Sugar Snap Peas

I have an unwritten agreement with all my plants. As long as they earn their keep and either provide some sort of harvest or at least look good, I’ll let them stay. For the most part, this works well, with both parties seemingly happy.

But at the moment, I’m reconsidering my end of the bargain. In March, I planted sugar snap pea seeds. They eventually sprouted and began to grow. I provided the support they needed and in mid – April I harvested my first little pods. They are delicious!

I’ve never grown sugar snap peas before so I was interested to find out that they are different from “snow peas.” Sugar snaps have rounded pods with thicker walls, snow peas have very thin pods. But both kinds can be eaten whole, either raw in salads or steamed or sautéed. I like the French name for them, mangetout, which means “eat all.”

I have had a long and very productive season of sugar snap peas. Every few days I go out and stuff my pockets full of pods. We’ve eaten them in all kinds of ways and the freezer is full of them. All of which is great. What’s not so great is that this lingering harvest has messed up my brilliant garden design.

I know that peas are (supposed to be) cool weather crops, meaning when hot weather comes, they are supposed to be done so I can pull them up. Planning for this, I planted tomato and okra seedlings nearby so that when I pulled up the peas, they would have plenty of room to grow. Brilliant, right?

But this is my dilemma. They are still producing! And don’t even look terrible. They are full of buds and are technically holding up their end of the bargain. What to do, what to do!

I finally decided this morning that the space was much more important for my summer vegetables and that I had to pull up the pea vines. And feeling only slightly guilty that I had breached our agreement (I mean, after all, they’re only peas) I picked the last pods and tossed the plants on the compost pile. Tomatoes and okra are happy that they have more room, Jack is happy that we won’t be having sugar snap peas at every meal. I’m happy because I’m always happy in the garden and because I know too much sugar is just not good for you!