Snow Peas

I think my favourite veggie to grow is snow peas. That possibly changes depending on the season and what’s pumping right now in the veggie patch (though to be honest, parsely isn’t really much competition…), but snow peas are easy, so snackable and so expensive in the shops!

Also known as mange-tout which is French for eat everything, snow peas are the same species as regular peas, but they were bred to have an edible pod (hence the ‘eat everything!’). They can be lightly steamed or stir fried, but mine never make it inside, despite actually having quite a plentiful harvest. I just love them straight off the vine! The tendrils are also edible, but I have enough green leafy things in the garden so I’m all about the pod crunch.

Some of my snow pea crop, with a side of coriander flowers!

The scientific name for peas is Pisum satvium which literally means cultivated pea. Snow peas are a variety called macrocarpon, so P. satvium var. macrocarpon. Macrocarpon means big fruit - and snow peas do have a pretty bumper pod size! Regular peas are one of the oldest known crops, and snow peas are thought to have been first cultivated in south east Asia.

Peas are a legume and part of the Fabaceae family. They are fabulous for ‘fixing nitrogen’ in the soil. Nitrogen is a macronutrient (major food source) for plants - the N in NPK. Anything in the legume family takes its nitrogen from the air (the air we breath is 78% nitrogen!) and stores it in little nodules on their roots, with thanks to some special bacteria called Rhizobium. When the plant dies and breaks down, all that nitrogen is released into the soil - no extra fertiliser needed! So the death of your peas will be welcomed by any leafy greens you want to sow - they’ll love the extra nitrogen boost.

In Brisbane, grow your snow peas (and any other peas) in winter - they love the cooler weather. Which is perfect because beans love the warmer weather, giving me crunchy greens climbing up my trellis’s all year round!

The delicate snow pea flower