Gardeners and eaters alike look forward to sugar snap peas every year and adore them for their crisp texture and fresh, sweet flavor. Sugar snaps are a type of edible pod pea, which means you don’t need to shell them before eating. They are one of the first crops you can plant each year and can be sown in Mobile County around mid-January through February. They are best grown in a sunny location along a trellis or circled around a pole. For optimal flavor and tenderness they should be picked shortly after the peas begin to visibly swell inside the pod, and they should be harvested regularly to encourage continuous production. Sugar snaps are perfect in stir fries and salads, but they are so delicious that many gardeners eat them right off the plant as fast as they can pick them!
By Jennifer McDonald