas.

Prepare the Soil for Peas

In addition to cool soil, peas like rich soil well amended with organic matter. Rotted cow manure is a good addition to lean or sandy soils in the pea plot. The bacteria that support a pea plant’s ability to fix nitrogen from the air can’t survive in acidic soils, so add lime as needed to achieve a pH of 6.5.

Pea Inoculant

One of the inscrutable characteristics about peas that stop some gardeners from growing them is their ability to fix nitrogen from the air. Gardeners can help that process by treating pea seeds with inoculant. This bacterial mixture is inexpensive, and gardeners may sprinkle it on the seeds or over the surface of the seedbed. The bacteria enter the roots, and form nodules on the roots that greatly enhance the plants’ ability to get nitrogen from the air.

Labs prepare inoculants by removing the naturally occurring bacteria from root nodules, and growing the bacteria in nutrients. Therefore, bacterial pea inoculant is comprised of living microorganisms, which lose their vitality after a year. Use fresh inoculant each year, and never treat the soil with any chemical that will render the inoculant useless.

Pea Pests

Rabbits are the number one pest most gardeners will contend with. A three foot tall chicken wire fence fastened firmly to the soil is the best organic rabbit deterrent.

Pea weevils cause a nasty surprise when the gardener discovers the larvae have burrowed into the pea pods. The weevil spends the winter in garden debris, so clean up spent vegetable plants at the end of the season. Crop rotation also keeps weevil populations down, so avoid planting legumes in the same spot each year.

Rodale, R. (1999). The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. Rodale Books Inc: Emmaus, PA.

The copyright of the article Growing Spring Peas in the Organic Garden in Organic Vegetable Gardens is owned by Jamie McIntosh. Permission to republish Growing Spring Peas in the Organic Garden in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.