Mammoth Melting Snow Pea

Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon

Also known as: Mammoth Melting Sugar Pod Pea


A tall climbing snow pea with broad, flat pods 10–13cm long. The pods are very sweet and tender when picked young, before the peas inside swell. You eat them whole, pod and all: raw in salads, straight off the vine, or quickly stir-fried or sautéed so they stay crisp. Vines climb 1.2–2m and keep cropping as long as they’re picked regularly. It has been an old garden favourite for more than a century and is still one of the largest-podded snow peas. Climbing habit — needs a trellis or fence of 1.5–2m.

Days to harvest Around 70 days from sowing
Fruit size Broad, flat pods, 10–13cm long
Sowing depth 2–3cm
Germination 7–21 days at soil temperature 5–25°C. Peas prefer cool soil.
Spacing 3–7cm apart along a trellis, rows about 1m apart
Aspect Full sun; moist, well-drained soil
Frost tolerance Hardy. Plants handle light frost, but a hard frost can damage flowers and young pods.

Growing notes

A sunny, open spot along a fence or trellis suits it best. Snow peas are a cool-season crop and need to flower and set pods before the weather turns hot.

Soil preparation: Dig in well-rotted compost before sowing. Peas make their own nitrogen, so skip high-nitrogen fertiliser. A light dressing of lime helps on acid soil.

Sowing method: Sow direct 2–3cm deep into moist soil. Don’t water again until the seedlings are up, because pea seed rots easily in cold, wet ground.

Support: Put up a trellis, mesh or fence 1.5–2m high before sowing. The tendrils find it and climb on their own.

Containers: A deep pot or trough of 30L or more, with a tall obelisk or mesh panel, works well. Keep the soil evenly moist.

Watering & feeding: Keep the soil evenly moist, especially at flowering, since dry soil cuts the crop. Water at the base. Powdery mildew moves in quickly in warm, dry weather, so keep the foliage dry and give the vines good airflow.

Harvest: Pick pods while they’re flat and the peas inside are barely visible, usually at 8–12cm. Once the peas swell, the pods turn stringy and lose their sweetness. Pick every day or two at peak, because the more you pick, the more the vine flowers.

Timing: First pods ready around 70 days from sowing.

Key features

  • Large, flat, edible pods, 10–13cm long
  • Very sweet and tender, raw or lightly cooked
  • Heavy cropping when picked often
  • Tall climbing vine that gives a big crop from a small patch of ground
  • A classic for stir-fries and salads
  • An heirloom dating from before 1906

Short season tips


Peas need cool weather, not a long warm season. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, sow from March to May for a crop from late winter into spring, or again in July–August for a spring harvest. Time your sowings so the vines finish cropping before late-spring heat, which shuts pea production down quickly.

  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Spring

Annual

  • Carrots, radish, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, corn
  • Onions, garlic, leeks, chives, fennel


An heirloom snow pea in cultivation since before 1906. It was grown in kitchen gardens for its large, sweet, edible pods long before snow peas were common in shops. Seed savers and small seed houses have kept it going, and it is still grown for the size and sweetness of its pods.