Planting and Harvesting Peas

After putting in our yard last summer, we've been working on the garden this year. We have four garden boxes in the back yard, but there's a patch of county land behind our back fence which the county guys I talked to said was OK to use for a garden. I've been trying a few things out back there. One of those is peas. I have peas growing in two spots. One is in a couple rows running down the hill. I won't run rows down the hill anymore. The water runs off too quickly taking dirt and fertilizer with it. Half the plants on the left didn't come up. I think it was because the clay soil was to heavy. I believe the plants on the right are snow peas. They came up surprisingly well despite the clay.

I have some more going which I planted in a flat bed with mulch in it instead of just the clay soil. The watering and fertilizing is working better.

I wasn't aware that any other parts of the pea plant were edible besides the pods. I read about it online (http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetables/qt/Pea-Shoots-Tendrils.htm) and decided to give some pea shoots a try. I took off the tops of my tallest pea plants about a month ago. We had them as part of a salad with lettuce. They weren't bad. I want to try some stir fried.

Pea information:
Plants profile (http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=PISA6)
All about peas (http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/tip/all-about-peas.html)
All about peas (http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/peas/all-about-peas-article10250.html)
Nutrition information (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2521/2)
Disease information (http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A1167.PDF)
Companion plant information (http://organicgardening.about.com/od/vegetablesherbs/qt/The-Best-Companion-Plants-For-Garden-Peas.htm)(http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/companion-planting-guide-zmaz81mjzraw.aspx?PageId=1#axzz33upDExKF)(http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/companion-planting-guide-article10888.html)

2014 diary:
First planting - 1 row sugar snap, 1 row snow peas, soil: clay, planted mid-April, emerged in May, sugar snap didn't come up well, flowers noticed last half of may, pods seen first week in June.
Second planting - 1 row sugar snap, 1 row snow peas, soil: compost, planted mid-May, emerged in May