Hey! I love zipper peas. They're a crowder pea and I had to find mine at a local feed store, but they're soooo yummy and taste nothing like your "pea" that you find in the grocery. I suppose they're a field pea type, but soooo good when simmered with some pepper and some chicken broth. Can I say it again? Sooooo good.

I've only had one type - Green Arrow. I ate them raw right out of the pod, didn't even make it into the house. They were so SWEET. I planted 4/sq, two on either side of the trellis.
My son, who doesn't like peas, ate them reluctantly (as usual), but did remark that they tasted better than the peas from the store.
I'm putting in more this fall.

I'm not a big pea eater but I do like sugar snap peas with the edible pods. You don't have to shell them but you can if you want to. The seeds are widely available and inexpensive, I got them for 25 cents/ 41 seeds (plenty for 4 sqs).

Good gardening, Mary

For spring peas this year, I planted five varieties:

Petit pois - Precoville
Green Arrow
Golden Indian
Premium
Mr. Big

The Premium peas did best at the start, but only two or three pods made it to harvest time - the rest of the plants shrived up before. Mr. Big germinated very poorly and didn't amount to anything.

The other three varieties produced reasonable crops. My husband is not a big pea eater, but he liked all of them about equally well and said they were all much better than peas he has had before. He appreciated the fact that Golden Indian has edible pods, so no shelling was necessary for them. Golden Indian was probably the most productive of them all, but it was not quite as sweet as the other two. I didn't find much difference between petit pois-Precoville (it actually wasn't all that petit) and Green Arrow. Both were sweet and tender and tasty.

I grew Golden Indian on tall tomato cages and allowed the others to roam. If you grow them on cages or other support, four squares will probably provide a reasonable amount for a family of four to enjoy peas at several meals, but if you want to eat peas more often you'll want more.

They're not really peas, but I just planted some black-eyed peas, since they are one of the few plants that will tolerate the heat of central Texas in July-August. Will probably plant some of my leftover spring pea seed later for fall.

Mary, where did you get your seeds for 25 cents ?

Ribbit~ I had to look up "crowder peas," as I'd never heard of them before (I'd heard of cow peas tho)! They sound, um, interesting... Maybe I'll keep those in mind for a few years down the road when I need a little adventure in my garden, but I think I'd scare the boys if I put those on their plates any time soon! LOL

gardener_mary~ That's a great deal! I actually don't like sugar snaps *because* of the edible pod haha. Just feels weird in my mouth for some reason... Lean Cuisine's always have them, and I end up squeezing the peas out to eat, and leave the shell teehee.

organic_tx_gardener~ Thanks for taking the time to write about your pea growing experiences. Quite helpful. I've made notes for the future on what varieties to avoid.

I've decided to go with the Green Arrow variety because, a) they sound like they'll be right up my alley, and I'll be able to get the boys to eat them, and b) they're sold through the same company (Sustainable Seed Co) as other seeds I'm purchasing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening With Care

25¢ or less can usually be found in WM or Rite-Aid/Walgreen's. American Seed brand usually.

I LOVE Sugar Snap peas. Previously, I used um...Alaska? Or some other kind, anyway, but this year I tried them at the recommendation of someone here, and they will have a more significant space allotted next year. I also have "Wando" which haven't ripened quite yet, but yup, definitely Sugar Snap from now on.

Cook them? HA! They're lucky if they even make it into the house! I'd rather eat them raw.

The seeds that I got for 25c were American Seeds and I got them at Walmart, they also had much larger packages of Burpee seeds for just 95c. I don't think that you can beat the value of American Seeds when you just need a few seeds of a basic variety. Most of the American Seeds at Walmart were only 20c, the peas were the most expensive on the rack.

Good gardening, Mary

Snowflake Snow Peas hands down.

You can pick them small and put them in salads, pick them larger and steam them or let them fill up and shell them. Much more versatile and a better producer than any of the shelling peas I planted this spring. I'm only planting these this fall.

Cheers,
Steve