PISUM SATIVUMThe moment peas are picked, they begin to lose their sweetness and their herba-ceous, garden-fresh flavor. For that reason alone,
I encourage lovers of organic foods to grow their own, just to experience the joyful pleasure of eating the new growing season’s first main crop fresh from the vine (see If You Like to Garden, below). Peas right off the vine are incomparably better than frozen peas.
THE ORGANIC FACTOR
While conventional pea farmers use chemicals on their vines, organic farmers must find alternative methods of dealing with diseases and pests. Most pea crops planted in compost-amended soil will produce just fine without the need for pest and disease controls, but occasional problems can occur, including aphids, symphylans, and mildew. Aphids can be rubbed off or washed away with a hose. Symphylans are soil-borne pests related to centipedes that damage the roots of many crops, including peas. Organic growers can amend their soil with diatomaceous earth, the sharp-edged skeletal remains of ocean-dwelling diatoms (one-celled algae). The sharp edges puncture the skin of the symphylans, killing them.
Mildews seldom affect peas, but if they do, organic growers spray vines with a solution made of one tablespoon of baking soda dissolved in a gallon of water. The alkaline environment produced by the baking soda discourages mildews.
NUTRITION
As with most other seeds, and especially legumes (beans, lentils, etc.), peas are very nutritious. One half cup of boiled peas contains 67 calories but no cholesterol, 12 grams of carbohydrates, 4 to 5 grams of protein, 2 to 3 grams of dietary fiber, 13 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin C, 18 percent of thiamine, 13 percent of vitamin B6, 13 percent of folic acid, 8 percent of iron, 11 percent of niacin, 10 percent of riboflavin, 8 percent of magnesium, and 6 percent of needed potassium. That’s a heap of nutrition for a half-cup of any food.
TYPES
English or garden peas are the familiar peas we find fresh in their inedible shells. They must be shelled before they can be used. Dishes with the names Saint-Germain and Clamart refer to French pea varieties called petits pois. These diminutive English peas have a firm texture and a delightfully rich flavor.
Snow peas—flat-podded peas favored by Chinese cooks—can be eaten whole and are very useful in vegetable medleys or with rice or meat stir-fries. Sugar snap peas were first released to the public in 1976, when Calvin Lamborn, a talented plant breeder, working with centuries-old and modern strains of plant material, perfected an edible-
podded pea called the snap pea. Lamborn’s advance was to breed an edible pea pod that was fat, sweet, and succulent (like the peas inside) and didn’t have a tough parchment lining. It did, however, have a tough string running down one side (and sometimes both sides) of the pea pod. So the first edible-podded peas from Lamborn were much like string beans. However, marketing people being what they are decided to call them sugar snap peas. Over the ensuing years, those bothersome strings have been bred out of the pea pods and today we have snap peas that need no stringing.
SEASONALITY
Whether they’re home-grown, bought at the farmers’ market, or store-bought, fresh (and fresh-picked) peas are worth putting up when the season is in high gear, which is usually in late May or early June. Peas like cool weather—they’re typically planted around St. Patrick’s Day in much of the country. Summer heat will cause them to stop producing pods. ....read more
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