Can You Plant Peas From The Grocery Store?

on October 14, 2022

Peas are an extremely popular vegetable that many people purchase frozen from the local grocery store. However, can you actually plant peas that have been purchased from the grocery store? And will they actually grow?

Dried peas from the grocery store will grow readily in the garden, however, peas that have been frozen will not. The dry peas available in the grocery store are an excellent way to get large amounts of peas seeds at an extremely low price which makes it highly beneficial if you are growing them for the purpose of producing green manure.

These dried peas are also extremely suitable for the production of pea shoots and pea pods as they will grow quickly and germinate at a surprisingly consistent rate. However, despite this, I generally prefer to purchase seeds from a garden center. The reason for this is because It is impossible to tell what type of pea it is, shelling, snap, or snow pea. I personally find that growing shelling peas is not worth the effort because it simply takes too long to remove the seeds from the pods

I instead prefer to purchase specific varieties that have edible pods such as snow and snap peas because they do not require anywhere near the same level of effort. If you need to purchase seeds try visiting seeds now as they have an extremely wide range of heirloom variety seeds that are extremely cheap. To visit their site click on the link below.

Can You Grow Peas From Fresh Grocery Store Peas?

The other form of pea which is also readily available in the supermarket is fresh peas, typically many supermarkets only sell snow peas these days rather than shelling or snap peas. These plants are also another source of free seeds from the local grocery store, particularly if you end up having excess peas in your fridge.

To grow plants from these peas it is necessary to allow the pods to dry up completely before planting them. The reason for this is that they will rot if exposed to damp soil conditions if they have not been fully dried out in the first place.

How To Grow Peas At Home In Your Own Garden

As mentioned earlier in the article peas are extremely easy to grow and will germinate very readily in the right conditions. Peas are most suited to growing in relatively cool conditions and usually perform best in spring and autumn though and some regions where the winters are relatively mild and it can also be grown in winter.

Generally, most gardeners tend to plant peas directly into the ground around 2 weeks before the last frost of the season for a spring harvest and usually in the last week or two of summer for an autumn harvest. However, if you live in a region that has relatively mild winters you can benefit from having a mid-to-late autumn sowing of peas which will give you an early harvest in spring.

The most common way to plant the peas is to simply create a long furrow that is approximately 2 inches wide and around 2 inches deep.

The pea seeds can then be sprinkled into the furrow to ensure that you have at least a seed every inch or so. Once the seeds are in position the next step is to create a support structure for the peas.

Caring For Pea Plants

Traditionally, most gardeners use a trellis to support pea plants which typically needs to be around 4 to 5 ft high in most cases though it does very some degree depending on the variety that you are growing. However, when using a trellis it is necessary to tie peas into the trellis periodically because the tendrils on the plant are not strong enough to hold the plant upright.

To speed up this process most people tend to tie string horizontally across many plants rather than tying them individually. Typically, this needs to be done more than once in a season as the plants get taller.

However, there is an alternative method recommended by Charles Dowding which reduces the need to use a trellis at all and does not add any additional work. What Charles does is places thick posts in a row, a couple of feet apart, and then plant the peas in between them.

To provide support to the growing plants’ horizontal lines of wire are strung between the posts on both sides at a height of around 4 to 5 inches from the ground. The string on either side of the post will help to keep the plants upright as they grow through this first level of support.

Additional levels of support then need to be added as the plant gets taller and typically this is done by adding an additional horizontal line of string a further 4 to 5 inches above the first one line of support. This process is repeated until the plant reaches its full height.

Once the plants are in the ground it will typically take around 7 to 14 days for the seedlings to start to appear and they will get up to a height of 3 to 4 inches within another couple of weeks. During this period it is important to ensure that the peas remain moist and well-watered.

Harvesting Peas

Once the plants reach their full height they will begin to produce white flowers in most cases that will quickly produce pods seeds that start out flat irrespective of the type of pea being grown. The peas pods will extend in length usually to around 4 inches or so before the seeds begin to develop and fill out.

In most cases, peas can be harvested once the pod reaches the point at which it is around the thickness of a pencil or slightly thicker. However, even if it has reached that size it is best to pick only one or two peas and open up the pods to see how the seeds are developing.

Once the peas begin to produce pods they will typically become quite prolific within a matter of weeks which means that you need to regularly harvest the pods as they appear throughout the season.

The peas are best eaten fresh straight from the plant, however, if you have a gut of them they can easily be frozen by blanching the peas for a minute or two in boiling water.

The peas will continue to produce for as long as the weather conditions are favorable which means that the temperature cannot get too hot in the case of spring-harvested peas. Once the temperatures get around the mid-80s or higher during the day then the peas will start to decline and die back.

In the case of Autumn growing peas, the plants will simply cease to produce flowers as the weather conditions get too cold. However, the plants can survive relatively cold temperatures in winter and then produce flowers in spring providing an early harvest.

When the plants have died back it is a good idea to collect seeds from any remaining pods on the plant which is quick and easy to do. Simply pick the pea pods from the plants and then store them in a dry location until you need them next.