How to Grow Your Own Pea Farm | Pea Farming Business | Peas Planting and Harvesting

The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Peapods are botanically a fruit, since they contain seeds developed from the ovary of a (pea) flower. The name is also used to describe other edible seeds from the Fabaceae such as the pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), the cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), and the seeds from several species of Lathyrus.(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)



Peas are a cool-season crop, now coming in three separate varieties to suit your garden and cooking needs. They are: Pisum savitum, which includes both garden peas (sweet pea, inedible pod) and snow peas (edible flat pod with small peas inside) and Pisum macrocarpon, snap peas (edible pod with full-size peas). They are easy to grow, but with a very limited growing season. Furthermore, they do not stay fresh long after harvest, so enjoy them while you can!

Planting

• To get the best head start, turn over your pea planting beds in the fall, add manure to the soil, and mulch well.
• As with other legumes, pea roots will fix nitrogen in the soil, making it available for other plants.
• Peas will appreciate a good sprinkling of wood ashes to the soil before planting.
• Sow seeds outdoors 4 to 6 weeks before last spring frost, when soil temperatures reach 45 degrees F.
• Plant 1 inch deep (deeper if soil is dry) and 2 inches apart.
• Get them in the ground while the soil is still cool but do not have them sit too long in wet soil. It's a delicate balance of proper timing and weather conditions. For soil that stays wet longer, invest in raised beds.
• A blanket of snow won't hurt emerging pea plants, but several days with temperatures in the teens could. Be prepared to plant again.
• Peas are best grown in temperatures below 70 degrees F.
  
  
  

Care

• Make sure that you have well-drained, humus-rich soil.
• Poke in any seeds that wash out. (A chopstick is an ideal tool for this.)
• Be sure, too, that you don't fertilize the soil too much. Peas are especially sensitive to too much nitrogen, but they may like a little bonemeal, for the phosphorus content.
• Though adding compost or manure to the soil won't hurt, peas don't need heavy doses of fertilizer. They like phosphorus and potassium.
• Water sparsely unless the plants are wilting. Do not let plants dry out, or no pods will be produced.
• For tall and vine varieties, establish poles or a trellis at time of planting.
• Do not hoe around plants to avoid disturbing fragile roots.
• It's best to rotate pea crops every year or two to avoid a buildup of soil-borne diseases.

Harvest/Storage

• Keep your peas well picked to encourage more pods to develop.
• Pick peas in the morning after the dew has dried. They are crispiest then.
• Always use two hands when you pick peas. Secure the vine with one hand and pull the peas off with your other hand.
• Peas can be frozen or kept in the refrigerator for about 5 days. Place in paper bags, then wrap in plastic.
• If you missed your peas' peak period, you can still pick, dry, and shell them for use in winter soups.
  
  
  

See More About Green Peas:

• Peas 
• Beneficial about Green Peas
  
  

Reference

• How to Grow Your Own Pea Farm
  
  

Photo Credits (2)

• Peas Planting and Harvesting
• Peas Planting and Harvesting