PERFECT PEAS
FOR YOUR GARDEN AND KITCHEN
In Colonial times, “peas by the king’s birthday” (that would be King George III’s birthday, on June 4) was considered the mark of a good gardener. Indeed, an early pea harvest is a worthy goal. Tender, fresh peas represent the start of the fruiting season after a diet of winter roots. Northern JDUGHQHUV FDQ KRSH WR FHOHEUDWH LW ZLWK ¿UHZRUNV RQ July 4, and the date advances accordingly as you move south. I’m talking about ordinary garden peas, also referred to as “green peas,” or “English peas” if you must. Much as I love the edible pod types, there’s nothing quite like zipping open a QHZO\ ¿OOHG SRG DQG popping that luscious green row into your mouth. I snack on them raw, standing in the garden, and then steam and butter them for dinner.
Palate-Pleasing Garden Peas
To get early peas, you need to sow them as soon as the soil can be worked in spring. Because wet spring soil can be impossible to work, it pays to prepare a compost-enriched bed with pre-formed furrows in fall. That way, you can just drop in the peas, cover them with about an inch of soil, water lightly, and up they’ll come. Peas will need support unless they’re shortvined bush types. In our garden, we make two parallel furrows, between which we erect a trellis made of wood or metal pipes covered with some form of netting the peas can climb. Netting made of nylon, plastic mesh, and even plain old chicken ZLUH ZRUNV ¿QH Both weeding and thinning can damage a pea plant’s root system. Be sure to space the seeds carefully, 1 to 2 inches apart, so you needn’t thin the plants later. Mulching with straw is best for controlling weeds, but grass clippings can also make good mulch for peas—just don’t apply the clippings too thickly, or they’ll smell rotten and sour as they break down. The clippings will thin out as they dry, so just add a bit more every time you mow your lush, green summer lawn. Peas need consistent moisture, especially when pods are forming, so irrigate them when it doesn’t rain.
Pass the Peas, Pretty Please!
Keep a close watch on the pods to pounce when the peas are ripe because they’ll have only one day of perfect sweetness, maybe two. The pods will be fat and rounded, and the skin will still be smooth. Make it a habit to pick every day because peas become starchy and not worth eating when the pods are pale and rough. Picking regularly also encourages the plants to form more pods. After the vines stop producing, pull them out and plant a different vegetable in the bed. Later, you may sow another pea crop for fall. We sow ours in mid-July, but wait a month or so if your summers are long and hot. Always have some peas you can toss into a dish. They freeze well after a quick blanch in boiling water, but I use them in everything while they’re coming in from the garden daily — in stir-fries, salads, soups, quiches, vegetable medleys, and stirred into the meat layer of a shepherd’s pie. Puréed, they make a gorgeous green puddle in which to set a piece of white