Moxie Gardener

A blossom on a snow pea vine. Toss them into salads for color and flavor.

Late summer is the time to start planting for fall harvests. Now is the time to plant vegetables that prefer to mature during cool weather.

Plant Pisum sativum—the English garden type along with edible podded snow and snap varieties—in early to mid August for harvesting in mid to late September.

Plant peas in between the rows of corn in your garden. The corn will mature and be harvested long before the peas need the room. Another good place to plant fall peas is where lettuce or other greens were growing. These leafy crops deplete supplies of available nitrogen in the soil and the roots of peas “fix” nitrogen into the soil.

This is a complicated scientific process that I’m not qualified to explain. Suffice it to say that it works. Once the plants are finished producing, leave their roots in the ground and they will release the captured nitrogen into the soil where it can be used by other plants that you subsequently grow in the same area.

When planting peas for fall, plant them almost twice as deep as spring-planted peas. This will help keep the seeds cool and also from drying out before they germinate. In any case, keep them well-watered to avoid over stressing them and also mulch the soil to keep it cool.

Space the seeds about two inches apart and thin the seedlings to about four inches apart when they’re three inches high.

Snap peas and Oriental snow peas grow tall enough to require some type of support for them to climb upon. English garden peas only grow about 12 to 18 inches high and do not need such support.

The blossoms and new growth shoots of pea vines are also edible. In fact, the seedlings that you thin are completely edible. Simply pinch off the roots and toss them into a salad or stir-fry.

Check your pea vines daily once they start producing. Edible podded peas are best eaten when the peas inside are just starting to swell. English garden peas, traditionally eaten when plump and succulent, can quickly become tough and woody if left too long on the vines.

When freezing weather kills off the vines, leave the roots in the soil. By spring they will be nearly completely decomposed and ready to plant a crop that likes rich, well-fertilized soil, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, or melons.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 4:51 PM and is filed under fall. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.