Can't follow you on that one. Peas, either English or southern are some of the easist things to pick and shell. Compared to lima beans, edamame, even shelly beans they are a breeze. If your better half loves eating them off the vine, perhaps you should consider snap peas where you eat the shell and all.

ha ha shelling peas I consider part of my heritage...brings back wonderful memories of sitting on the front porch after supper when it's "dusky" dark and shelling peas...If you sat on Mama's porch, you shelled peas or beans or whatever she was working on...The neighbors were likely to show up and they got a basket of peas or beans to shell while they visited...no one asked them, they just reached in and got a mess and started shelling...

We grew sugar snaps and snow peas, pods are edible in both. I got them mixed in the same spot so I guess I won't be saving seed. They sure grow easily here, these are 7 feet tall!

and here is a close up

I don't see a trellis. Am I missing it.

Gotta be a trellis in there because they are standing so upright..Sweet peas don't need much encouragement and they'll climb anything...Here is a picture of my pea trellis...the peas are just coming up so you can see the trellis easy...It is made out of 6 rebar stakes and 36 feet of Plastic mesh ...It's a cheap fencing material I buy at Wal-Mart..lasts forever and is easy to work with.

Yes there is a trellis, aligned with the brick paths. The peas are taller than the trellis though, so they appear to be standing on their own.

A pain? Shelling peas and beans is such a bright spot. I have great memories of visits to my great grandmother. A cool drink while shelling. Evenings shelling and being real quiet while the adults gossips. I knew just one word would remind them I was there. I miss those Texas summers. Heck...I miss childhood.

I planted Wando for the first time last fall, which resulted in a banner season for peas. Not sure how other folks feel about these beauties, but Wando peas have taken our wide temperature swings in stride. They can be hard to shell if you let them get too mature. Best to err on the side of harvesting a little too early for best flavor/sweetness. Next fall I will double the space for planting Wando's. Sadly, the latest heat wave has taken its toll on my little pea patch.

I agree about the sugar snaps.The goodness off the vine, without the shelling and "waste".

You should be all right on the seeds. Peas are self-fertile, you have to go to some trouble to cross them.

I am tempted to save seeds even though they are growing right on top of each other and a stone's throw away from a bee hive...it is too bad somebody forgot to save the seed packets, we remember one of them had "Oregon giant sugar snap..." in their name, the other one is a type of pole snow pea but we remember nothing else. The giants grow to be pretty gigantic all right.

nanelle, I agree on the productivity. Last year we grew a little bit of each type (including shelling peas) and decided that even though we liked them, we simply do not have enough land to grow shelling peas for regular meals. We did increase the number of plants for both sugar snaps and snow peas, and this year we have not only enough for salads, but lots to incorporate into our cooked meals as well. VERY space efficient, and even more so if you use the pole versions.

These peas are supposed to be bush and they were planted in z9 a little later than the ones I posted earlier. I placed tomato cages to protect some mater seedlings from the dogs mainly, but it seems the peas were a little taller than i would expect from bush varieties, and they sure like the tomato trellis. The tomatoes also seem happy with the present living arrangements.

Here is another example of a way to make them climb. Really primitive (the top of the string is tied to the top of the chain link fence, not shown) but it works.

You might see some recycled material from changing the windows....yes, that is the counter weight from double hung windows with a convenient little hoop so the string can be tied.

All peas benefit from some sort of support to climb on, but the shortest variety I've grown is "Little Marvel". For Little Marvel, just poke some 2' long sticks and twigs in the ground around the row you sow. However, you can't beat the productivity of a tall variety that needs strong support, like the previously mentioned "Sugar Snap".