Pickin’ Peas
July 15th, 2010
Pretty peas
It’s peak pea season in the garden, and we’ve picked, shelled, and frozen at least 5 pounds in the last week. The plants bounced back from the groundhog’s attack last month, and there are still pods to be picked before we tear out the rows and their birch trellises this weekend. A few more rows of broccoli are going in soon, but in the meantime, the goats have been nibbling on the empty pods and the girls have been sneaking as many sweet, raw peas as they can. When we get a chance to cook them, our house favorite is to simply steam them in their own juice with a smear of butter, and toss them with a little parsley.
What are the “birch trellises”? I think you used goat-stripped pine scaffolding for something to grow up and drape over, but birch trellises? Something you made from branches out of your woods? Something I might order from, say, Fedco or Scheepers?
@Jeanine Birch trellises are just some bent branches we harvested from the woods. We used the stripped pine, too, but the birches were longer and seemed to be a little more stable. Everything is kind of leaning over and tangled now, but for a while they stayed in rows….
I’m with the girls here – get as many raw peas as one can consume! Even though we grew a lot of peas on our garden when my ex and I lived in ND, I don’t remember ever cooking/steaming them. Seems like we ate them raw all of the time. I bet their deelish steamed. Pea season is overwith here until being planted again sometime in mid-August for a Fall harvest. I like the idea of birch-trellises – making use of what you have handy rather than buying things from the store or online. Take care, from KY.