Local residents are being offered a head start on planting their spring gardens.
Lambton County Library is distributing free packets of dwarf grey sugar snow peas under its One Seed Lambton program.
Youth Public Services Coordinator Vanitia Campbell said they can be picked up at any local library.
"It is a pea plant which will climb, but it's still kind of a compact plant," said Campbell. "You don't have to trellis and have a lot of space for it to climb, you can just kind of let it wander across the ground. It's also a lovely plant because you can eat it at three different stages. You can harvest it as a snow pea, which is when the pods are really flat and there's almost no pea development inside the pod. You can let it get a little bit bigger and eat them as snap peas or, if they happen to mature all the way, you can just shell them and eat them as regular shelling peas."
Campbell said peas mature best in cooler temperatures and should be planted as soon as the soil can be worked in April.
"We try to pick a plant that is a long-producer, so something that will give you fresh vegetables for a period of time over the summer. They love the cool ground in order to germinate or to sprout. We recommend people pick up their pea seeds within the next few weeks. Basically, as soon as the frost is out of the ground in April, you can get them into the ground."
Campbell said the dwarf grey sugar snow peas are of the open pollinated variety, which means you can save seeds from the plant to grow again next year.
She said if you miss planting them in the spring, the peas can also be put into the ground in the fall for a late-year harvest.
There are a few workshops planned over the next several months, which will focus on things like preparing your garden, vegetable gardening, ways to improve your health, and seed saving.
The library also offers a free seed library which is a collection of more than 60 flower and garden seeds.
For more information, visit www.lclibrary.ca/seedlibrary or your local library.