In My Kitchen Garden: Snow Peas

We’re enjoying a plentiful harvest of snow peas – but then again, if you plant snow peas you’re almost bound to enjoy a good crop. They have got to be the easiest vegetable I’ve ever grown; they don’t require much space (a trellis is handy), seem to have very few problems with disease or pests, need little more attention than steady water, and yield handfuls of tasty pea pods.
If you’re not familiar with snow peas (commonly used in Chinese restaurant cooking), or have only had the limp, flavorless ones available in the produce section, it’s worth growing them in your own garden. Like sugar snap peas the entire pod is edible, though with snow peas the pod is much thinner and they appear flat (though if the peas mature they will start to round out). They can be eaten raw (I sometimes use them in salads or just munch them straight from the garden) or lightly blanched; cooked in stir fries; prepared as a dish on their own (I’ll pan-saute them with sesame oil, soy sauce, fresh grated ginger, and a garnish of sesame seeds); or even substituted for peas in other dishes. We recently used them in place of shelled peas in a spring vegetable soup, and it was delicious. They are delicate and cook quickly (in a matter of minutes), so you must be careful not to overcook or they will turn limp, losing the delicious sweet crunch that makes them so wonderful.
They are a cool weather crop, so we are getting to the end of the season, but plan to put some in your garden next fall. I use Oregon Sugar Pod II.
Also in the garden, some potato shoots are appearing and the salad greens are doing well.