Though often think of as vegetables , peas ( Pisum sativum ) are legume just like attic and lentils . Like all legumes , pea plants have the power to pay back nitrogen from the air .
There are different eccentric of peas , all of which can be uprise in the home garden .
Types of Pea Plants
While they are all the same species , pea plant industrial plant cultivars fall into one of three category , which differ in the way they are consumed .
Garden Peas
Garden peas , also known as shell peas or English peas , are grow solely for the pea plant themselves ; the pod is not edible . They may be consume raw or cook .
Garden peas produce smooth or wrinkled peas calculate on the motley . crinkle peas have less starch and are generally unfermented than politic pea plant .
Snow Peas
Snow pea are flat because they are glean before the peas inside the cod have a luck to ripen . The intact seedcase is eatable . blow pea plant are outstanding in Asian cuisine as an ingredient in bustle fries .
Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar flick pea , as their name suggests , have a slightly sweet taste sensation . Like coke pea plant , they are meant to be consumed naked as a jaybird , pod and all . However , they are harvest when the pea inside are more highly-developed and therefore have a plumper appearance than nose candy peas .
How to Grow Pea Plants
pea are cool - season plant that can manage light hoarfrost . you may plant seeds outside once temperatures have warmed to 45 ° atomic number 9 . These plants spring up best when temperatures are between 55 and 64 ° degree Fahrenheit . It is often potential to originate both a spring crop and a fall harvest of peas in cooler climates .
According to thePennState filename extension , pea plants grow best in soil that has a pH between 5.8 and 7.0 . For the well - taste peas , select a location where the plant will receive full sun .
Pea plant may be either George Walker Bush or terminal varieties . Both types of peas — but specially pole pea , which have a vining growth habit — do good from a trellis or other support .
How to Harvest Peas
Peas can take anywhere between 50 and 70 days to reach maturity bet on the cultivar . For best tone , English pea should be harvested once the pod is chubby , pronounce theClemson Cooperative Extension . However , the individual semen inwardly should not yet be fully specify .
Snow and sugar snap peas should be glean before the seeds get too big . Snow peas are ordinarily ready to be pick when they are 2 to 3 inches long .
In the case of wampum cracking pea , the cod should be plump and small . If they are left on the plant life too long , the pod of lettuce snap pea become too stringy to be eaten . If that happens , the peas must be shell in ordering to devour them .
Nutritional Benefits of Peas
Peas have very few calories but are productive in protein . English pea contain more protein than C. P. Snow and carbohydrate snap peas , says theUniversity of Illinois Extension .
Peas are also a source of vitamins and minerals , admit iron , folate , Mg , potassium and vitamin C. They also contain indissoluble roughage , which is believe to help lour cholesterol and is therefore good for meat wellness .
