My 2 c's...

My interpretation of "as soon as soil can be worked" is when (a) the soil has thawed, and (b) it has dried to the point where the seed won't just rot in the ground. Some years that is late April, but usually I don't get my Spring peas in until the first dry spell in May. If you have raised beds or your soil drains better than mine, chances are you should be able to plant in April most years... but weather & soil conditions are a better indicator of when to plant than any fixed calendar date.

I've planted "Green Arrow" & "Sugar Lace" snap peas as late as the first week of June, and still had good crops... especially since hot summers have been rare here in recent years.

For Fall plantings, somewhere around the last week of July - August 1st works well for all but the longest DTM varieties. The "Sugar Lace", in fact, has better germination if planted late, and the peas which ripen in September / October are exceptionally sweet. You are pretty much due East of me (I garden near Lake Winnebago), so dates in that ballpark should work for you as well.

My definition is the same as zeedman's. I have 6 inch raised beds and plant peas around the first week of April, weather permitting. I presprout them beforehand and when the rootlets start to show I get them in the ground. Works well most years.

I've read and heard people mention planting them around St. Patrick's Day but that is just too early, in my opinion. I prefer to wait until the ground is a little warmer and drier that way the seeds/sprouts aren't sitting there shivering or worse, rotting.

Rodney

concur: the term is meant for traditional soil conditions, so it is not quite as clear for folks using raised beds with maufactured soils or other other fancy new methods. In general you need a warm dry spell after the spring thaw. You don't want to plant in soggy soil and that is especially important with clay soils .Smooth seeded varieties like Alaska, Willet Wonder will tolerate adverse conditions better tha wrinkled seeded varieties.

Glad other folks don't go strictly by the "soil worked" statement.

zeedman, I'm actually over 100 miles south of you. I'm pretty close to the bottom of Lake Michigan- I probably should have said so in my first post. So I'm not sure if that will make a difference or not with timing. And not anything to do with the conversation at hand, but I miss camping at High Cliff.

forgotten- I didn't realize I could sprout my peas. I figured since they aren't supposed to like transplanting, that meant I couldn't sprout them either. I am so going to do this with some of my peas this year. How long do they take to sprout? I would be doing them in my 65 degreeish dining room where I have south facing windows for a little extra warm if the sun ever comes out again, lol.

farmerdill- I didn't realize there were smooth and wrinkley peas. All of mine look kind of smooth like the Alaskas, so I think maybe I'm good with adverse conditions peas.

My beds are pretty good draining- a mix of horse compost, leaves and grass clippings, and sandy loam that gets stirred up every spring, and put to bed with another layer of leaves in the fall. Some are raised beds, and others are lasagne beds, kind of like raised beds without the outside box because I heap them in deep.

To presprout the peas I soak them in water for a couple hours or so then roll them up in a moist paper towel and place that inside a bag. Make sure the paper towel stays moist but not too wet. A rootlet should appear within a few days. When the root is about an 1/8 inch long (or less) I plant them. If it's any longer you have to be very careful during planting otherwise you risk breaking it off. And I will admit that presprouting might not be worth the hassle if you are planting a lot peas.

Rodney

To me "as soon as the soil can be worked" means when you grab a handful of soil, squeeze it, it forms a clump in your hand but crumbles when disturbed, too wet it sticks together like a clump of clay, too dry it won't form a clump when squeezed, just slips through your fingers.

Exactly. Squeeze a handful of dirt and tap it with your knuckle. It should fall apart.

Down here in Arkansas, my grandparents usually planted peas around Valentine's Day and always before St Patricks Day, when we planted potatoes. Course, it's rare the ground can't be worked (except for winter rain) here.