Peas Galore

[wildseed57]

I've got a list of 19th century Dutch pea varieties that I haven't been able to find any information about them they are from the USDA here are some of the names, Brioart, Fruhe Niederige,Hindukusch, gorsdagsart, Saloart, also have these that I can't find a thing about them either, Acacia, Debut 149, Dewinton, Nilkons extra rapide and Witham wonder, I have a bunch of ther pea varietis encluding four varieties of the purple podded ones which enclude the two Kings Tut and some other that enclude Mummy white, if anyone can give me a discription of the dutch ones and some of the others I sure could use the help. The USDA just give the basic information which is little to nothing. I'm hoping to do a grow out on at least some of them as I have about 25 differnt types, but don't have all the space I need this year. Has any one grown the top 10 varieties ? Thanks
George W. Z5-6 MO. USA

[robertb]

You'll find some info on King Tut and Mummy White here: www.angelfire.com/az/garethknight/dots/peacollection.html . I haven't come across the others.

[galina]

Wildseed57

I notice that you have several cultivars ending in 'art'. The Dutch word for peas as far as I know is 'erwt'. Peas with the ending art are probably 'aert' or 'ärt' and come from Scandinavia.

Fruhe Niederige is most likely not Dutch either, as 'Frühe Niedrige' is a German phrase for 'early low growing'. The Dutch word for early would be 'vroege' - or at least that is what my early Dutch pea is called.

Witham Wonder can be googled, there are a few mentions of a tall growing pea. Hindukusch according to the John Innes Pisum database comes from Afghanistan (via a donor in Sweden).

Good luck finding more information, perhaps looking to other national collections in case of those peas that are not likely to be Dutch . And at European seed saver's organisations.

[robertb]

Try data.jic.bbsrc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/germplasm/pisum/ and www.seeds.ca/hpd/cv.php?species=Pea . Witham is a town in Essex.

[wildseed57]

Thanks for the info, I was just going by what the USDA had said about them, I have a gardner friend that wanted some of them, but here in the US there is very little information about pea varities that go back more than 50 years or so, I have been growing heirloom vegetables for the last 30 years off and on, but up untill a couple of years ago I had not botherd with peas to much as the weather, and th soil in Missouri just worked against me, but last year I decided to try growing them because the spring weather was pretty good and I had added some more raised beds to my garden area. I planted mostly snap and fresh shelling peas and was over run with them so much so, that for the first time I had enough to put several quart bags of fresh peas into my freezer, which was a nice change as I usually had to buy them. I have a friend that was able to get me quite a few pea varieties from the USDA. AS I can't speak dutch I couldn't say if they were from that area or not. trying to find out anything about them has been nearly imposible that is why I joined as I needed some expert advice and felt that i would find it here. I have tried to email and post comments to Rebsie at her daught of the soil webblog but as she is so busy I doubt that I will hear back from her. I was able to get a purple type called purple passion pea that has dark purple or black seeds which is really intresting, I got them from a gardener in Tenn. in the US but I haven't a clue as to what type it is probably just a fancy field type. I like growing vegetables that add a lot of color to the table, so I'm hoping to find some different coled peas that can be eaten like a snow or snap pea. I grew one called Golden sweet last year that was very good and produced well. I have heard of one called Spring Blush, that is supposed to have a pink blushed pod that can be used as a fresh shelling pea or a snow type when very young. Well thanks again I will keep looking and maybe I will find the imformation about them if I can't find it here Growing them will be a lot of fun and I'm sure I will learn more about them, how they taste along with their growing habits.
George W. Z5-6 MO. USA

[galina]

Wildseed57

I think we may have communicated about peas on another forum a few weeks ago. Nice to hear that you had such a good harvest last year. I hope all your grow outs will go well this year too. Spring Blush is an Alan Kapuler creation and quite new. There is nothing wrong with field peas, in fact some of them have huge seeds, although generally they are not very sweet. I love Golden Sweet, they look so cheery too. We like to make mixed pea salad, but it is a mistake to cook yellow and green pods together in the same pot. Cooked briefly and separately, they make an excellent salad in a French dressing with shallots. Looking forward to hearing how the new-to-you peas work out.

[robertb]

What happens if you cook yellow and green together?

[wildseed57]

Yes that is a intresting comment, i would think that you could cook them in the same pot. Does the color change or what?
George W. USA

[galina]

Yes, they both end up looking a bit 'grey' especially so the yellow pods. The brilliant colour contrast which makes this salad so visually appealing, is lost.

[mortality]

Steam em ? ;D

[Penny]

I just cant wait to be able to pick fresh pea's from the garden.

[mnjrutherford]

I like that pea salad you describe Galina. We are growing some Golden Sweet this year, they are a mange tout variety you say?

I've had such miserable luck with peas that this year, I heavily seeded 1 row with some generic something that looked good at the feed and grain store. Once they started coming up and seemed to be doing fairly well, I planted out all the "special" peas I've been sent which include:
Bishops Grey
Batchelor's Bigga
Golden Sweet
Sugaree
Fin du Gourmet
Rebel (GRIN pea, US origin)
Mattar (GRIN pea, Pakistan origin)
Triple Treat
Mixed Peas

I soaked these peas in water before planting them out and they are starting to sprout after only a few days in ground. I sure hope and pray that I get to see "peas galore" this year!

What about seed saving though? Is it best to gather seed peas at the start or at the end of the season? Let the pods dry on the plant or off?

I'm particularly concerned about saving the seed of the the Rebel and Mattar peas because I only received 5 seed to begin with and I want to be able to return them as well as have a good supply for myself to grow and share.

[robertb]

I wait till the end of the season, then bag up the plants and let them dry off after the last flowers have faded. If I don't bag them, I find pods open and a lot of seed gets spilt, plus they're in danger from pigeons. It's probably best to dry the pods on the plant as it's then going to make a desperate attempt to ripen as many as possible. Even the little shrivelled things often germinate.

[wildseed57]

Hi I was wondering about that also as I want to save as much sed as I can and still be able to do taste trials on some of mine, to the list of what I got from the (Grin Germplas) this year I got one called Harrisons Glory, marked as coming from the United Kingdom, I think I've seen this one before some where. Supposidly it has a mix of shelling and edible pods so i will be selecting for mainly the edible pods on this one unless it turns out to be a better shelling pea. I have three that are maked as coming from the netherlands one is called Gold Konigin and the other is called Eroica both are supposed to be shelling peas the last one is called Swiss Giants and is supposed to be a edible podded type. This one is a odd mix of small light green and tan seeds. I'm hoping that it will be a good edible pod type. I did pick one out that had the highest protein amount out of all of the ones that they had this one is from Estonia and is called Amplissimo Hamisepp, besides the 34% protein it also seems to have a very high mineral count. I'm guessing that its bretty much a shelling pea, although it has a mix of dark and light colored peas seeds some of which are flat while others are round. The pea seeds are all quite small, so I have to wonder about it. I just wish I had a couple more raised beds as there is no way that I can trial all the ones I have and still grow my favorites out. I also have a couple coming to me, that I have been looking for which will be added for trials so that i can grow them out for seeds and they will get put in my grow every year list. As the weather has turned out really nice I have moved all my house plants out in to a slightly shaded area which most will stay in through out the summer, I am so happy to get them all out. That gives me more room to start more of my garden goodies. One thing I can say is I found a good forum here and I'm learning a lot about peas that I didn't know about. Now if I can just put some of what I found out to practical use in the garden.
George W. Z5-6 MO. USA

[wildseed57]

I meant to add in that I use a soil inoculant for my legumes, especially with my peas, and have much better luck with them when I add it to the soil where I plant my peas and later my beans, the only draw back with it is the stuff is fairly expensive. I plan to trial some inoculant that is used for alfalfa and clover. As it is a bit cheaper and you can buy it in bulk insted of a small package. I don't know if its pretty much the same thing or not, but if it is I can save a few bucks by using it.
george W. Z5-6 MO. USA