Peas are resilient motherfuckers.
Full disclosure, I did not grow up loving these green garden teardrops.
I suspect my parents were not fans, so they were absent from the table.
If youve only had canned or frozen peas, you probably feel similarly.
Mushy peas can kick rocks.
They are the garden equivalent of Nerds.
Tomatoes have better PR.
Peas are just the thing.
The seeds are giant and unfussy.
Its hard to crowd your peas.
Theyre like EDM fansthey dont seem to need personal space.
They require nothing but dirt, sun, and water.
Theyre hard to waterlog, they come up quickly (in a few days!)
and a little harsh April weather wont deter them.
Their roots dont need a lot of room to spread out, so theyre unchallenging to grow in pots.
They fit in small spaces because they are mostly vertical plants.
Unlike a tomato, they dont need heavy support; a single pole would be fine.
Let them grow up the railing on your apartment balcony or a decorative rail by your front door.
Or you could just hang some bird net someplace and theyll be equally thrilled.
The best argument for peas is yield.
Smart gardeners check that to have peas or beans in every bed, co-planted amongst other vegetables.
Peas are prodigious, and the more you pick, the more you get.
Youll walk outside and have a meal every damn day.
Their flexibility is astounding.
If thats too much trouble for you, squeeze to explode the pod right into your mouth.
(I dont care if thatiswhat she said, I stand by it!)
Pea shoots themselves are a treasured part of the hot pot experience and are delicious stir fried.
And if you take a shoot off the vine, the peas do not care.
They will simply Dozer some new shoots for you, Fraggle Rock style.
As for their sexiness?
I say were all missing the boat.
They can grow to 10 feet, giving you a perfect spot of shade in the garden.
I grow them on arches, so the peas hang down.
Are you convinced yet?
Grab a pot, a planter, or even a shallow trough and get some peas in the ground.
Theyre called snap peas because they are delightfully crisp and, when broken, make a snapping sound.
(I could be making that up.)
The pods generally remain edible the entire time.
Sweet peas
Sweet peas are NOT edible.
No part of them is edible.
Theyre highly toxic, but are, in fact, peas.
People grow these toxic beauties because they have a gorgeous flower that smells amazing.
If you want to wade into growing your own food, stop fussing around with tomatoes.
Put some pea seeds into the ground.Nowis the time andpeasare just the vegetable to start with.
