Snap to it! Snap
Kitchen Garden|June 2020
This month Rob Smith explains why we should grow two much-underrated types of pea, mangetout and sugar snap
Rob Smith
Snap to it! Snap

Most gardeners grow peas on their allotment, veg patch or in the back garden, be it small plants in pots or tall climbing ones up canes. However, there are a couple of types of peas that aren’t as popular as they should be: sugar snaps and mangetout. Before we start talking about the differences between these two species I can’t talk about mangetout without thinking of the TV programme Only Fools and Horses! Why has no comedy-loving breeder named a mangetout ‘Rodney’?

When it comes to classifying mangetout and sugar snap peas, they are all part of the legume family and are technically peas, yet mangetout is Pisum sativum var. saccharatum and sugar snaps are Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon.

Some may think that sugar snaps and mangetout are interchangeable names for the same type of pea, yet even though there are lots of similarities between them, there are some specific differences. Mangetout (meaning ‘eat all’) have flatter pods, with small internal peas and a mild flavour, whereas sugar snaps have a rounder, more fleshy pod and are in fact a cross between a regular garden pea and a mangetout.

This story is from the June 2020 edition of Kitchen Garden.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the June 2020 edition of Kitchen Garden.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM KITCHEN GARDENView All
DIGGING THE DIRT PARSNIP WARS
Kitchen Garden

DIGGING THE DIRT PARSNIP WARS

All's fair in love and war, as John Holloway recounts the friendly rivalry he shares with fellow allotmenteer Joe

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2024
FLAVOURSOME FRUIT GROWING IN CONTAINERS
Kitchen Garden

FLAVOURSOME FRUIT GROWING IN CONTAINERS

Want to grow fruit in pots on your patio or in your backyard? Top tips and advice this month from fruit expert David Patch

time-read
7 mins  |
April 2024
ASPARAGUS TIPS
Kitchen Garden

ASPARAGUS TIPS

Asparagus can be expensive to buy in the shops, but given a little space and time, it’s easy to grow this gourmet treat in your own back garden. Here’s how...

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2024
THE CREATURE FEATURE Beauty and the thief
Kitchen Garden

THE CREATURE FEATURE Beauty and the thief

We all know how valuable bees are on the plot - without their pollinating power, our harvests would be pretty pathetic. This month, Jack Edmonds takes a look at some common April plot visitors, the mining bees, and the parasitic nomad bees out to spoil their fun...

time-read
3 mins  |
April 2024
Paying it forward
Kitchen Garden

Paying it forward

We meet Ross Pearson, a gardening writer and horticultural lecturer from Northumberland, who was inspired and helped by his grandfather and now passes on his experience to the next generation of gardeners

time-read
5 mins  |
April 2024
HARD TO BEET
Kitchen Garden

HARD TO BEET

Tony Flanagan offers a whistle-stop guide to growing this much-loved root and picks out some varieties you might like to try

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2024
FLOWERS TO feast on!
Kitchen Garden

FLOWERS TO feast on!

In this extract taken from A Floral Feast: A Guide to Growing and Cooking with Edible Flowers, Foliage, Herbs and Seeds, Carolyn Dunster focuses on three beautiful and popular annuals

time-read
5 mins  |
April 2024
HUW'S HEROES!
Kitchen Garden

HUW'S HEROES!

This month Huw Richards explains a method of organising your choice of crop varieties - with reliable stalwarts on the one side and those offering something more demanding on the other

time-read
3 mins  |
April 2024
Kitchen +Garden TOP PICKS
Kitchen Garden

Kitchen +Garden TOP PICKS

It's time to get growing and you'll need the very best products for sure-fire success this spring. Check out this selection of must-have products from some of our trusted partners, which should be on your shopping list this month

time-read
3 mins  |
April 2024
MIND THE GAP
Kitchen Garden

MIND THE GAP

Garden Organic's Anton Rosenfeld shows you how to plug the 'hungry gap' in spring and have ready supplies of home-grown food all year round

time-read
3 mins  |
April 2024