Peas

My peas are finally coming into season.  I have been waiting for a LONG time for these peas and done major war with the squirrels and rabbits for them.

When they first emerge, these peas can be steamed and eaten whole.  I like to shell mine when they get a little bigger and freeze the peas for winter.  All my kids love peas.

This is my third year planting “Early Frosty” peas and these plants are from seeds that I saved myself (EASY to do).  The plants grow only two and a half feet tall and were better suited for my lower beds in the garden.

I tried “Oregon Trail” peas.  They were all seed catalog hype.  They were supposed to produce great yields and require no staking.  Well, they are a mess, flopping all over the garden and shading the few beets that the rabbits missed.  A quarter of the pods I harvested held either undersized peas or misshapen ones.  Disappointed.

I have high hopes for the third variety I planted this year, “Mr. Big”.  If they produce good yields, I’ll use them next year in the upper beds.  They grow taller than “Early Frosty” and I can make better use of the pea supports I use in the upper beds.

I’m always afraid that I won’t have planted enough peas.  They make a great standby vegetable, requiring mere seconds in the microwave in a covered dish to be table ready and, as I said, my whole family loves them.  As I look critically at my mid summer garden, I am picking out more places that would make good spots for extra pea trellises.  Bamboo teepees between the pepper plants would be an ideal spot.  Those peppers won’t need the extra space until later in the summer and the peas will all be sleeping in the freezer by then.

To put away the extra peas for winter, I shell mine into pie plates and flash freeze them in the freezer.  When I’ve collected enough for a meal (about three cups), I pour them into a freezer bag, vacuum seal them, and throw them in the basement freezer.

When harvesting peas, leave a few on the most vigorous, best producing of the vines to “go to seed”.  Pea seeds are easily saved for next year’s planting and saving seeds can greatly cut the costs of “growing your own”.

To get started with your own peas, try http://www.territorialseed.com/