Freeze the Peas? Yes Please!

Harvesting~ Both snow peas and sugar snap peas have edible pods. Pick ripe pea pods from the vine every few days to ensure tender, crunchy freshness. Harvest snow peas when the peas in the pod have just begun to form and the pod remains tender and flat. Harvest sugar snap peas from the vine once the peas have begun to fatten, causing the pod to round.

Preparing to Eat, Cook or Freeze~ Pinch off the ends and pull to remove the strings along the seams of the pods before eating or freezing. The fresh peas can now be eaten raw, stir-fried, steamed, stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for two weeks or frozen.

Freezing~ The peas must be blanched before storing in the freezer. To blanch, add 4 quarts of water to a pot and bring to a boil. While water is heating, prepare the pods as instructed in previous paragraph. Add 2 to 3 cups of pea pods to the boiling water and cover. Time for exactly 2 minutes and remove promptly from heat. Drain off water and place the pea pods immediately in a bowl of ice water for 2 minutes. Remove from bowl and dry pea pods on paper towels. Place snow peas or sugar snap peas into freezer bags or containers, seal, label and store in freezer.