Red seeded pea ‘Biskopens gråært’

[mybighair]

I was lucky enough to receive 6 seeds of a pea called ‘Biskopens gråært’. Don't know much about it other than it has red/purple seeds and is an old Swedish field pea.



I will be sowing 4 of the 6 seeds this season to bulk up my seed stock and help maintain/spread the variety. I may also try crossing it to purple magnolia, maybe there's scope for a purple podded snap pea with purple seeds. I don't know much about the genetics of this trait but it's worth playing with all the same.

If anyone has any knowledge of this variety, or the genetics at play I'd be grateful for the information.

[grungy]

Mybighair, please rember us when you have enough to share. Thanks.

[mybighair]

You guys will be the first to hear when I have seed available, and I'll be taking precautions when drying to ensure the mice don't devour my pea seed this season.

I was hoping to share some Kapuler peas this year but the mice pretty much ate the lot. What is left is so mixed up there's no way to know what they are. I figured the poison in the greenhouse, and the fact that they were in my seed draw would protect them but the mice didn't touch the poison until the peas were gone, and they nested in the seed draw.

Still, lessons learned.

[bunkie]

hi mybighair. i too would be interested in some seed.

in googling, i found a little bit of info here...

toads.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/new-seeds-from-the-seed-meeting/

[mybighair]

Hi bunkie,

The blog you found actually belongs to the gentleman I traded with for these seeds, pretty much all the hits I had on Google took me back to him. As he mentions this pea is apparently available though SESAM, the Swedish seed savers but I haven't found them yet.

He also sent me some of the Siberian pole beans (the second and earliest of the two I think), so all being well I can also offer some of those next season.

[stevil]

Graham

Sesam can be found here:
www.foreningensesam.se

Lene Nygård is the pea/bean person at POM (Swedish Program for the diversity of cultivated plants, www.pom.info/english/index.htm) and is a member in Sesam. Lene has written a nice little booklet on heritage peas "Om ärter" (literally "About Peas"). Note that the spelling is "Biskopen gråärt" (Swedish ärt =pea; Danish = ært and Norwegian = ert, Biskop = Bishop) - important when googling...

Here is a list of heritage varieties available through Sesam:

www.pom.info/frouppropet/odla.htm

Here you can read that Biskopen was sent in from Dalarna
county (Dlr on the map):
www.pom.info/frouppropet/inkomna.htm

All can be ordered from Nordgen (the Nordic Gene Bank).

A recent article where it mentions that Biskop is good in salads:
www.pom.info/aktuellt/090318.htm

Use Google translate for a rough translation from the Swedish (or ask me) - translate.google.com

Stephen

[mybighair]

Thanks for the links and info Stephen.

So would that make the name "Bishops Greypea" in English?

[stevil]

Yes! You should return it to Mr. Bishop

[toad]

Just want to help you guys ordering it directly from the Nordic Genebank.

The NordGen database can be found at:
www.nordgen.org/index.php/skand/Folder/Innehaall/Sesto

Search for/order
BISKOPENS ÄRT Accession number NGB14641

or the other accession of the same pea

BISKOPEN II Accession number NGB17866

It's free to order seed from them, but dependent on availability.

[kitchengardener]

Am I being really stupid? (It is possible!) When I put those accession numbers in I get a green pea cultivar...

James

[toad]

Am I being really stupid? (It is possible!) When I put those accession numbers in I get a green pea cultivar...

No, you are not stupid, but the NordGen must have the idea, that a wrong picture is better than no picture. I'm pretty sure the seeds in their store will be deep purple. They and I both got the pea from SESAM, the swedish seedsavers.

[mybighair]

Just thought I'd post a some photos of this pea as I'm finding ‘Biskopens gråært’ rather interesting.

It,s quite prolific, as you can can see from the picture below its rather pretty in flower, and it's also a good mangetout (note the pea pod just behind the flower) which is a further bonus.



I was told it had been used as a mangetout but had assumed that it was just a shelling pea whose pods could be eaten if picked young enough. That assumption was wrong however as there is no trace of the fibrous layer found in the pods of shelling peas.

Another interesting thing is how early the red colour starts to express in the peas themselves, note the blush on the exposed peas in the photo below. They actual look embarrassed at being photographed with their pod off.



I'll have to wait a while to find out first hand if ‘Biskopens gråært’ is also a good fresh pea as well as being used as a dried pea. But this variety already has enough going for it to make it permanent fixture on my plot.

Think I'll keep you updated on this one.

[mybighair]

The ‘Biskopens gråært’ seed is in so I can start taking requests properly now. The four seeds planted have produced 1lb of dry seed peas. Not bad going considering they were planted later in the season than ideal, and the fact I ate a fair few pods through snacking when passing the plants. Not as many as I could have eaten I might add, they were quite tasty as mangetout.

Didn't think much of them as fresh shelled peas; not really sweet enough and a bit on the mealy side. They are fairly typical of other mangetout peas eaten at maturity.

I plan to plant a few rows of this pea next season so I can try them as a dried pea. But for now I think its more important to share this seed with others.

I'll split the seed between those interested and will work on a first come basis if demand is high. Just leave a post here if you'd like some and message me your address.

[grungy]

Graham, please put us on the list. Thanks.

[ottawagardener]

I love the flower, like butterfly wings. I wonder what it tastes like? Will be watching for further updates.