Breeding a new cold frame pea

[AndrewB]

And to be honest I should have known better. I know of only one pea that is both wrinkled and mottled (Piselle d'le Ago) and that is very, very rare.

The nap gene peas are both wrinkled and mottled with a unique green/orange color. They are also a snap pea last time I grew them. Very unique variety.

[Diane Whitehead]

There seem to be different strains of tom thumb around but I do not expect the foliage to taste good without the p and v genes for low fiber pods. There are other unknown flavor genes as well.

The peas I usually grow for pea shoots are the ones used for winter cover crops.

[AndrewB]

Trying my best to direct this project through EFN and the members on there that are interested in this.

Who still needs seeds for next year?

My plan for directing this project is taking shape. Step 1. Is for as many people to attempt the same basic cross. If that is successful, those who succeed can grow out the F2 / F3 generations and share seeds with others. Cross attempt 1 is Green Beauty (or my "Large Podded" strain which originally contained Green Beauty, Bijou, & Carouby De Maussane) x Tom Thumb or an appropriate extra dwarf pea (I have a list of about 5 somewhere). Preferably an extra dwarf pea that has wrinkled seeds, though round seeds may be more cold hardy in cold wet soil. Some strains of Tom Thumb are white seeded with round seeds, other strains of Tom Thumb are green with wrinkled seeds.

Potential cross #2 is Tom Thumb x Canoe (or another similar pea with 12+ peas per pod) to get the ion gene for long pods with lots of seeds. There are other potential crosses we can add later. Another avenue for high productivity would be to select for and cross with varieties that have 2-4 flowers / pods per node. I am starting to select my strain of "Large Podded" for plants that regularly produce 2 pods per node instead of one.

All of these should be commercially available so access to seeds for these should not be an issue. I have misplaced some of my pea seeds, but I have "Large Podded" available for anyone who wants some. It has won my personal taste tests 3 years in a row and is currently my favorite pea. It is most likely the same as Green Beauty. Sometimes when I give my seeds to others in new climates or gardens they say they taste terrible or do not do well. My strain may be more adapted to my soil, climate, and perhaps my own taste buds. Hopefully we can breed a variety that does well for all of us and tastes good to all of us.

oh, p.s. I have talked with one person about designing our own small passive cold frames. I have a partial design drafted up, but I haven't had time to work on it much since then. If anyone is interested in collaborating or looking at it, let me know.

Mighty Midget, Lg. Manitoba, Tom Thumb, Earligreen, and Orange-pod are all varieties that should be extra dwarf and only a foot tall at most.

[Diane Whitehead]

Two new dwarf snap peas I grew on a balcony last year:  Little Crunch and Snack Hero, both by Renee's Garden

[AndrewB]

Thanks Diane,

Those sound like great options! How tall do they get?

I'm thinking to the quickest way to get an improved super dwarf would be to cross Tom Thumb with another dwarf.

I think I'll try Tom Thumb x Dwarf Gray Sugar if I can. But those snaps would be great options too. Possibly short enough already for some.

[Diane Whitehead]

They were meant for containers - pots, window boxes, hanging baskets.

The packets say Snack Hero is 18 inches and Little Crunch 24 to 30 inches.  I didn't measure mine, but I think they were shorter.

Anyway, easy to buy some seeds - I presume Renee's seeds are as widely sold in the U.S. as they are in Canada. They're based in California, but also have a trial garden in the Eastern U.S.