craftosaurus: Who needs a balanced diet when you have vast quanities of awesome?

Ok, so even though I used all caps last week, I still think I may have understated the status of our garden peas. "Ready for eating" doesn't do them justice. Try "12 linear feet of pea plants in excess of 6 feet tall are overflowing with pea pods such that my approach just now was to only pick the ones that might not make it another day before turning starchy, and even then I had more than I could carry in three minutes."

I am in heaven.

Sugar snap peas are my favorite thing we grow, hands down. I suspect it's partially because they're available for such a short period of time each year. Raw peas from the grocery storey just aren't the same because they've invariably lost a lot of flavor in transit. I'll eat the frozen ones in a recipe if I have to; I find canned peas horrific. I really only eat them straight from the garden. If they were readily available year round, I'd probably get sick of them. For a few weeks a year, though, a quart a day is fine by me.

The pictures don't do them justice either, but here you go.

9 comments:

CDG @ Move Over Mary Poppins! said...: Teach me?
I tried them last year, they produced, but they never got more than about 8" long...
And my son and I both love them best fresh from the garden, too.
Kid needs his veggies!; July 5, 2011 at 3:49 AM
craftosaurus said...: Weird! I wonder if it has to do with the type of peas you planted. I know some are supposed to stay lower to the ground.

Anyway, I suspect my success is mostly based I'm luck, but here's what I've done that might be helping:
- I planted early, before Patriot's Day
- the soil is last year's compost in raised beds
- it rained a lot, but if not, I would have watered daily; July 5, 2011 at 6:26 AM
L said...: Do you have to shell them, or do you eat them whole? Also, when is Patriot's Day?; July 5, 2011 at 4:52 PM
southportlandbungalow said...: I shell them, but you don't have to because the pods are edible (for the variety we have, anyway). I shell a whole bunch, eating the pods as I go, then I eat the resulting pile of peas. Mmmm.

Patriot's Day is at the end of April. It's observed in Maine and Massachusetts. And when I say "observed," I really mean "10% of workplaces are closed." It's also the day of the Boston Marathon (and a much smaller scale road race up here).; July 5, 2011 at 5:42 PM
liz said...: you have a jungle of peas.

and i'm supremely jealous.; July 6, 2011 at 5:33 AM
craftosaurus said...: Whoops, I inadvertently commented when I was logged into a rarely-used Google account (southportlandbungalow)!

And yes, "jungle" is an appropriate word. A woefully fleeting jungle of peas.; July 6, 2011 at 10:43 AM
Andria Crowjoy said...: We picked what I think are the last of ours last night. In another week or two I'll plant another little row for fall hopefuls!; July 8, 2011 at 7:59 AM
craftosaurus said...: Aw, a sad day at your house, Andria! Here's to the second crop. :); July 8, 2011 at 8:39 AM
Lisa said...: wow! you weren't kidding! what awesome plants; August 29, 2011 at 1:22 PM