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Post by Dewdrop on Dec 10, 2019 0:53:37 GMT -5
Does anyone have any comparison and palatability of flavor between 'more colorful' and 'plain green pea plants with white flowers' shelling peas? I'm familiar with Wando and Tom Thumb peas in taste.  I'm currently curious about Carruthers Purple Podded shelling pea, Mr. Bethell's Purple Podded pea, and Blue Podded Pea/Blauwschokkers pea. Are there any reasonably-tasty and palatable other shelling pea varieties with colorful flowers or pods I haven't listed yet? Related inputs such as sweetness, juiciness, and tenderness are also welcome. In short I'm attempting to decide whether or not I want to grow some of the other more colorful shelling peas.  In taste, are the raw mature snap peas by themselves (shelled from pods) slightly less sweet then shelling peas? Does anyone have a comparison on (hopefully) more heat-resistant peas besides the Wando shelling peas? I'm curious how they compare in heat resistance and taste. |
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Post by triffid on Dec 10, 2019 13:51:11 GMT -5
Carruthers' Purple Podded is said to be one of the tastiest (i.e. sweetest and least bitter) of the purple-podded shelling peas to eat fresh. Blauwschokkers is an old dry soup pea unless I'm mistaken. I would appear that anthocyanin expression in these plants is linked to higher tannin in the seed, leading to a bitter note in the peas themselves. From my experience most (purple-flowered) snap/snow peas would have become starchy by the time the seeds are large enough to be shelled. I've noted this is the yellow mangetout 'Golden Sweet'. I haven't grown Carruthers' but for my breeding efforts I've collected Mr. Bethell's Purple Podded, Josh Toombs Purple Podded, Blackdown Blue, Clarke's Beltony Blue, Hangman's Door, Beauregarde, and will be growing them next season - unfortunately I can't comment on their flavour until summer! Shiraz is a purple mangetout that tastes awful, in my opinion. Even the pigeons wouldn't touch them. There's also Sugar Magnolia (purple snap), Spring Blush (purple-blushed snap), Lancashire Lad (purple-podded soup), and Herbie's Purple Podded Bean Pea. It may be worth looking into mangetout/snow pea 'Beauregarde' www.row7seeds.com/products/beauregarde-snow-pea . It is recommended to let the peas inside develop in size for best flavour, so this might be just what you seek. Regarding heat tolerance, Opal Creek is said to do well in summer, but that's about all I know. If you want to test heat tolerance for yourself I have a few different white-flowered 18th century shelling peas from the Heritage Seed Library that I'd be happy to send your way. Some are particularly delicious. |
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Post by ferdzy on Dec 10, 2019 15:15:52 GMT -5
I review different varieties on my blog, and I compared Carruther's Purple Podded and Clarke's Beltony Blue one year. Carruther's was the better of the two. seasonalontariofood.blogspot.com/2015/07/peas-purple-podded-irish-twins.htmlIf you riffle through "A Varietal Report" in the right hand column of the blog, there are a number of other peas reviewed, but those are the only two purple podded ones I've grown. |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Dec 10, 2019 21:13:53 GMT -5
Hi Dewdrop, I'm sure there are plenty that should taste better than Wando or Tom Thumb, but great that you have an interest in peas in general! Traditionally White flowered peas are said to taste sweeter to most people. Perhaps that is because of linked tannin genes or because of something else i am not sure. Some people seem to think anthocyanins (purple color) themselves taste slightly bitter, but i personally have found no such correlation. If linked tannin genes are involved it is probably possible to unlink them through plant breeding. Of the ones you mentioned i have only tasted and grown Blue Podded Pea/Blauwschokkers. It is a nice novelety and worth growing once for color, but as for flavor it is not great at all. Not great taste in the peas themselves either, it is indeed more of a soup pea than a shelling pea despite the leathery pods that shell easily. Shiraz is a newer one but it does indeed taste awful from my opinion as well. Rebsie has trialed some of the other blue podded ones that i think you may have mentioned. daughterofthesoil.blogspot.com/As for me the only purple podded ones i can recommend are the ones from Alan Kapuler (Sugar Magnolia (purple snap) & Spring Blush (purple-blushed snap)). These two are snap peas, but they taste great and are fairly heat tolerant from what i can tell. I would give Sugar Magnolia a shot if you have never grown it. It is a keeper. I have never tried to eat it solely as a shelling pea, but i'm pretty sure the peas themselves have good sugar genes and good flavor, so i imagine they might work ok for a shelling despite the snap pod. Snap pods tend to squish pea seeds into a barrel shape, so it may not function as good as a true shelling pea in that regard. The best purple podded pea i have tried and have in my collection is a Purple Snow pea 'Midnight Snow' originally bred by Dan Quickert in California. As far as i know i am the only one who still has seed and is still growing it, but it is awesome. I am planning to use it as the main source of good tasty genetics to cross with my red-podded pea that does not taste good. I have high hopes this will speed up my efforts for a good tasting red-podded pea variety. I will do that this spring! As for yellow podded, there is really only 'Golden Sweet' and 'Opal Creek' Snap. Golden Sweet is not really that sweet, but looks nice. Opal Creek tastes much better, but has small wimpy snap pods in my climate as as such i no longer grow it. I don't know that opal creek does have much heat tolerance really. Golden Sweet might. I still have a soft spot in my heart for golden sweet despite no longer growing it. It has wonderful yellow pods unlinke any other and purple flowers to boot! Worth growing once if nothing else for the beauty. In my opinion some of the best tasting green podded peas that are still sweet when VERY large and plump seeds are these varieties: 'Carouby de Maussane', 'Bijou', and 'Green Beauty'. Green Beauty has purple colored flowers and still tastes great!! I personally think these three are the ones you need to try if you want shelling peas. They also would do well as giant stir fry snow peas! |
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Post by Dewdrop on Dec 12, 2019 0:27:18 GMT -5
Thank-you so much everyone! I enjoyed the links to the blogs as well. I am pleasantly surprised with how much more I still have to learn (such as potentially 6ft tall pea plants and the updates for the red pea pod projects). I now have plenty of peas to mull over, although I seem to be leaning towards the Carruthers Purple Podded shelling pea to start with.
Is there any advantageous traits that shelling pea plants have over snap peas or snow peas, aside from possibly being easier to physically shell peas out of?
What color are the Beauregarde snow pea's flowers?
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Post by triffid on Dec 12, 2019 9:38:47 GMT -5
Beauregarde's flowers are purple. Can find a pic here www.brownenvelopeseeds.com/product-p/beauregarde.htm If a pea has purple pods I think it's a genetic guarantee that the flowers will also be coloured. I don't really know about any advantageous traits myself. They're definitely easier to select for as shelling (parchment) pods are dominant to parchment-free pods. |
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Post by Dewdrop on Jan 20, 2020 1:58:40 GMT -5
The seeds have arrived. I now have Sugar Magnolia Snap Pea and Extra Early Pedigree Garden (shelling) Pea seeds. I don't know what flower color the Extra Early Pedigree Peas are though. |
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Post by flowerbug on Jan 20, 2020 9:31:07 GMT -5
i'm glad you bumped this thread Dewdrop keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) if you have a good supply of any peas you find well worth growing and distributing around (especially if you are the only one with them) i will gladly adopt some and spread them around here. i have a seed swap coming up the end of February and will gladly take any or all seeds you can send me for my own use but also to gift out to others. credit given to you for sure! |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 20, 2020 11:38:03 GMT -5
i'm glad you bumped this thread Dewdrop keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) if you have a good supply of any peas you find well worth growing and distributing around (especially if you are the only one with them) i will gladly adopt some and spread them around here. i have a seed swap coming up the end of February and will gladly take any or all seeds you can send me for my own use but also to gift out to others. credit given to you for sure! Sure, I'm always sharing seeds, especially peas. Let me know where you are at in the world and send me a pm here or on OSSI. I've already tried sharing some of those with others like purple passion (deep purple seeds) and Midnight Snow, but I haven't heard if anyone I sent them to is actively growing or keeping them. |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 20, 2020 11:39:50 GMT -5
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Post by Dewdrop on Jan 20, 2020 14:32:03 GMT -5
Ooh, thank-you for linking the chart keen101! Thanks flowerbug, I'll keep that in mind. Funny enough I've only started to practice saving seeds the past few years, so I don't really have enough to share outside my family's garden yet. I don't have any family heirloom seeds, although I am enjoying growing and trying a few different old plant varieties, so far from the seed catalogs. |
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Post by flowerbug on Jan 21, 2020 14:30:46 GMT -5
right now i only have a handful of varieties which i grew all together last year and i can keep them mostly apart just by the appearance of the seeds. none of them are particularly interesting except one i found in the peas from last year when i was shelling them out i found some that had a very thin pod to where it was like tissue paper. very little fiber in there. so i'm going to grow this selection again for this coming year. i also have some hypertendril green peas that are excellent for fresh peas and for soup peas but the pods are not edible. i've not had many thick pod peas do well here for fresh eating. i don't think any of them worked well in our heavy clay soils. if i still have a few mixed in with my other seeds i don't even know any more. whatever the others lack the dwarf gray sugar pods make up for productivity and i like the seeds and colors of the flowers. the only downside to them is that the dry seeds aren't all that great. they're edible but not my favorite. i'd consider them lean rations if i had to eat them. i grow so many beans that it is not a major concern of me to have dry peas but if i'm going to grow something it is nice that it work in as many ways as possible. |
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Post by prairiegardens on Feb 9, 2020 16:56:14 GMT -5
That chart was mind boggling, possibly dozens of varieties I had never even heard of. One not there, though, is one I am planning on for this year. It's been offered by Saltspring seeds for some years and this is the description. Brazilian Pea (no more background than that  )Largest of the edible-pod peas. Bicolor pink/purple flowers. Bug-resistant pods. Pods stay moist when drying down and need thorough drying to thresh. Great for stir fries. Best when pods are full. Stays succulent a long time. Very good flavour as a cooked dry bean. So probably not great as a shelling pea, I'm guessing, but sounded worth a shot as I am focussing more on snap and snow peas than shelling peas these days. I'm not sure if of any use to you... On another note, when I was looking at Real Seed Catalog years back they said the Champion of England grew to 10 feet tall. On the chart above and at a couple of websites (also selling the seed) they describe it as 5-7 feet tall, other websites agree to the 10 feet tall description. So what gives, anyone explain? |
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Post by ferdzy on Feb 10, 2020 12:30:12 GMT -5
On another note, when I was looking at Real Seed Catalog years back they said the Champion of England grew to 10 feet tall. On the chart above and at a couple of websites (also selling the seed) they describe it as 5-7 feet tall, other websites agree to the 10 feet tall description. So what gives, anyone explain? My impression of peas is that they are slightly day-length sensitive, and the further north you grow them, the longer the vines are likely to be. So people may be describing their experiences, but they vary depending on where they are. |
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Post by xdrix on Feb 10, 2020 15:18:38 GMT -5
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I'm currently curious about Carruthers Purple Podded shelling pea, Mr. Bethell's Purple Podded pea, and Blue Podded Pea/Blauwschokkers pea. Are there any reasonably-tasty and palatable other shelling pea varieties with colorful flowers or pods I haven't listed yet? Related inputs such as sweetness, juiciness, and tenderness are also welcome. In short I'm attempting to decide whether or not I want to grow some of the other more colorful shelling peas. 
)Largest of the edible-pod peas. Bicolor pink/purple flowers. Bug-resistant pods. Pods stay moist when drying down and need thorough drying to thresh. Great for stir fries. Best when pods are full. Stays succulent a long time. Very good flavour as a cooked dry bean.