Swiss Giant Snow Pea | Pisum sativum
Delightful as an ornamental and an edible variety.
For the Swiss, peas are part of their national identity. Primitive garden peas were found during excavations beneath houses of the ancient Swiss lake dwellers, which date back to the Bronze and Stone Ages. Much later, but not too far away, Austrian monk-scientist Gregor Mendel used peas in his famous experiments to demonstrate the heritable nature of specific traits. These experiments led to an essential understanding of genetics that still informs seed savers and seed breeders today.
Tall, robust vines double as an ornamental with large bi-colored flowers in shades of pink and burgundy. 5' vines produce high yields of 3-4" pale, sweet pods.
For best results, inoculate before sowing to boost the nitrogen levels of your garden soil. Inoculant is available at garden centers. Sow as soon as the soil can be worked for a late spring crop, or in late summer for a fall crop. Trellising not required, though all peas prefer it. Harvest pods when plump but not bursting. Frequent and steady harvests help plants to continue to produce. Saving seeds is easy: just let some peas dry on the vine.
Days to Germination 7-10 days
Days to Maturity 60 days
Planting Depth 1"
Spacing in Row 1-2"
Spacing Between Rows 36"
Height at Maturity 72"
Width at Maturity 2"
Sun Preference Full to Partial Sun
Artwork by Sara Pearce (1952-2020). Sifting through history to learn about the origins of plant varieties is like going on an archeological dig. Through collage, Sara reimagines giant peas, slaloming down Swiss slopes, towards the buried remains of early dwellers.
About Hudson Valley Seed Company
They are a values-driven seed company that practices and celebrates responsible seed production and stewardship. Hudson Valley are best known for their beautiful artist-design seed packs (Art Packs) that appeal to gardeners, gift buyers, and lovers of art and nature.
These Art Packs, most fundamentally, tell stories. Hudson Valley challenges artists to convey in a manner that is fully their own, the history and meaning of the seed variety contained in each pack. These stories were once integral to traditional societies-stories of seeds were often origin stories for entire communities and peoples, and the lore and beliefs that accumulated around seed varieties reflected the nearly familial way in which gardeners and farmers regarded their crops. Our society is, by and large, no longer connected to plants this way. But we like to think these Art Packs help to stitch our fragmented world back together: useful seeds, evocative art, both equally valuable to our experience of being human.