Late to the Pea Party
I shared recently that we’ve been working on our garden by fencing it in, adding arched and straight trellises, and slowly filling it out over the past few years. We even built a beautiful garden arbor at once of the double picket gates, added split rail on each side of it and some wood raised flower boxes at the foot. I will share that once we finish painting it.
But one thing I’ve wanted to grow this whole time is green peas. And somehow, I am always late.
Every. Single. Year.
This year, we finally made it happen. I’m still a little late (of course), but I have plants coming up strong and climbing, and I’m hopeful we’ll get a good harvest yet.
And truly, I had to try. Green peas are my kids favorite vegetable (and one of the only that they’ll touch), and that alone feels reason enough to keep planting them, even if I never quite get the timing right. Who am I not to give it a whirl?!
I’m using this space to keep track of what I’m learning. What we did this year, what I’ve gathered from others, and what I want to remember for next year. I’ll keep adding to it as the season(s) go on.
Planting Green Pea Seeds Video(s)
Below is a playlist- on the right hand side, toggle between videos in the playlist to see all the times I’ve made them. And come join me at the farmhouse if you want!
Varieties
- Progress #9 from Botanical Interests
- Little Marvel from Botanical Interests
Planting In The Ground
This year we laid black plastic over our rows. This was partly for weeds, but also to help keep the soil a bit cooler since I was, once again, late to planting.
No matter how hard I try, I just cannot make myself plant earlier. It always feels too soon, and I second guess it. And truthfully, the garden is rarely ready in time anyway.
So this is where we landed.
I planted Progress #9 along the right side of our cattle panel trellis arch, and Little Marvel along the left, straight out of the package, just to make ourselves a sweet little pea patch.
The Little Marvel germinated faster and more heavily than the Progress #9. We also have quite a few birds around here that like to nibble or possibly some pesky little bunnies making their way in through a gap in the fencing pulled back by our barn cats coming to visit us during planting. Many of the Progress #9 seedlings were eaten down, while the Little Marvel didn’t seem to have the same issue.
I’m not sure if that’s because they came up quicker and stronger, or if it has something to do with the variety itself.
After planting, I watered everything in well. I’ve read that plastic can reduce how often you need to water, but with spring rains (and severe storms) here in Arkansas, that hasn’t been much of a concern yet.
Still, since peas start out so hard and dry, I made sure to give each hole a good soaking with a light spray as I planted. I did not soak these before planting and they took about 2 weeks to germinate. I do wonder if they’d germinate faster if soaked. I also planted sweet pea seeds that I had soaked prior at the same time, and those were slower to germinate BUT this also could be a difference of plant!
There are certainly better or more ideal ways I could be doing all of this but for now, this is what we’ve done. And so far, it’s working well enough to keep going.
Things To Remember
- Plant closer (about 1 inch apart)
- Soak seeds before planting for quicker germination
- In zones 7–9, aim to plant around St. Patrick’s Day
- Pea vines and seeds can handle light frost, but the pods cannot
- Early planting may benefit from raised beds (faster warming soil)
- Later planting does better in ground once temps approach 70° regularly
- Fall crops may be difficult here because seeds and small plants like cooler weather and pods like warmer
- Starting seeds indoors could be an option if I really want an earlier start
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