The Pea Harvest

The flavors of spring are here! Fresh sugar snap and English peas are ready to pick! When I planted the seeds in late March, warmth and harvesting seem so very far away. Pea plants like the cool air and nights and they shoot up just 10-14 days after planting the seeds.

The April rain and mid May sun make the plants flower seemingly overnight. Each white flower will become a pea pod. within a week or so after seeing the flowers, start looking for the pods. They will start appearing everywhere!

Knowing when to harvest the peas is important to obtaining the best flavor of your harvest. The outside pods develop first. The length of the pods is determined by the variety. Next the peas inside the pods will start growing and fatting up the pods. The pods should feel full inside when they are ready to pick. If you wait too long to harvest, the sugars of the peas will turn to starch and the peas will not taste very good. The best way to figure out the optimal harvest of each pod is to taste one that seems ripe to you. If it isn’t very sweet, then let the rest of the peas stay on the plants a little longer. Don’t wait too long as the summer heat will kill the plants. Once the peas are harvested you can pull up the plants and use that real estate to plant a summer crop such as green beans in it’s place.

The fleeting crop of peas is a glorious time. I usually eat the peas raw in salads. To me they are just too good to cook! I pop them in my mouth like candy. If any of you have a good recipe or method for cooking fresh peas, please share it!