As a gardener, knowing when to harvest peas is key to enjoying their peak flavor and texture. Depending on the variety, there are a few telltale signs that indicate your peas are ready for picking.
Check Days To Maturity
First, look at the seed packet or plant tag to see when the peas will be ready to harvest. Most peas are ready 60 to 70 days after they were planted. Write that date down on your calendar and keep a close eye on the plants as the date gets closer.
Look For Flowers
Pea plants will produce flowers before the pods form. Once you see flowers, start checking for young pods a few days later. The flowers indicate pods will soon emerge.
Monitor Pod Size
How big and round the pea pods are tells you when they are ready to be picked.
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Snow and sugar snap peas should be picked when pods are 2-5 inches long. Choose pods that are still flat, not rounded.
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Shelling peas are best harvested when the pods are plump and rounded from the peas inside. Pop open a pod to check – the peas should be touching each other when ready.
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Snap peas are ideal when pods have started filling out but aren’t completely rounded. Pods should be glossy and crisp, not bulging.
Check Pod Color
When you pick any kind of pea, the pods should be bright green. Do not eat pods that are dull, yellow, or brown; they are too ripe.
Sample Taste
There’s no better indicator of pea ripeness than taste. Pop open a few pods and taste right in the garden. Sweet, tender peas and crunchy pods means it’s time to start harvesting.
Pick Often
Once the peas are ready, pick every couple of days to encourage more pod production. Use two hands – support vines with one hand while gently plucking pods off with the other.
Remove Overmature Pods
It’s important to promptly pick overripe pods, as leaving them on the vines signals to the plant to stop producing. Removing spent pods right away keeps the harvest coming.
If you pay attention to these signs, you can be sure that the peas you pick from the garden are at their tastiest. When crops are harvested often, they are plentiful and can be eaten right away or stored for later use.
How Do You Pick the Perfect Moment to Harvest Peas?
If youve never grown your own peas before, youre in for a treat. The little pods that you pick right off the vine taste much better than anything in a can or freezer bag.
Most pea varieties go from seed to harvest in 50 to 60 days. Pea pods are technically fruit, and fruit is one of the very last steps in a plants life cycle. As soon as your vines begin to bear fruit, pods can appear from the base of those pretty little pea flowers. Pods will reach maturity at different times, so youll want to stay on top of harvesting. Check your plants daily so you dont miss your window for the sweetest, crispest peas youve ever tasted.
So how do you know when peas are in that window? There are 3 signs to look for.
The Pea Pod Has Reached the Right Thickness
As a general rule, you want to harvest pods as soon as theyre big enough to eat. Heres what that looks like for the different types of peas:
Snow peas are best harvested when theyre technically still immature. Pick the pods when they are about 2 to 4 inches long, before the peas inside start to form. The ideal snow pea is flat and crisp. You can typically harvest snow peas within days of the flower opening.
For snap peas, both the crunchy shell and the tender little peas inside are edible. Sugar snap peas are perfectly crisp and sweet when the peas inside have plumped up a bit but arent really pressing against the sides of the shell.
Unlike snow peas and snap peas, the shell of shell peas is not great to eat. Its technically edible but super fibrous. Shell peas are grown strictly for the tasty peas inside the pod. So with that in mind, wait to harvest shell peas until the peas inside are nice and round. Youll be able to see them swelling against each other and the sides of the pod. It usually takes a pod about 3 weeks to fully form from the flower.
When To Harvest Peas – The Perfect Time To Pick
FAQ
How do you know when to pick your peas?
Pea harvesting time depends on the type you’re growing (snow, snap, or shelling peas) and their maturity. Generally, you want to pick peas when they’re plump, sweet, and tender, but not overripe. For snap peas, pick them when they’re full but still shiny, and for snow peas, pick them when they’re flat and crisp.
How long can you leave peas on the plant?
If you leave peas on the plant for too long, they can get tough and lose their flavor. Pick them every two to three days. You can save some of the seeds to plant peas the next year, or you can dry them and add them to soups and stews.
How big should peas be before you pick them?
For snow peas, I pick them when they’re around 3” long, and before the pea inside starts getting plump. Sometimes a few sneak past me and get to 4” and they’re still good.