Diane, It seems like they may have been planted a little late, but I think they still may produce. Mine stayed about that height for a long time but then when they took off they became shoulder high in no time. I am picking Super Sugar Snap and Cascadia, and seeing the beginnings of Mammouth Melting Sugar, bust the Sugar Snaps are still not producing much. They are blooming tho, so still should do OK even late. The SS don't get sun until mid-day, and we have had several days when we had almost no sun, like today. Unless you are just 'gung-ho' to plant beans, I would give them another week and see if you see growth. I think they are worth the wait.

Diane,

Mine were just like Carol's. They reached a certain size, stalled, then top off like crazy when, I think, the weather conditions were just right for them.

I'd second Carol's suggestion that you wait a week to ten days longer and see what they do. If they haven't had a growth spurt in that time frame, I'd agree that they are running too late and unlikely to produce well before it gets too hot. I say that not knowing exactly what your average date of your first frost is. If it is fairly early and you truly need to get beans in the ground now to ensure good production before that first fall freeze, then I certainly would yank the sugar snaps in favor of the beans since beans are more of a sure producer in our climate.

My sugar snap peas haven't produced nearly as well this year as last year. I think it is the wildly erratic weather, but the peas we're harvesting are delicious and worth the space devoted to growing them. I do find I'm getting anxious for them to finish up so I can put pole beans on their trellis.

Dawn

What varieties are you talking about? Thanks

Diane, My Sugar Snaps and Super SS have behaved as Carol's and Dawn's. Stalled for a while and then took off. I have just now started picking. But I got mine into the ground a month earler than you did. There's no way to know what the weather will do for the next couple weeks, but right now our weather is just right for peas, cool and wet. (Although yesterday was hot and wet.) If I had the room to put beans elsewhere I would leave the peas just because I always like to see what will happen.

Punkin, these are an edible-podded pea called "Sugar Snap".

Thanks to all! I'll leave them alone for now. Good to know that stalling out is part of their regular MO. I wish they wouldn't but at least I know it's normal. LOL I'm dying to taste fresh peas again!

Diane

I just harvested mine and pulled them, the heat was starting to get to them and they were turning yellow. This year I grew a bush variety that only got about a foot tall but each plant had 15 pods on them at least. I loved it and will probably grow it again in the future as it definately outperformed the trellised varieties I grew (most of them died 2 weeks ago after producing 2 pods each.) If they look healthy I would leave them. If they are starting to look diseased or dying I would pull them and put something else in.

Hi Diane, Last year I didn't plant anything til after mid-April. The peas still produced enough for my daughter to just sit and pick and eat like she was snacking on popcorn. I thought this year I would plant twice as much, (and earlier,) and now I know I need to plant gobs more to satisfy my kiddos.
We have sugar snap and snow peas, they grew and developed at about the same time. Next year I want to try the taller Super Sugar Snap, make the girls work a little harder, ha!

Hope your peas give you at least one good round, they are so yummy. I like to eat them fresh for breakfast while I am out there working early.

Jammie

Thanks!

I've never once been able to put any peas up. In fact, I've never even had any make it into the house. They're all eaten right in the garden. LOL I've only grown regular peas before this year. It's my first time growing the edible-podded ones.

Diane

We've been harvesting edible-poddded peas for about 4 or 5 weeks now, and I am going to yank them out today and replace them with cucumbers and lima beans.

Ours produced about 6 or 8 lbs. of peas this year compared to 30-something lbs. last year. The weather at our house just got too hot too early this year. When 6 to 12" tall snap pea plants are having to deal with temperatures in the low to mid-90s so early in their season, you know the season will be short.

I'll probably plant them again in the fall since I can cover them up with frost blankets amd keep them going quite a while after the first frost.

I tend to prefer them raw in the garden too. I tend to pick them and eat them right then and there.

Dawn

They are at their very best when they are raw, in the garden, or fresh from the garden. It is still cool at my house so mine are doing fine, but they have certainty been different from variety to variety. The Super Sugar Snap have been earlier and at this point have out-produced the others hands-down, no contest. In all fairness tho, they get a little more sun each day.

The Cascadia are short vines, of course, and the pods seem to fill out very quickly. You have to be on your toes with them and harvest everyday.

The Mammouth Melting Sugar are also small vines and they are the snow pea type. They produce a flat pod with a lot of very small peas inside. Good for stir-fry and such.

The Sugar Snap vines are about the same height as the Super Snap Snap (5 ft) but production has been slower. They are close in taste to the Sugar Snap but with Oklahoma Spring weather being so unpredictable, Super Sugar Snap is probably a better choice just because of DTM.

Mine have suffered through wind, hail, pounding rain, and a chicken attack but I picked a bowl full yesterday plus what I ate in the garden.

Diane, I have tried to freeze them in the past and I am not happy with the results. I guess I am just doing something wrong, but I won't them to be firm and bright green and I haven't been able to achieve that. We just eat all we can and share with friends. I would love to preserve them, but it didn't work for me.

Any ideas anyone?