sugar snap peas

[rainbowgardener]

So my sugar snap peas, which I have never grown before, have some good sized pods on them. My question is how do I know when they are ready to pick? Are they supposed to get filled out as much as regular garden peas?

thanks!

[AnnaIkona]

I pick my sugar snaps as soon as the small "vine" attaching the snap pea pods is drying up and the bods look fully green. Also, they should be soft-ish and not too hard.

[!potatoes!]

let them fill out almost as much as garden peas. you'll get a feel for it - after a certain point the sugars in the seeds turn to starch and they get less sweet and a bit harder to chew. you want to catch it just a bit before that.

[applestar]

I second that. My older DD doesn't "get" the idea of sugarsnaps -- that you can eat the tenderpods -- and prefers to take the peas out and eat them, so I let them fill out a bit more than I would normally, plump and still sweet.

[MichaelC]

I second that. My older DD doesn't "get" the idea of sugarsnaps -- that you can eat the tenderpods -- and prefers to take the peas out and eat them, so I let them fill out a bit more than I would normally, plump and still sweet.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with that problem! Personally, I also like to pick them small like snow peas.

[!potatoes!]

they're a lot sweeter (and higher protein!) if you let the seed swell at least some.