Peas 2019

[Andrew Barney]

Speaking of hypertendril, has anyone tried eating them? Are they actually good or more in the category of plate decoration at fancy restaurants? I have not grown hypertendril peas yet, but was trying the tendrils of regular peas because I was curious... about the same texture as steelwool scrubbing pads lol are the actual hypertendril pea tendrils any softer?

@Andrew The only possibly suitable grey pea variety that comes to my mind right now is Pelusk från Dalarna. It's fairly low tannin for a grey pea and has perfectly round seed (high starch). Most grey peas are dimpled ones for fresh use or high tannin ones for flour making, garden peas are more commonly used for soup from dried peas.

Well here is the link to Soren's blog. https://toads.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/grey-peas

I have tried the hyper tendrils and they can be quite pleasant like pea shoots or bamboo shoots in a salad. But I think they need to be in sweet tasting snow or snap peas as the fiber can be unpleasant and low fiber gene s can affect the leaves and tendrils too.

[Doro]

Ah, that makes a lot of sense! The tendrils of my own peas were very fibrous and not sweet at all. I'll try some proper hypertendril ones one day.

I read Sörens entry about the pea soup experiment and I read the link to the original instructions. It's interesting, ansjovis in pea soup ? that is new to me. But Denmark uses more fish than we do in our forestry area far from the sea.
The issue with old cooking instructions is that they rarely are specific about the exact ingredients. Because back then everyone knew exactly what kind of pea to use. A 'no need to state the obvious' kind of thing. This one is not different, it just says grey peas and not what type of grey peas. There used to be many more different types than we have left today. I have a feeling that the dimpled ones from the blog entry are not the type which was used originally. I am pretty sure that they used round grey peas. The deeper the dimples/wrinkles, the harder they will stay despite long cooking time.
But the majority of the old varieties that got saved from going extinct are of the dimpled kind that is sweet enough for fresh consumption. The starchy grey peas became less popular when garden peas arrived. Nowadays most people don't even grow peas for drying at all. It's all about snow peas and snap peas nowadays, shelling and drying types are getting rare.

[reed]

I went out and sampled one of the hyper-tendril growths. Kinda like chewing on slightly pea flavored mono-filament fishing line. Probably not a good test though cause the plants are nearing maturity, they might be a lot better if harvested small. 

[Doro]

 
Hmmm now I'm wondering about the use of mature pea tendrils as biodegradable plant based floss rofl maybe we just discovered a whole new market for them.

This morning I was in the garden and found some very young tendrils, they were much better than the old big ones I had tried. But of course not much to eat in terms of food, a whole bunch of them would be needed to be noticeable in a salad. Maybe the hypertendril ones grow quicker and are bigger while they still are soft enough to be enjoyable to eat.

[Diane Whitehead]

I just ate the non-tendrils of a purple pod parsley pea from Andrew.  What would be tendrils have been replaced by tiny leaves.  Pretty.

[ImGrimmer]

I wonder if these young pods of gray peas are edible? Are they inedible or just less tasty than snow peas?

[triffid]

I'm aware of a few grey peas that are also mangetout/snow peas.

Dwarf Grey Sugar, Bijou, Carouby, Kent Blue, Golden Sweet, (Shiraz?) to name a handful. They tend to be old varieties.

Kent Blue is particularly sweet even when the peas inside are large.

[Andrew Barney]

Dwarf Grey would probably be a good choice to try like that. Oddly enough I haven't tried it yet. Kind of ironic.

In other news i'm getting better pods this week of all my peas. Reds and yellows especially. Flavor and sweetness is variable for the ones crossed by me and will need selection furthur.

[B. Copping]

Lincoln/Homesteader & Blue Podded

[galina]

Well here is the link to Soren's blog. https://toads.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/grey-peas

I have tried the hyper tendrils and they can be quite pleasant like pea shoots or bamboo shoots in a salad. But I think they need to be in sweet tasting snow or snap peas as the fiber can be unpleasant and low fiber gene s can affect the leaves and tendrils too.

This is the one for eating tendrils.  They are less "tendril" and more miniature leaf.  Variety is called Parsley Pea. 

[Doro]

Wow how cool is that! They really look like parsley!
At first I thought it was interplanted parsley and peas.
Those and some hypertendril ones are now on my trial list for next year. Can't grow too many peas right?

[galina]

I'm aware of a few grey peas that are also mangetout/snow peas.

Dwarf Grey Sugar, Bijou, Carouby, Kent Blue, Golden Sweet, (Shiraz?) to name a handful. They tend to be old varieties.

Kent Blue is particularly sweet even when the peas inside are large.

Weggiser, Schweizer Riesen aka Swiss Giant, Winterkefe are also in that category.

[galina]

Wow how cool is that! They really look like parsley!
At first I thought it was interplanted parsley and peas.
Those and some hypertendril ones are now on my trial list for next year. Can't grow too many peas right?

Quite right Doro!  About a third of my garden is peas every year. 

By the way, if you cross ordinary tendrils with parsley pea tendrils, you get hypertendrils. 

[galina]

In other news i'm getting better pods this week of all my peas. Reds and yellows especially. Flavor and sweetness is variable for the ones crossed by me and will need selection furthur.

I also have a red mangetout that I am happy with this year. 

[ImGrimmer]

I recently received a new pea variety. So my question is: is it too late for sowing it? I am interested in multiplying seed material not in a decent harvest for table. And of course I am eager to see it.
I suspect peas to be susceptible to mildew when sown late in the season. Any advice?