# Sugar snap peas



## chuckwood (May 5, 2016)

Here's mine today. This setup is working really well so far, and I'm expecting a bumper crop, especially with the cool weather we're having. The pods are edible so there's no chores with shelling them. Great in stir fry, salads, cooked in butter, steamed. Real easy to freeze, just blanch for a minute or two and then stuff into vacuum seal freezer bags.


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## amberg (May 6, 2016)

Wow, they look good, I like sugar snaps but have never planted any before. Do I see a single weed there by that post on the right. maybe a poke berry stalk. Looks like you have done a good job on mulching that dirt to.


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## CentaurG2 (May 6, 2016)

My peas just sprouted. This year we are growing sugar snap and English garden. I grow them against hog panels and it works well. I have also tried a bush variety this year that claims it needs no support. We will see how that goes. Peas are usually ready on the fourth of July. Radish, lettuce and spinach have also sprouted. Nothing from the beets yet.


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## Backyard Lumberjack (May 6, 2016)

chuckwood said:


> Here's mine today. This setup is working really well so far, and I'm expecting a bumper crop, especially with the cool weather we're having. The pods are edible so there's no chores with shelling them. Great in stir fry, salads, cooked in butter, steamed. Real easy to freeze, just blanch for a minute or two and then stuff into vacuum seal freezer bags.
> 
> View attachment 501859



you are definitely in the sugar snap pea business, there chuckwood! nice pix. I grow a lot of peas. did some sugar snaps this year. same pkg as 2 yrs ago, that were starchy... but this yr sugar sweet. I plan to try for about one half of one of ur rows. that would be a ton to me. not sure how u would ever eat so many as you have there, much less pick them all! omg, the picking of peas can be a task unto itself... I guess u got a big freezer!


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## Backyard Lumberjack (May 6, 2016)

CentaurG2 said:


> My peas just sprouted. This year we are growing sugar snap and English garden. I grow them against hog panels and it works well. I have also tried a bush variety this year that claims it needs no support. We will see how that goes. Peas are usually ready on the fourth of July. Radish, lettuce and spinach have also sprouted. Nothing from the beets yet.



normally we put out our English pea seeds 3rd or 4th week in October... pick in feb or march... they love the mild cold we get here... even down to 22F. I have never covered my peas...

we are done with radishes and spinach... beets about 12-14" tall... I mostly grown them for tops... and will pickle some, too... do you do broccoli and brussels, too?never quite gets cold enuff here, but cabbage does well here... heads nicely! I have 5 in garden currently -


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## chuckwood (May 7, 2016)

Backyard Lumberjack said:


> you are definitely in the sugar snap pea business, there chuckwood! nice pix. I grow a lot of peas. did some sugar snaps this year. same pkg as 2 yrs ago, that were starchy... but this yr sugar sweet. I plan to try for about one half of one of ur rows. that would be a ton to me. not sure how u would ever eat so many as you have there, much less pick them all! omg, the picking of peas can be a task unto itself... I guess u got a big freezer!



Well, I've always had trouble growing these things, and have had some poor results in previous years. I wasn't planting them early enough. Around here the seeds go in the ground in mid February, and often times I didn't have a spot in my garden plowed and tilled that early. Peas hate hot weather. My other problem was not providing them with a tall enough trellis or fence to grow on. The peas would way outgrow my short fence and then topple over, creasing the stalks real bad and killing the top half of the plant. This year I used t posts with six foot high fencing and a steel cable tied through it all and anchored to the t posts and to steel pins in the ground. No way those sugar snaps are going to outgrow their fence this time. Yeah, I might have overdone it this year, but I've got friends who enjoy fresh garden gifts. Also got two freezers. I'll be freezing a lot of it.


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## chuckwood (May 7, 2016)

amberg said:


> Wow, they look good, I like sugar snaps but have never planted any before. Do I see a single weed there by that post on the right. maybe a poke berry stalk. Looks like you have done a good job on mulching that dirt to.



They're really good just picked fresh off the vine. I usually eat a lot of them while I'm picking. 

Yeah, that is indeed a pokeweed coming up. Down south here we used to eat the very young poke plants. You must parboil them a few times first, then eat like cooked spinach, they taste really good with some bacon and bacon fat thrown in. 

There's a song about this called "Poke Salad Annie".


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## chuckwood (May 7, 2016)

CentaurG2 said:


> Peas are usually ready on the fourth of July. QUOTE]
> 
> I figure my peas will first start coming in good in a couple weeks. After they're done when it starts getting hot, I'll be planting limas on those fences. I won't be harvesting them until fall.


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## amberg (May 7, 2016)

chuckwood said:


> They're really good just picked fresh off the vine. I usually eat a lot of them while I'm picking.
> 
> Yeah, that is indeed a pokeweed coming up. Down south here we used to eat the very young poke plants. You must parboil them a few times first, then eat like cooked spinach, they taste really good with some bacon and bacon fat thrown in.
> 
> There's a song about this called "Poke Salad Annie".




chuckwood, My momma was born and rasied in Johnson city tenn. They always growed tobacco. (many acres back in the 60;s and 70's ) We never cooked a poke over two feet tall. The real big ones could be used for painting, as the stain will never come out. 

Also like oakra. 

charlie


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## Backyard Lumberjack (May 8, 2016)

amberg said:


> chuckwood, My momma was born and rasied in Johnson city tenn. They always growed tobacco. (many acres back in the 60;s and 70's ) We never cooked a poke over two feet tall. The real big ones could be used for painting, as the stain will never come out.
> 
> Also like okra.
> 
> charlie



_Also like okra._

me, too. picked some other day from my wintered over okra plants... most cook it wrong then get wishy washy over its slime... lol... but I like to pan fry slices in bacon grease... seasoned and w/butta'... or into a pot of gumbo! tha always works well, too. each to his own. my neighbor and his wife are nutz over eggplant...me? don't particularly care for it... everyone loves strawberries, right? me? could care less... unless fresh, ripe, very ripe and plump and just picked off vine... but sometimes I doctor up some and make the vanilla ice cream_* homemade strawberry ice cream*_... omg, am I hijacking this thread?


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## chuckwood (May 8, 2016)

Backyard Lumberjack said:


> _Also like okra._
> 
> me, too. picked some other day from my wintered over okra plants... most cook it wrong then get wishy washy over its slime... lol... but I like to pan fry slices in bacon grease... seasoned and w/butta'... or into a pot of gumbo! tha always works well, too. each to his own. my neighbor and his wife are nutz over eggplant...me? don't particularly care for it... everyone loves strawberries, right? me? could care less... unless fresh, ripe, very ripe and plump and just picked off vine... but sometimes I doctor up some and make the vanilla ice cream_* homemade strawberry ice cream*_... omg, am I hijacking this thread?



Naw, no hijacking here, just about any garden topic is fair game, including okra. I'll be planting mine before long. I've been having to spray mine with fungicide to get the best crop. I've just noticed in other gardens that some people strip the bottom leaves off, sort of like you prune tomatoes to keep the bottom leaves from catching fungus and then spreading it up to the upper portions of the plant. For some reason, fried okra satisfies any cravings I have for eating meat. Fried okra with fresh tomatoes can be a complete meal for me, no hamburgers needed.


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## Backyard Lumberjack (May 8, 2016)

chuckwood said:


> Naw, no hijacking here, just about any garden topic is fair game, including okra. I'll be planting mine before long. I've been having to spray mine with fungicide to get the best crop. I've just noticed in other gardens that some people strip the bottom leaves off, sort of like you prune tomatoes to keep the bottom leaves from catching fungus and then spreading it up to the upper portions of the plant. For some reason, fried okra satisfies any cravings I have for eating meat. Fried okra with fresh tomatoes can be a complete meal for me, no hamburgers needed.



omg, can an *okra burger* be far behind? lol 

"yes... 2 okra burgers, fries... and 2 strawberry shakes. extra thick on the shakes, please... and dash extra salt on those fries, as well!"


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## amberg (May 10, 2016)

I would like to try deep fried okra with deer burgers and fried potatoes.


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## chuckwood (May 14, 2016)

My snaps are ready, I've got a big chore ahead of me and I'll be giving some to relatives. This is the largest and most successful crop of sugar snaps I've ever had. The cool weather has really helped.


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## amberg (May 14, 2016)

Wow, they look good. You do have a lot of picking to do. You could always ship them to me for processing, lol


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