Peas Tips and Tricks
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Peas are Perfect!
Peas are cool-season, frost hardy legume vines that grow well in mild Winter climates like Sonoma County. Strictly speaking, green peas are not vegetables. They are part of the legume family, which consists of plants that produce pods with seeds inside. Their beautiful blooms liven up a Winter landscape and provide nectar for over-wintering pollinators. |
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Green peas contain just about every vitamin and mineral you need. They are especially high in Vitamins K, A, C, and protein.
Pea pods are botanically the fruit of the plant, protecting the pea seeds inside. Children enjoy harvesting the pods right off the vine, and often the more you harvest, the more you get! |
This excellent Legume Garden Video introduces students to the legume (bean/pea) family. Then use the appropriate CDE’s Fruit & Vegetable Photo cards.
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Tasting Tips
Students absolutely love harvesting and eating peas straight from the vine. This can be an independent activity for students in the garden, or part of a flower or seed botany lesson with recipe preparation. Several cross-discipline project-based lessons are included in this Peas Educator Newsletter.
It includes the Peas with Mint class recipe - use snow or snap peas (cut diagonally in half) - if you don’t have enough peas for the recipe, blanch a bag of organic frozen peas along with the others to add depth to the recipe. It can also be prepared with fresh raw snow or snap peas (see ** in Planning below).
Extend learning to home by sharing this Family Newsletter - peas. Spanish Family Newsletter - peas.
It includes the Peas with Mint class recipe - use snow or snap peas (cut diagonally in half) - if you don’t have enough peas for the recipe, blanch a bag of organic frozen peas along with the others to add depth to the recipe. It can also be prepared with fresh raw snow or snap peas (see ** in Planning below).
Extend learning to home by sharing this Family Newsletter - peas. Spanish Family Newsletter - peas.
SAFety Note!
“Sweet Peas”, grown for their fragrant blooms, are NOT edible! Ingesting significant amounts of Sweet Peas can cause a paralytic syndrome called Lathyrus - resulting in paralysis, labored breathing, and convulsions. Because they look so similar to edible peas, I do not recommend planting them in a school garden. However, I do educate students about their poisonous effects because many people grow Sweet Peas at home, and emphasize that students should always ask an adult before picking a plant to eat. Include this info in a class newsletter about peas so parents become educated too!
Pea Growing and Harvesting Tips
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There are three general varieties of edible peas.
English Peas English peas should be planted as soon as the garden can be worked. Pods must be shelled first by snapping off the end and pulling the fibrous string along the length of the pod. 'Maestro', and 'Patriot' are popular dwarf varieties. For your tunnel use tall types, like 'Lincoln', and 'Wando'. Edible-Podded Peas Great for the school garden and your tunnel, snow peas are usually harvested when they're young, crisp and flat, before the pods have filled out. Most varieties will begin producing 63 to 72 days from planting. Try 'Mammoth Melting Sugar', or 'Oregon Sugar Pod II' varieties. Snap Peas Snap peas are picked when the pods have filled out and eaten pods and all. Popular varieties include 'Cascadia','Super Sugar Snap', Sugar Snap Pea. |
Try building a Pea Teepee!
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Direct sow peas with wires, netting or trellis nearby. Upon germination, mulch well to retain soil moisture. Extend the season with successive planting Nov-Feb while temperatures range 50-70 degrees. Encourage continued flowering by harvesting Snap and Garden peas when pods are filled but not too big. You can also eat young pea-shoots. Snow peas have smaller peas - harvest pods at about 2” long. Flower production halts at 85 degrees, and vines will quickly dry so they are not suited to our summers. Save some of the dried pods for next season!
Nitrogen Cycle
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Pea roots fix nitrogen in the soil, so rather than pulling the vines, clip them at ground level to nurture your soil. Investigating the white nitrogen nodules is fascinating science!
Compost spent plants. This video demonstrates these end of season tips.
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NUTRITION EDUCATION & COOKING SKILL CONNECTIONS
- Cooking skills focus: how to wash vegetables, cutting vegetables with paring knives, how to toss a salad (and keep everything in the bowl!)
- Vocabulary: toss, variety (in a family of vegetables), fiber, herb (mint in recipe), legumes, water-soluble vitamins.
- Recipe reading and what to look for: Ingredients, Instructions, Servings.
- The Educator Newsletter includes Math, History, Literature, Botany and Nutrition activities.
- Use the Educator Newsletter to teach about nutrition facts for peas, focus on Vitamin Bs (especially Thiamin) and fiber.
Recipes
Distribute the Peas with Mint class recipe and Family Newsletter for students to take home or include in a classroom online newsletter. Family Newsletter - Peas, Spanish Family Newsletter - Peas