These are a Few of My Favourite Peas

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

These are the pea varieties I like best and am growing again this year. ‘Tom Thumb’ and ‘Dwarf Grey Sugar’ go in pots and everything else goes in even larger pots or in-ground at the community garden. I meant to write a post about planting my peas ages ago (peas generally go in early, as soon as the ground is “workable”) but that didn’t happen, weeks have passed and here we are.

Incidentally, this photo is the reason why my peas got mixed up. I spent a stupid amount of time one Sunday morning setting this shot up indoors but did not like the light. The little tags should be yellower. There is too much shadow. So then I had the thought to carry the board outdoors so that I could take a Polaroid. It was a precarious and thoughtless idea but I managed to make it all the way outside with only a few rollie-pollie seeds making a break for it. But then I got outside and it was windy, and I did not stick those pieces of paper down with tape, and well…. you can guess what happened next. The tags took flight. The peas shot off the board. Mayhem. I managed to sort some seeds by color, size, and texture but the remainders ended up in an envelope marked, ‘Edible Pea Grab Bag.’

The end.

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

Subscribe to get weekly updates from Gayla

4 thoughts on “These are a Few of My Favourite Peas

  1. I’ve been hoping that someone would do a best peas post. I grew ‘Green Arrow’ this year. I’m tempted to try ‘Tall Telephone’ next year. Just visited another Austin gardener who loved ‘Cascadia’ and we stood talking and munching on peas off the vine.

    Are there specific reasons you prefer these varieties?

  2. I like all of them for different reasons but in short: ‘Tom Thumb’ is exceptionally small and can be grown in the smallest containers. ‘Dwarf Gray Sugar’ has gorgeous flowers and does well in larger pots and small spaces. ‘Laxton’s Progress’ is prolific. The others need very large containers or in-ground space and all are very good flavored with exceptionally beautiful flowers. And ‘Golden’ has pods that are golden as well as a chartreuse tinge to the foliage.

Comments are closed.