How to Harvest Peas for the Best Flavor and Freshness These delicious vegetables taste best when they're fresh from the garden. In This Article View All In This Article How to Know When Peas Are Ready How to Harvest Peas How to Store Peas Close Credit: Getty / ValeriyG Peas are one of the most delicious vegetables you can plant in your garden—and they're remarkably easy to grow. These plants mature quickly, too, bursting up out of the ground and rapidly scaling a trellis (for climbing varieties) or forming a bush (for bush varieties). They're heavy producers, so you can grow a lot of them, even in a small garden bed. Best of all, homegrown peas are incredibly tasty—even for those who insist that they don't usually like the taste. But before you can make a meal, you have to harvest those peas—ideally at a time when their flavor is the best. Here's how to do just that. Teri Speight, landscape gardener, gardening coach, podcast host, and co-author of The Urban Garden Jennifer Holston, gardening coach and home hydroponics specialist How to Harvest Broccoli the Right Way, According to Horticulturists How to Know When Peas Are Ready to Harvest Watch your pea plants carefully as they grow—it's a lovely part of the gardening experience. The plants will become taller, push out leaves, reach for support with their tiny tendrils, and develop blossoms. Once you reach this point, it's important to carefully watch the developing pea pods. "[They] will become plump and gently bulging from the peas inside," says gardening coach Teri Speight. "The pods should not be flat, but filled with peas and a little wriggle room. If the pods are too firm, the peas are overripe." Holston recommends looking for different signs based on the type of pea: Snap Peas: Plump and glossy podsSnow Peas: Immature peas appear through the thin pod wallSweet (Shelling Peas): Holston notes that waxy pods can indicate the peas are past prime picking time. She recommends throwing them in a soup instead. "When in doubt, taste test!" Speight explains that the key to flavor lies in the timing. "Read the seed packets," she says. "Too soon, and you'll end up with flat pods without peas. Too late, and the pods will be filled with firm peas, and they won't have the sweet taste of freshly picked pods." The best time? "Perfectly harvested peas have a pea-shaped silhouette, plump but not bursting, and are sweet to taste," she adds. A Guide to the Most Common Types of Peas How to Harvest Peas Once you've determined the peas are ready to go, plan your time to pick! "Harvest in a fresh, dew-dried garden, about 65 days after planting," says gardening coach Jennifer Holston. "Hold the vine at the pea stem and gently pinch the stem above the pod." If the peas are growing well during the height of the season, you may need to harvest them every couple of days to enjoy the freshest peas continuously. Remember that some pea varieties are shelling peas, where you'll need to remove the peas from the pod before eating. Other varieties have edible pods. In many areas, you can plant another crop of peas to harvest later in the fall. Since peas are cool-season crops, they'll appreciate the fall temperatures just as much as they did in the spring. How to Store Peas In the short term, you can store fresh unshelled peas in the fridge for about a week—but watch for signs of spoilage. You can keep them in a breathable or perforated bag in the crisper drawer. For easy, long-term storage, it's hard to beat freezing. "The most favored way is to flash freeze them on a flat pan in the freezer," says Speight. "After a few hours, pour them into a zippered bag to cook whenever." Explore more: Garden Vegetable Garden Ideas