WHETHER you are partial to the crunch of snow peas or the sweet little gems inside sugar snap peapods, June is the perfect time to get your pea patch started, says the team from Yates.
Climbing peas like snow and sugar snap are the ultimate space-saver vegies.
They can be grown along a trellis on a fence or up a tepee or tripod, taking up minimal horizontal space.
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READ NOWThey’re also great for growing in pots, so you can grow climbing peas on a sunny veranda, courtyard or balcony.
They can be eaten whole (they’re a terrific in-garden snack), steamed, used fresh in salads or added to stir fries.
Kids love them too and a small handful in their school lunchbox is an easy way to add more vegies into their diet.
Top tips for growing snow and sugar snap peas from Yates
– Both peas should be sown in a spot that receives at least six hours of sunshine a day. Sow seeds direct where they are to grow, beside a trellis or support, into damp soil that’s been enriched first with some dynamic lifter soil improver and plant fertiliser
– Don’t water again for a few days, as pea seeds can rot if they’re too wet
– Seedlings should pop up in about 10 days and you can start harvesting in 8-10 weeks. Both varieties are prolific croppers, so you should have lots of tasty peas for several months
– To encourage a great harvest, as soon as the seedlings are established start feeding each week with fertiliser boosted with extra potassium, which promotes flowering and pod development
– Keep picking pods regularly, which helps prolong the harvest