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vtguitargirl

Soup Pea Harvest!

vtguitargirl
13 years ago

After six years of vegetable gardening, I've just discovered my favorite new crop - SOUP PEAS !!! They're beautiful, productive, and so easy to take care of & store! Not only that but, they're ready to harvest long before soup beans, leaving space for a late crop of spinach. If you have a short growing season, this is a real plus.(I'm in zone 4b/5a in Vermont)

I purchased Capucijner, King Tut, Canadian & St Hubert peas from a seed saving organic farmer in Nova Scotia (PM me for contact info) planted them all (60 each) in raised beds on April 17 after an unusually warm spell had warmed the soil quite nicely. The peas were planted closely together, 60 seeds in a narrow zig-zag pattern at the base of an 8 ft cattle panel trellis. Germination was excellent - nearly 100%. Friends & neighbors all commented on the stunning indigo blossoms & pods on the King Tuts & Capucijners which have been an absolutely spectacular sight! And they were productive as well, with the King Tuts & Caps producing 5 to 17 pods per vine with 8-12 pods being typical. The Canadian & St. Huberts also did well, although I didn't count their pods, because they were such a jungle! They had beautiful white blossoms with pods that were more 'papery' and very easy to shuck. All of the pea plants grew to about 5-6 ft, and were pretty much at the end of their life cycle at about 85 days. I picked them at about 90. I let them dry further in the pods in my garage (which has been like an oven this summer). Now the're in bowls, drying further , just to be extra sure.

Here's the harvest, each from 60 peas:

St Hubert 2.75 cups

Canadian 4 cups

King Tut 5.5 cups

Capucijner 6.5 cups

(That doesn't count the cup or so of Capucijners & King Tuts peas that fell to the floor and didn't go into the count)

Comments (6)

  • pnbrown
    13 years ago

    Very nice. I saved some dwarf grey sugar earlier, for soup in the winter. Supposedly its a good variety for that.

    Let us know how they cook.

  • catherine_nm
    13 years ago

    Lovely! I only had one specifically soup pea planted this year, Monk, a dwarf variety with lovely pink and white blossoms and huge peas. I planted enough to get fresh seed, as I hadn't grown it in several years, but I think I have enough for one pot of soup in addition to the saved seed.

    We were out of town for a week as the garden peas hit their peak and the snow and snap peas were winding down. When we got back I just let everything go for seed. I selected for the most seeds per pod in my six separate varieties and saved those for planting next year, then pooled all of the rest of the peas and have about 2 pounds of mixed varieties for soup this winter.

    I used to grow some pole soup peas that I just knew as "Mexican soup peas." I hadn't grown them since my kids were born, though (they turn 9 next month), and I didn't get a single one to sprout this spring. Time to find a replacement. I live on a mountain side at 7300 ft above sea level, so when I found this site listing the altitudes where seeds were collected, well I'll be ordering from them for next spring!

    Catherine

    Here is a link that might be useful: Native Seed/Search

  • vtguitargirl
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    pnb - I've heard of Dwarf Gray Sugar, though not as soup peas. How do they compare to other peas? My peas are destined for some sort of pea soup, naturally involving bacon or ham. There's an elderly Dutch farmer nearby who I've discussed Capucijner peas with & I'd like to bless him with a batch of pea soup Dutch style. Our American bacon & ham will have to do, because I can't find the Dutch stuff anywhere. The Canadian & St Hubert peas will be cooked up French Canadian style. There are also many French Canadian folk nearby, so I should be able to get a recipe!

    Catherine - Monk peas.... according to Purcell Mt they are the original Pea soup pea from the Netherlands. I thought Capucijners were. Will have to ask that elderly farmer to weigh in! Thanks for the web site. I had no idea that so many pea varieties were grown that far south (except cowpeas, of course). I just assumed that it was a northern kind of thing. When I decided to grow soup peas late last winter, I couldn't find any online in the US. I ended up ordering from a young fellow just getting started in organic farming & seed saving. His site is listed at the bottom.

    When harvesting, I didn't think to save the peas from the largest pods! Duh! I was going to just save the largest peas to plant next spring. Choosing the biggest pods makes more sense.

    I'm pretty excited about my 20+ cups haul of soup peas, and am equally excited that I have planted spinach & lettuce in their place with plenty of growing season left. Can't do that as easily with soup beans here.

    Next year, I'd like to try "Crown Peas". A shelling pea, I believe. Although they won't be as productive as other pea varieties, they are supposed to be beautiful. Tall with salmon-pink blossoms all at the top, giving a parasol effect.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Annapolis Peas

  • weedlady
    12 years ago

    Couldn't be helped: we went on vacation for a week--naturally at the height of pea-pickin' season (for one of my 4 varieties, anyway). Time we got back, my Sugar Lace snap peas were over-ripe and no longer sweet & tender. I had invited several neighbors to come help themselves--but I have learned in the past that while they love to get veggies delivered to their door, if they have to do the harvesting, well...that's a horse of another color!

    Anyway, there is an amazing abundance of pods drying on the vines now, and I happened to think--I have made soup from store-bought dried split peas, but have never had any extra garden peas as we have always eaten them young.

    I am wondering if I should go ahead & pick the pods now & let them dry off the vines (I am anxious to use that space for a follow-up crop of something other than peas--probably cukes or maybe some late summer squash) or would it be better to let them dry completely on the plants?
    And how does one go about splitting the peas (or should I even bother)?
    Once perfectly dry, I'll vacuum-pack them in canning jars and wait for soup-making weather come late fall/winter--yum!

    I have more seeds in the packet so intend to plant again for a fall crop to make up for missing the early ones!
    Thanks in advance for your suggestions! CK

  • vtguitargirl
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Weedy,

    From what I've read, *most* of the garden & sugar peas don't make a good soup pea. Although some of the smoother peas such as Alaska can make a nice soup pea, less sugar, I suppose.

    I still have a lot of peas left in my photo in the original posting They taste great in a soup flavored with ham or bacon, and their season is shorter than that of soup beans. And soooo pretty in the garden too! If anyone wants to try soup peas this summer please contact me.

  • gardenwalker
    7 years ago

    salt spring seeds have a lot of soup peas. Owen from Annapolis used to work there before he moved to N.S. Salt Spring also carries many varieties of dry beans which mature sooner, like before the end of summer!

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