Years ago, when home vegetable gardens were more the rule than the exception, home yards were not always the focal point of the home. In other words, yards were yards—usually expansive and not necessarily designed landscapes. Vegetable gardens were an integral part of life. As society migrated to more urban living, smaller lots and focused on the beauty of our homes, a grander landscaping focus naturally followed. However, now many are questioning the wisdom of devoting so much money and our precious resources to landscape maintenance when the yard space could be used for more productive use, such as, once again, a vegetable garden.

Planting sugar peas shouldn't be such a dilemma. I’ve been instructed for years by the Lexington Master Gardeners to plant this vegetable over the Thanksgiving weekend in November. Quite honestly, that weekend doesn’t work for me; life is much too busy. However, once I began searching for resources for this information, I have not found a book on South Carolina gardening that says to plant these peas in the fall! So, I turned to the 2010 South Carolina Midlands Master Gardener Calendar and Journal (an annual local publication), and there, on the “November To Do List” (under “Edibles”), is the entry, “Sow English and sugar snap peas, (as well as radishes, kohlrabi, lettuce, parsley, fennel, and dill) the vegetable garden during Thanksgiving weekend. Harvest winter crop early next spring.” So there’s our documentation for planting this crop now.