For years, I was stuck in the mindset that a garden gets planted every May, for our northern, mountainous region in the Alleghenies. After a few seasons of planting peas early, it opened up the window of some early spring planting. Uniquely, companion planting peas with strawberries.
We do rototill our garden. Although it could work to plant peas in the main garden space, I want to plant these early March succession of peas in a different location. I do have two raised beds. One bed is completely empty, but I am wanting more peas than this for this spring. I just have some garden fever going on. I’m loving have plants under grow lights indoors, but it’s time to start planting some seeds outdoors. My goal is to plant peas in the strawberry beds between my double row of strawberries in March where the soil has its first earliest days of being able to worked, 11 weeks before our average last spring frost.
Strawberry Patch
We planted strawberries last spring. The beds are 3’ wide with 3’ rows in between them. In the beds, the strawberry plants are spaced 18” a part. There is some empty space between the two rows within the same bed. They do not have any landscape fabric around them, so there is room to plant in-between them.
We do have some new strawberry bareroots coming this spring, most likely April. I plan to plant these new roots by the current strawberries, which would essentially extend the current beds, but with a 2’ walk-way in-between the new and old beds. Come April, I can plant a second succession of pea seeds with those strawberries as well.
Peas with strawberries work great as companion plants. Peas release nitrogen back into the soil, which in return helps the strawberries with their nutrient needs.
Pea Seeds
I’ve grown two types of peas before. I originally ordered what I thought were garden peas. The varieties just looked good from Baker Creek, but I didn’t read the whole descriptions. Last growing season I sowed Little Marvel, a garden shelling pea, and Oregon Sugar Pod II, a snow pea. My husband, the pea-eating-monster, noticed the difference and started eating shells and all with the Oregon sugar pod peas.
The first type of pea are garden peas, also known as shelling peas. Shells need to be removed before eating any of these seed varieties. Eat these raw, cook, can, or freeze the peas.
The next two types of peas can be eaten shell and all. The main difference between snap and snow peas are the size of the peas within, as well as the flavor. Snap peas have a higher content in sugar than the snow peas. Snow peas also have much smaller peas within its slender pod than the snap peas.
The varieties of peas I am planting for the 2023 growing season, include Lincoln Pea- a garden pea, Little Marvel, Oregon Sugar Pod II, and Lillian’s Caseload.
Where to Buy Pea Seeds
Lowes, Walmart, Rural King, Tractor Supply Company, and other major stores do sell packets of peas seeds. Local feed stores and garden centers carry seeds as well, such as my local stores of AgWay in Dubois, PA and Haag’s Feed Store in Troutville, PA.
Order pea seeds online. Baker’s Creek Heirloom Seeds have free shipping, as well as a free seed packet orders over $10. MI Gardener offers quality seeds as well and offers free shipping on orders over $12-$15. Other online seed catalogs and companies offer quality seeds, such as Johnny’s Select Seeds, Botonical Interest, and Burpee, but shipping is excluded until larger orders.
Prep Planting Space in the Strawberry Bed
Our strawberries are covered in a mulch layer of fall leaves. Between the two rows in a bed, I removed this mulch. Then using a hand held tiller, I loosen the soil.
Hoe a row the length of the strawberry bed, about an inch deep.
I originally planted my strawberry plants 18” apart, so there should have been space the whole way down the bed. Little did I remember that last summer, some of the strawberry runners rooted within the bed. So, when hoeing a row, I had to stop and skip over where there were strawberry plants.
My second bed had so many strawberry plants in the center that I didn’t plant any peas there.
My third bed was similar to the second, but I hoed a row along side the exterior of the south side. If I would do this again, I would create a row on the north side to not block out any of the light to the strawberries from the peas.
Plant Pea Seeds with Strawberries
Plant a row of seeds between the two rows of strawberries by hand, two to three inches apart. Push each seed into the ground, so that the seed does not move when covered. Cover the seeds so that there is an inch of soil over top of the seeds. Cover the strawberry plants and the rows of pea seeds with leaves for a mulch.
A single row seed planter would work as well for areas with no other plants in the way. I thought I would be able to try this out, but every strawberry bed had other plants, so I will leave using the single row seed planter for another later planting of peas.
Skip the step using a hoe to create a row. Add the small pea attachment. Add the pea seeds. Line up the planter in the center of the strawberries. Push the planter down the center, taking care not to step on the strawberry plants.
If the soil or weather has been dry, which in early March, our soil has more chance of being overly saturated so that is not a problem for now, but if the soil is dry, water the peas after planting.
Stake Pea Seedlings
Peas grow exceptionally tall. They will grow without netting, but using netting will result in easier picking, as well as a more abundant harvest.
When peas have emerged from the soil and begin to grow, it is time to add supports. These can be added earlier, such as when you plant the peas. But, I just imagine myself pounding the posts on top of where I just planted seeds, so I wait until I can seed the plants first.
Pound metal T-posts, or another type of long stake, into the ground at the two ends of the pea row. Add a pea trellis net between the two T-posts. Secure with zip ties.
Over the pea’s life, it will climb and grow on the netting.
Watering the Peas
I let nature water for me, being in a zone with plenty of rainfall. Sometimes we do have droughts, which I find to be such a pain. We don’t have irrigation in the garden, so in droughts, everything needs to be watered by a hose.
If peas do not receive enough water, they won’t have as much growth in the plant itself, as well as not producing quality peas with healthy sized pods. In a drought, the pods are smaller and have less quality peas to enjoy.
Harvest and Enjoy Garden Peas from the Strawberry Patch
Peas will blossom first. Picking stems with blossoms on it is neat to do for floral arrangements. If the goal though is to harvest peas to enjoy, don’t pick too many for flowers.
After the blossoming stage, peas will begin to develop pods where the blossoms were. Let the peas develop fully. Garden peas will be nice and full within their shells, but they can be picked at an earlier stage for juicier peas. I like picking them earlier. My husband likes picking them later.
Snow peas, on the other hand, won’t be filled out as much. Pick the when pods have developed.
Saving Pea Seeds
If peas are wrinkly and feel dry on the exterior of the shell, those peas are going to be bitter and not taste well. Leaving these peas to continue developing will create seed pods. Collect the dry seeds to plant peas again in your next succession planting.
Succession Planting Peas with Strawberries and More
I plant peas once a month. Peas like cooler weather, so growing to harvest in late spring or early summer and then in the fall is the best.
Nevertheless, I’ve harvested peas in the hot summer days before. I plan to plant peas monthly throughout my gardening spaces. For March, the peas will be planted with the strawberries, and with the center of the one raised garden bed. In April, peas will be planted with the new strawberries, and possible a row in its own garden space. Come May, another row will be planted in the garden. In the following months more rows will be planted, as well as replanting the spaces where the earlier peas have died off.
By the time of the second succession in the current strawberries, the strawberries will be done producing fruit. So planting again will not be that different than the spring planting, besides it is much warmer and may need watered when planted and every now and then.
Sometimes we have warm falls. In 2022, I was harvesting flowers in November. That’s absolutely crazy, but awesome! Saving seeds at no cost with minimal work can bring such an abundance of crops when they are not expected.
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