Peas!

Thomas Jefferson maintained a large garden at Monticello.  What did he plant the most? He devoted the most space to peas.  Apparently, a local competition was held between Jefferson and his buddies regarding whose garden could produce the first crop of peas each spring.  The victor hosted a feast for the gang at his home where the meal included the winning peas.

2012 was the first attempt at peas in the Givler Garden.  They were a huge success, and I fully understand Jefferson's passion for the veggie.  Garden-fresh cooked peas with butter, salt, and pepper are simply delicious.  Canned and frozen peas are sad, gray shadows of the real thing.  Last year I gave half a seed bed to English peas in the spring, and a third of a bed to sugar snap peas in the fall.

This spring I planted one and a half beds in peas.  That's about 12% of my total garden space, but with the speed that peas grow and produce, they will be done in mid-June, and I'll be able to replant a summer crop of something else in the same space.  Since peas enrich the soil with nitrogen, whatever goes in after them will get a nice bump.

Jefferson planted 19 different varieties of peas.  I only planted 5 types, and 4 of them are ready for eating right now.

These are English peas, the most traditional type of peas.  These classic peas are packed tight in a small pod that gets very cylindrical as the peas mature.  The shells are not really edible.  Well, you can chew the shells, and they taste good, but they are tough and fibrous.                            

This is variant of shelling pea is called "Alaska."  It's a huge pod with big peas inside.  It never gets as cylindrical as English peas, but they are easier to shell and in my mind, just as tasty.  However, I feel like they don't produce quite as much as the English peas.  Shells also not officially edible.

Sugar snap peas are like garden candy for me.  The only way they usually make it into the house is in my stomach.  The entire pod is edible and sweet.  They are satisfyingly crisp, and are amazing with a ranch dip.  A lady at my workplace sometimes brings store-bought sugar snaps with a homemade dip for lunch.  She says the bag costs 3 or 4 dollars.  I figure that my dollar packet of seed peas produces the equivalent of 2 or  3 bags of fresh snaps.  I only really enjoy sugar snaps raw, unlike regular peas which I prefer cooked. 

These are snow peas, new to the garden in 2013.  They have crisp flat pods, best when the peas inside are small and immature.  They are tender and tasty either raw or cooked, and you see them used a lot in asian cuisine.  I enjoy mine raw, dipped in spicy homemade hummus.

Here's all four varieties together.  From left to right, Alaska, classic English, snow, and sugar snap peas.  

So, are you a fan of Thomas Jefferson's favorite vegetable?  If so, how do you like to prepare them?