On Peas

Suzanne Ashworth’s Seed to Seed has this to say about harvesting peas:

Peas mature rather early in the summer and are usually allowed to dry on the vines. Both harvest and shelling are fairly easy.

The accuracy of that statement made harvesting peas for next year’s crop the perfect job for Gabriella to help with this morning.
I had read somewhere that hanging pea plants to dry with the pods still attached would yield the benefit of a long drying time while freeing up space in the garden for another plant (in our case some beans we won’t be growing again), which is why we’ve had a bundle of peas hanging outside for about a month. Today when we went outside to check the garden, I noticed the entire bundle was about as brittle as it was like to get, so we decided it was time to shell and save them.

Once she wrapped her head around the fact that these peas were not for eating, she did really well. We collected all the pods, and shelled them into a bucket. It took less than 30 minutes, and now we have more than 10x what we planted last year. Considering that what we planted kept us awash in peas for the entire spring, I’d say we did alright.

The peas are dwarf gray sugar peas originally given away by the 1719 William Trent House Museum at the 2010 NJEA teacher’s convention.

A closeup of the amazing variance in color, all from the same plant.