Putting the "snap" in snap peas - gardening

Sunset, Sept, 1996 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

Sugar snaps are praised for their flavor, but watch out for mildew. We grew nine varieties, and here's what we found

Since their debut in 1979, edible-pod snap peas have become the gourmet pea. In markets, their thick, crunchy-sweet pods command hefty prices - sometimes approaching $4 a pound. Fortunately, gardeners can grow their own.

One major drawback for gardeners in the West is powdery mildew. This fungus coats the leaves and stems with white spores and can wipe out a 'Sugar Snap' plant - the original All-America Selections winner and the old standby for flavor - before it produces much of a crop.

Some snap pea varieties are touted as mildew resistant. But do they stand up to such claims in the garden? We tested nine commonly available varieties. (Of the nine, four are not labeled as mildew resistant, and five are listed as resistant or partially resistant.) We planted one crop of each in March and a second in September and monitored each variety for mildew. Then a panel of experts from Sunset's garden and food staffs rated the varieties for flavor.

The bottom line? Snap pea varieties vary widely in flavor; some are crunchy-sweet, others watery and bland. For the snappiest peas, choose your varieties carefully or plant them in fall when mildew is less of a problem.

'SUPER SUGAR MEL': A TWO-TIME WINNER

In our spring planting, 3-foot-tall 'Super Sugar Mel' was a clear winner. Although it's not touted as mildew resistant, it showed no signs of fungus. And the flavor was rated one of the three best by our panel. The 3 1/2- to 4-inch-long pods are sweet, crunchy, and juicy. The plant is also a top producer, since two pods develop per node.

A number of the other snap pea varieties in our spring planting succumbed to mildew, including 'Cascadia', which is supposed to have some resistance. Two favorites for flavor, 2-foot-tall 'Sugar Ann' and 6-foot-tall 'Sugar Snap', were almost completely covered with mildew by early June. 'Sugar Bon', 'Sugar Pop', and 'Super Snappy' didn't get mildew, but they weren't especially tasty. Most tasters rated them only somewhat sweet.

The fall planting fared much better. None of the snap peas developed mildew - even our flavor favorites 'Sugar Ann' and 'Sugar Snap', which had both succumbed to mildew in the spring. The one major drawback of 'Sugar Snap' and its new, flavorful, mildew-resistant sibling, 'Super Sugar Snap', was that the vines grew so tall that they were damaged significantly during the windy weather in January.

RELATED ARTICLE: GROWING TIPS FOR SNAP PEAS

* Choose a spot with well-drained soil and mix in plenty of organic matter. Soils should have a neutral (not acid) pH and high levels of phosphorus and potassium.

* For optimum air circulation and ease of picking, grow even the 2- to 3-foot-tall dwarf types on short trellises (wire or netting) set 3 to 4 feet apart.

* Sow seeds 1/2 to 1 inch deep and 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart.

* Keep the soil evenly moist.

* Harvest snap peas when pods and peas have expanded completely.

* To keep plants producing, harvest regularly.

* Remove "strings" before cooking. Snap off both ends and pull off the strings along with them.

WHERE TO BUY SEEDS

Nichols Garden Nursery, 1190 N. Pacific Highway, Albany, OR 97321; (541) 928-9280. Sells 'Sugar Ann', 'Sugar Snap', and 'Cascadia'.

Park Seed Co., Cokesbury Rd., Greenwood, SC 29647; (800) 845-3369. Sells 'Super Sugar Mel', 'Sugar Snap', 'Super Sugar Snap', and 'Sugar Bon'.

W. Atlee Burpee & Co., 300 Park Ave., Warminster, PA 18991; (800) 888-1447. Sells 'Sugar Snap', 'Super Sugar Snap', 'Sugar Bon', and 'Super Snappy'.