Peas

Not something to get excited about I hear you say! No, the little green pea doesn't get much praise. Lots of children hate them, they are not easy to eat - they roll off a fork or jump off your plate if you try to stab them with fork prongs causing you much embarrassment when eating with guests or out in a posh restaraunt. Amateur gardener that I am, I decided to grow some vegetables this year and have already picked a substantial amount of peas having watched them grow, flower and produce pods.

My vegetable patch!

I am weighing them to see how much I produce. But having stood and shelled them memories of bygone days flooded my mind and I wondered if kiddies today even know this is where their frozen peas come from. My mind went back to a sunny day sat on the concrete step in the back garden with my mother. She had a cullender, bowl and heaps of pea pods she was holding up in her waist-tied apron. She told me to pop the pods open (showing me) and scoop out the peas; put the shells in the bowl and the peas in the cullender to be washed. They didn't look dirty to me but we spent some time together doing this job. I can't remember if it was weekly or just a one off occasion, perhaps she did it when I was at school. We didn't have a fridge or freezer back then (late 1950's) but we had a visiting greengrocer van to our cul-de-sac on the outskirts of Birmingham driven and served by Mr Arkle (what wonders of information we retain).

I'm sure somewhere along my married life I have bought and shelled peas but, like the majority of us I suspect, we find frozen peas so much more convenient. In fact a Twitter poll shows 64% preferred frozen peas. Mother let me taste the sweetness of those freshly podded, raw peas and I think there is not a match to that taste in the cooked or frozen variety. It has been known that I ate a few pod skins too!

                                                                Sweet fresh peas 

Did you know the humble pea is not actually a vegetable but a small, edible legume? They are in a family of lentils, chickpeas, beans and peanuts. They are a rich source of plant-based protein, fibre, iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium and vitamins. They help manage cholesterol levels, have high antioxidant levels and protect against some forms of cancer. I particularly like petit pois and mange tout but like the majority of the population I always have a bag of frozen peas in the freezer. (I did a Twitter poll and 64% preferred frozen to fresh, tinned or mushy.) How about you? Which type of peas do you eat or grow?