Snow Pea or Sugar Snap Pea?

Peas are easy to grow, and they taste great - but how does one decide what variety to grow? In this article I unpack the rationale behind how I make that decision.

Whenever I hear people talking about peas, I become keenly aware that most people don’t know much about them. I think this is mostly due to the fact that our knowledge of peas is largely based on what we see at the grocery store. There’s the frozen peas in the frozen foods isle that we use for icing bumps, bruises and sprains. There’s the canned peas in the canned foods isle that we force children to eat so they can build character. There’s also the dried peas in the dried foods isle that many people my age or younger have no idea how to cook¹. Finally, in the produce isle, we see snow peas, and snap peas, which get used in salads, stir-fry’s and other dishes. Unbeknownst to many, these are all different kinds of peas - so lets first run through a brief taxonomy of peas, and then I’ll get into which one I prefer, and why.

It’s so wonderful to see blooms on peas in late spring, with bees buzzing around, and the promise of sweet crunchy peas on the table in the weeks to come. [source: https://pixabay.com/photos/peas-bloom-gardening-853668/]

All peas are not created equally

Snow Peas are harvested when they are flat, and the seeds are tiny and not yet developed. The pods and seeds are edible, and are known for being very tender and sweet, and can be eaten raw or cooked. These are the ones in the produce isle.

Sugar Snap Peas are harvested when they are plump and the seeds are somewhat developed. The pods and seeds are edible. They are known for being very tender and sweet, and can be eaten raw or cooked. These are also in the produce isle.

Garden (AKA “English”) Peas are harvested when they are plump and the seeds are well developed (so big they are touching each other). Only the seeds are edible. They are known for being very tender and sweet, and can be eaten raw or cooked. These are the frozen and canned good isle.

Field Peas are harvested when they are completely developed, and the pods have begun to yellow and dry. Only the seeds are edible. They are a “pulse” crop, to be used in soups and other cooked dishes as a dried bean. These are in the dried foods isle.

There can be only one

Let me first start by saying that there’s no right or wrong answer to the question of what to grow. Most home gardeners have a finite amount of growing space and limited time for fussing about in the garden - so they rarely grow all four types of peas - and I am one such gardener.