peas

 

A. growing peas at home

2014

Growing sweet peas and sugar snap peas isn't very difficult, but you do need to make sure your patch is protected from rabbit and bird activity early on. I have tried this only one season. I gave up on them because I thought the harvested quantities were not worth the amount of work that went into it.

I have never tried to grow peas for drying and making split peas.

It takes about 2 months after planting for the plants to mature enough to start bearing. Peas are more frost-sensitive than sugar snap peas, so wait until after the last frost before planting.

2014 growing season

Pic2: 2014-03-22
Pic3: 2014-04-18
Pic4: 2014-05-06

 

Pic5: 2014-05-13 — pods on the vine
Pic6: 2014-05-13 — sugar snap peas
Pic7: 2014-05-21 — sugar snap peas, sweet peas

b. pea shoots salad

2019-11-02

Pea shoots are pea plants that have been harvested young. They taste very similar to the pea pods, possibly a bit more intense.

It is not something I have ever had the chance to do. The local rabbits were way ahead of me, razed the entire field overnight. Lucky enough for me, the fence I put around them seemed to work for the few weeks they needed to grow tall enough for the rabbits to leave them alone after that, so they had the chance to recuperate and produce with a 2-week delay.

The pea shoots in the pictures below were purchased at a farmer's market.

For a salad, mix them in with other leafy greens, because the pea flavor can be overwhelming.

2019-11-02

Pic8: fresh pea shoots
Pic9: pea shoots and lettuce mix
Pic10: served with new harvest potatoes and king salmon

c. pea shoot sandwich

2019-11-02

If you've ever eaten raw sugar snap peas, you know what this tastes like, minus the sugar sweet.

2019-11-02

Pic11+12: croissant, cream cheese, fresh pea shoots