Peas are ideal to grow in AV weather

Agood vegetable plant that can be grown in winter in warmer areas of the Antelope Valley now and in the colder areas starting in early February are peas.

I especially like snow or sugar peas. Snow peas have edible pods. Garden or green peas need to have the peas removed from the pods. Most snow and garden peas need cool temperatures in order to grow, once it gets hot the plant shrivels and dies. Peas like full sun and cool temperatures. So find a location in your garden with full sun.

When starting peas (and beans) from seed it is important to soak the seeds from a few hours to overnight. This will speed up the germination process and also improve germinate rates. If you have never grown peas or beans in your garden before or it has been several years it is best to add inoculant to the seeds or soil next to seeds.

Peas and beans are in the legume family, and many plants in this family for root nodules. These root nodules are colonies of bacteria that can absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into a form the plant can use.

If you have little to no of the desirable bacteria in the soil, you will need to add nitrogen fertilizer to your soil, and the plant still may not have the vigor they should have. You can order the bacteria to add to your soil, and this is called an inoculant. Most peas and beans need the same bacteria, soybeans need a different inoculant. It is still best to lightly fertilize once after the seeds germinate, because it does take time for the nodules to form and the natural process to start.

Pea seeds germinated very slowly in cold soil, so if you are planting now, you can place clear plastic down on the soil for a week to help warm the soil. Remove the plastic and plant the seeds. I have raised beds that I can add a plastic tunnel too, this looks like a small greenhouse. I remove the tunnel after the peas have germinated. By the way I have a tunnel over my bell peppers and they are still surviving. Peas have shallow roots and like not to dry out. So, adding mulch around the plants when they grow to a couple inches tall is good, use compost or even straw.

Peas do best with a trellis to grow on. You do not need to tie the plants to the trellis, they will attach themselves to a wire trellis. A simple trellis made of garden stakes and two- or three-foot chicken wire works just fine. You can also use tomato cages if you have some lying around from summer. Snow peas are ready for harvest when you can first see the seeds developing in the pods.

I like my winter garden as much or more than the summer garden. Due to the temperature, winter gardens need less water and have few insect pests and weeds. I do need to protect the garden from the rabbits, which are looking for anything green to eat during the winter.