Yesterday as I was shelling the peas on the back patio I was trying to remember the last time I had grown shelling peas {usually I just grow sugar snap peas}. It’s been a few years I think. And then I remembered why. THEY ARE SO MUCH WORK.
In order to get a year’s supply of {frozen} peas, I’d need to plant about 20X the amount of peas I grew this year. True, the shelling part is therapeutic, but when you’re only netting 4-6 peas per pod, it takes a while.
But then again, when you go to prepare a meal and you are using ingredients you nurtured along and harvested yourself, it kind of puts everything into perspective.
The good stuff. It takes a little effort.
Wouldn’t you agree?
~Mavis
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Erin Cross says
Check out cream peas. They are a type of field pea we grow in the south and yield three times the amount of peas per pod. They have a very buttery flavor. http://www.victoryseeds.com/cowpea_zipper-cream.html I haven’t used this seed source before but these are the peas.
Victoria says
I agree 100%! I thought I had planted sugar snaps this year but it turns out they are actually shelling peas. I’m pleased with them, but I might not plant then again on purpose.
Elise says
Well, I’m not a real “pro” gardener (to say the least), but I do love it. Case in point, I bought a pack of pea seeds a few years ago (no idea what kind, really) and the ones I planted (probably a dozen) came up as a variety of different pod types. So, like Mendel, I kept seeds from the ones I liked and discarded the rest 🙂 So now I’m on my 3rd generation of these seeds 🙂 I don’t know if they are shelling peas or not, but they do look like yours if we let them get big enough. We end up just eating most of them off the vine. I’ve never planted enough at one time to get a crop worth saving. Although I did just plant 15 seeds at once in hopes of getting a bunch. I planted 4 early in the season and those 2 peas gave us a LOT of production, relatively. Fingers crossed for the lat 15 🙂
Doesn’t really answer your question, but growing peas is just so fun, does it really matter?
Maryse says
I planted some shelling peas in one of my garden boxes this year and although they were delicious, I won’t plant them again. Way too much work for a little bowl of peas! I prefer the sugar snap peas that I could eat right there in the garden for a snack.
Rebecca says
Totally worth it if it brings you joy and you have the time! What will you plant in the space that the peas occupied?
Mavis Butterfield says
I planted squash and cucumbers in their place yesterday.
HunnyWest says
Shelling peas are awesome. It take a ton to freeze a whole years worth and I don’t have the space for that, but I’ve been enjoying mine a dozen or two pods a day. I’ve been using them in stir fry, fresh in salads, and I cooked some with some homegrown cauliflower that was delish with just butter on them. I am at the point where I will be pulling up what is left, maybe next weekend, and freezing what is left.
Phyllis says
Cowpeas are actually botanically a bean, not a pea. May explain why they were bred for hot weather.
Chris says
We grow them for novelty rather than for saving. My 2 year old loves sitting out in the yard and eating peas straight from the garden. The joy we get is totally worth the time and effort.
Ellen in Clackamas says
I also just grow them for “garden snacks”. Don’t have the room for enough to put up. I do like to grow them though so I can look out and see green coming up in the early spring raised beds.
Mimi says
We don’t freeze (or shell) a ton of peas but I’m always glad to find them in my freezer. Half the time I buy frozen peas they are beyond mature…starchy, flavorless little orbs. I’ve noticed a difference in frozen veggie quality in the last 5-10 years and I’m making an effort to grow (or buy at farm stands) and freeze them myself. It’s worth the work in my opinion. But I’m a born worker bee. 🙂
Emily E. says
I love shelling peas as they are the perfect snack enclosed in their own little “ziplock” bag and everything! As many others have said I’ve never planted enough to really enjoy at a meal, my son and I just eat them straight out of the garden. Like nature’s candy!
Janet says
I have been asking myself the same question! I dedicated probably a third of my garden space to peas. So far I have about 3 quart size bags in the freezer and that’s because they are so precious that we are not eating them now. We’ve only got to enjoy one freshly picked batch to eat because I’m am so focused on saving them! I wanted to plant and freeze enough peas to last thru the winter this year, I don’t think it’s going to happen. While planting them, I also thought of it being soil therapy, since they are not stealing nitrogen from the soil. I do love those peas.