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Fresh vegetables are not only healthy, they enrich the menu with a varied, tasty and fresh component. Sugar snap peas are a particular highlight. Crunchy, refreshing and at the same time mildly sweet, they are suitable for both classic German cuisine and a variety of exotic dishes. Here you can find out how to grow your own vegetable garden using our simple instructions, so that you can supplement a tasty and conscious diet with sugar snap peas from your own garden.
location
The basis for the successful cultivation of sugar peas, also known as sugar peas, is a suitable location. From germination to harvest, it sets the course for whether the rearing will be successful, or at least how much effort has to be made for the later harvest in the home garden. Sugar snap peas thrive particularly well in a location with these characteristics:
- Loose, very humic soil
- Even soil moisture, not too dry
- Airy location, also outside of protected locations
- Sunny to partially shaded areas in the home garden
- As a weak eater, it can be combined well with intensively consuming vegetables
Sweet peas, on the other hand, are less successful when grown on heavy, loamy soil. Also waterlogging don't like the rather dainty and fast-growing plants. On the one hand, root growth is hindered by compact soil conditions, on the other hand, standing moisture makes it easier for mold and putrefactive organisms to settle, to the detriment of the plant.
time
Since sugar peas, like all other varieties of peas, belong to the so-called long day plants plant, switch growth from leaf growth to flower and then fruit growth as day length increases. Therefore, the sowing should early spring be done so that the plants in the garden can develop sufficient leaf mass before beginning reproduction via flowers and pods. They can be cultivated directly outdoors from the end of April. If the seedlings are brought forward in a protected environment, this can begin as early as the beginning of April, so that they can be transplanted outdoors at the end of April.
length of time
Depending on the weather, temperatures and other general conditions, the development from seeds to sugar snap peas ready for harvest can vary. In general, however, one can grow with a period of around three months calculate.
Grow snow peas
sugar snap peas are annual Plants that do not survive the winter. Therefore, the cultivation must be done every year anew. For sowing, there is the option of doing it directly outdoors, or of preferring the sprouts to protected areas beforehand and planting them out later. However, the procedure is the same in both cases, except that if you sow the snow peas directly, you do not transfer them from the seed pots to the garden. In the following, the instructions are explained step by step for both procedures, so that the rearing of the Kefe is illustrated both with pre-breeding and with direct sowing.
preparation
Before the actual cultivation, it is important to prepare the seeds and also the planters or the potting soil. In this way, the individual seeds germinate more easily and sometimes faster. This is done by soaking the seeds in warm water for about half a day.
Sow with advance
First, the snow peas are sown in small seed pots, where they can germinate and grow in a protected environment. This first step, which is not absolutely necessary, makes cultivation easier by avoiding unfavorable influencing factors.
- Fill seed pots, e.g. small yoghurt pots, three-quarters full with seed soil and press soil down lightly
- Place one or two seeds in each pot in a three to four centimeter deep well and cover
- Press in the indentation, e.g. with your finger
- Keep soil moist with seeds, watering frequently and not too intensively
- Keep ambient temperature at least 10°C to 15°C
- ideally around 18 °C room temperature for quick germination
plant out
Once the little plants that have germinated and grown in the cup or pot have grown to around eight to ten centimeters in size, they can be transplanted to their final locations in the vegetable garden. Due to the first growth phase in a protected environment, the pupils are now resilient enough to defy the adversities of the field.
- Plant out from a growth height of approx. 8 to 10 centimetres
- Planting distance, like direct sowing, about 5 centimeters
- Planting depth approx. 3 to 4 centimetres, feel free to press holes in the soil with your fingers, set the sprouts and press the soil lightly on all sides
- Water well at first, after growth watering is only necessary in severe dryness
Direct sowing outdoors
If sugar snap peas are sown directly outdoors or in balcony boxes, there is of course no need to prepare for cultivation. Instead, the seeds are planted in the soil at their final locations, where they are supplied with all the factors required for germination.
- If necessary, prepare the sowing areas with seed compost, cover the seed compost and work in lightly with the hoe, but only necessary in the direct sowing area
- Press the plants into the ground at a distance of four to six centimeters and at a depth of around five centimetres
- Insert the pre-soaked seeds individually and cover the kulen with soil
- Water well and keep constantly moist during the germination phase. Due to the larger volume of soil, water more intensively than is necessary when growing in the pot
tip: In cool weather you should cover the seeding areas with transparent foil tunnels or, for example, transparent plastic cups or similar. In this way, the temperatures in the area of the seed can be increased and germination can be favorably influenced. Germination succeeds from a soil temperature of around 5 °C. The higher the temperature, the faster the desired sprouts emerge from the individual peas.
maintenance
If the establishment of the sweet peas is successful, the plants are considered easy-care and uncritical. Nevertheless, you need some care to be rewarded with the desired harvest.
- When dry, water regularly every two to four days
- in spring in "normal" weather with occasional precipitation but usually no watering required
- Due to its low consumption properties, no nutrient supply via fertilizer is required
- from a plant height of approx. 15 centimetres, lightly pile up
- offer climbing aid for better height growth, better exposure and higher yield
- Approx. 50 to 70 centimeters high trellis, e.g. made of wickerwork, vertically adjusted steel mesh or similar
- Guide the shoots loosely through the climbing aid
harvest
At the end of the day, all the hard work in the home garden is rewarded with a rich harvest. The pods are ready for harvest as soon as they have reached the size desired by the consumer, which is usually the case after about three months.
- Remove sugar snap peas with stalks from the bush by cutting, clipping or breaking off
- After harvesting, pull the plants out of the ground together with their roots and dispose of them, e.g. on the local compost
- The planting field can then be prepared for further plantings, usually due to the weakly consuming properties of the sugar peas, hardly any soil improvement is required
tip: The longer the pods are left in the garden, the larger they become. However, as they grow in size, the tenderness they are so well known for decreases. One should therefore not wait too long until the harvest, in order not to buy additional quantity with lower quality.
storage
Once the sweet peas have been successfully harvested, they can either be prepared immediately or stored for later consumption. Short-term storage works well in the refrigerator by wrapping the pods in a damp cloth. On the other hand, if you want to keep them longer, it is advisable to freeze the harvest. If you wash the vegetables before freezing and remove the stems, you can take them out of the freezer later and prepare them without any further effort
