For one, are you absolutely certain that what you bought were in fact Sugar Snaps? Snap peas are meant to be eaten pods and all and they do not shell out as easily as regular peas. I find it doubtful one would take the time to do that just to sell them. The person they were bought from could have been using some creative marketing.

As for the store bought peas, they sure look like young snap peas to me. They could have been left to grow a few more days and their lack of flavor is probably due to them being picked well before you bought them. Fresh peas, of any type, will taste better freshly picked as their flavor dimishes quickly after harvest.

Rodney

Concur; Snap peas have a fleshy pod and are a beast to shell even when fully ripe. Not recommended as a shelling pea.

I looked up Cascadia Snap Pea and was surprised to see it sold as something you could eat whole if young or shelled if more mature. Usually sugar snap peas start to get starchy if they get that big. I would give it a try but I agree that the best part of sugar snap peas is not having to shell them. As a gardener you will find that some veggies lose their sweetness soon after picking. In the book Eating on the Wild Side which explains the history behind our cultivated food plants, I learned that asparagus is sweetest the first 4 hours after picking. From now on, we only pick what we are going to eat that night (we have a small bed).

I'm not sure what you bought at the farmstand, but I think you will enjoy eating the Super Sugar Snaps, pods and all. They are a favorite early season veggies at our house. And while they will keep in the refrigerator, they are at their very best soon after harvest. Ones that get overlooked and grow very large get shelled since I try to eat, not compost, whatever I can. But I'd rather eat them a few days earlier, pod and all.

Thanks for all the information thus far! I have the space for it as I am splitting seeds with a couple coworkers, but does anyone have a recommended shelling pea as well? Again, looking for something on the sweeter side if possible, though I am not expecting the sweetness of sugar snap peas. I have a 9 x 2 ft area in excess of what I already planned to use for the super sugar snap peas, so something that could grow there and not exceed 5 ft in height would be perfect.