Gretchen Scalpi, RDN

Every year we have a vegetable garden.  It has become a favorite pastime for me because I get to spend time outdoors, which is a departure from my usual activities.  Eventually our efforts raising a garden results in  fresh, organic, and pesticide free vegetables. From a nutritional point of view, I can think of few things better than that.

Early in January the seed catalogs arrive, and with it, the plans for next gardening season.  A few new vegetable varieties are added, and I always end up having plans for more items than I can possibly fit into my small garden…this year is no exception!

One of my favorite vegetables to grow is the sugar snap pea because it is delicious and it provides a high yield in a small amount of space.  A row or two is planted along the garden fence and when the seedlings come up, they grow right up the fence.

The snap pea is an edible podded pea, lower in calories, yet containing more vitamins and minerals than traditional peas. For people counting carbohydrates, this variety has a low carbohydrate content similar to other green vegetables, and is not a starchy vegetable like regular peas: very diabetes- friendly! Snap peas are delicious raw or cooked, and lend themselves well to steaming or stir frying.

Gardeners sometimes use holidays as a gauge for when to plant certain vegetables.  St. Patrick’s Day is traditionally considered the day to plant peas.  For years I have tried to follow this guideline but to no avail.  Here in the northeast, March 17th is usually cold, damp, and sometimes there’s still snow on the ground. But this year it’s different!  With unseasonably warm weather (70 degrees!) I actually planted snap peas yesterday.  It was t-shirt weather and this was the first time I was able to plant peas on St. Patrick’s Day.

Our peas are usually ready to pick in late June to early July.  Since I’ve had a head start on my planting, maybe the peas will be ready earlier.    Of all the vegetables I have grown in the past, the snap peas have consistently been my biggest success.  We enjoy them most of the summer, and there’s usually enough to freeze for later.   If you have a garden, or decide to try your hand at gardening, give sugar snap peas a try!

A Sunday morning harvest – July 2011

Tags: green peas, peas