25 May 2010

growing: snap peas

New to the vegetable patch this year are snap peas. Juicy, edible pods that are great dipped in hummus, mixed into stir fries, or just eaten straight-up. Sweet and crunchy. Mmmmm...I've not yet harvested my first crop, but they are almost ready - I'm waiting for them to be "swollen" looking and right now they just look plump.

But this vegetable couldn't have been easier to grow. I cheated and bought seedlings from the herb vendor at the farmers' market. The seedlings were in peat pots, so all I did was dig holes for the pots and rip off the bottom to allow the roots to spread. Add in a tepee trellis that I made by cutting three branches off the tree (that just won't die) at the back of the house, stripping the leaves, sinking the branches into the ground, and then tying them together at the top with twine.

The white flowers the pea plants get before forming the pods are quite sweet too.

p.s. - thank you Abby for suggesting I post pictures of bigger garden shots. I'm working on it!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never thought to eat the flowers!

My alaska peas came in nicely. They weren't that sweet raw, but developed sweetness when turned into a soup. (or maybe it was the roasted corn I added...)

T. said...

I am making a snap pea salad this weekend with mint! It's in the most recent Everyday Food...