Planting Peas from Seed for Fall Harvests

It’s hard to believe that autumn is quickly approaching, especially when it is still so hot outside, but September is already here & cooler temperatures will be here too before we know it. My veggie plants are still growing strong for the most part, but it won’t be long before they kick the bucket. Enter Snowbird peas. I want to get a little bit more mileage out of my victory garden before winter and I have quite a few snowbird pea seeds leftover from when I planted most of them in the spring. Also, I managed to save a few seeds from my spring peas crop & I would like to try planting seeds from my own harvests. I figured that I might as well plant what I have, especially since the snowbird peas that I planted a few months ago grew so well for me.

I held off planting the seeds for a little bit longer than I had originally planned because it has just been so hot here for the last few weeks. Temperatures had hovered the 90’s with drought-like conditions for a good portion of August, which is unusual for our area. I knew that there was no way that I would be able to keep any seeds moist in those conditions, so I had to wait until it finally cooled down a bit. After many forecasted rainy days that never produced a drop of rain, we finally got a full day of steady showers & the cooler weather that accompanies those kinds of days. Finally, it was seed planting weather!

I got to planting my pea seeds yesterday, which was so blustery that I thought my seeds might fly away before I could plant them! My tomatoes are still growing strong, so I had to make space where I could for my seeds. I never took down the supports that I built for my spring snowbird peas, so I just planted my new seeds where I had previously planted the spring plants. I dug 1-inch trenches surrounding my peas support system that I created using old blind turners & twine. Then I planted one seed every two inches & covered with soil. I also planted all of the leftover cucumber seeds that I still have left in two separate trenches. I gave the seeds a hearty watering & the job was done. Hopefully the plants will take off quickly & we’ll be able to enjoy peas & cucumbers in the fall.

All I need to do now is make sure that the seeds stay moist, which means watering every day here until they start to sprout. Once the sprouts get to be about 1-2 inches tall I will thin them out so the plants are 5 inches apart, as this will give them plenty of room to grow. It’s a super easy process that worked out great for me when I planted the spring crop.

Oh, what a crop that was too! I don’t have a lot of experience growing from seed, so every step of the aforementioned process completely wowed me. I couldn’t believe that all of the seeds that I planted sprouted & I was excited to watch all of the plants thrive. Then came the flowers & the delicious peas that followed, all grown from seed! The plants just kept on producing too until they just couldn’t take the summer heat any longer & I had to remove all of them in late July. I was sad to see them grow, but I looked forward to planting them again.

There is just something so satisfying about growing plants from seed. It makes you feel like you know what you’re doing, even if you have no idea what you’re doing. Growing from seed especially makes you feel accomplished when it’s a plant that you can eat like veggies & fruits. There really is no feeling like eating something that you grew from a tiny seed. You should definitely try it if you haven’t, it’s so much easier than you think. Snowbird peas have been one of the easiest plants to grow from seed for me and I can’t wait to watch them grow again. I definitely recommend planting peas if you are looking for an easy fall veggie to grow from seed. Happy gardening, everyone!

Like this article? Check out my seed catalog review & see how I planted cucumber seeds in 10 minutes.