(and Their Cousins, the Snow Peas and the Edible Pods)
by Karen Antikajian
OWP - July 1999
One of the delights of summer is the delectable taste of the Oregon Sugar Pea. These crunchy, sweet vegetables can be used to add a delicious flavor to main dishes, they can be combined with other vegetables such as onions and mushrooms and eaten as a side dish, or they can be enjoyed just for themselves, either slightly cooked or fresh from the garden. They also freeze well, retaining their crispness and bright, green color.
For those who may not have made an acquaintance with just-picked sugar peas or their relations, I advise you to head out to a friend's patch as soon as possible, or if you don't have any friends (with sugar peas, that is) try planting a patch of your own. Eating produce while picking is one of the joys of gardening, a technique referred to as "pick and munch."
If you have decided to plant your own, you must start early in the season and brave the elements. Sugar peas need to be planted in February, a time when some people are just removing their outside Christmas lights. You will find that the ground, (or soil, if you are lucky) is either still frozen solid and requires a pick-axe, or it resembles a lagoon and must be waded into with hip boots. You must have a drill-like tool to jab into the resisting earth and make pea-sized holes for the seed. After you drop a seed into each hole, cover them gently and say a little prayer.
 |
In the following weeks you must vigilantly guard your plot from predators such as the black bird. These pesky birds love to dine on the young seeds and come equipped with a built-in radar for zeroing in on and devouring them. But, once the seeds sprout, you will find that your plants are vigorous and hardy, resisting cold weather, downpours, and slugs.
After the plants mature, you will begin to notice a multitude of white blossoms. The pods are beginning to form! The blossoms beckon and you think, "Picking will be a snap. There's nothing to it. I can tell right where they are growing." That is not the case, though. When the time comes for you to harvest your crop, the distinctive white blossoms that heralded the arrival of this succulent vegetable have long ago withered and disappeared while the climbing, twisting vines conspire to obscure the young pods.
Many fruits and vegetables, such as blueberries, tomatoes, plums, and pumpkins broadcast their presence at harvest time. The vibrant blues, reds, purples, and oranges announce their nesting places for all the world to see. They literally beg to be picked, shouting, "Here I am."
Not so the elusive sugar peas, snow peas, and edible pods. Oh no. The flat, green pods hang like chameleons among the prolific green vines, whispering, "Find me if you can." This is not an undertaking for the faint of heart. But if you are determined to achieve this conquest and enjoy the spoils, I have a few words of advice.
Numerous studies have shown that the time of day does not influence the difficulty of this task. Mornings and afternoons seem to provide the same amount of success, or lack of it, as the case may be. Daylight hours are best, though.
 |
Set out in a determined manner. The peas will sense any hesitation or nervousness on your part. Proceed slowly and cautiously to the site. You must walk quietly as the pods feel the vibrations in the earth and will react to any unusual movement in the air. Any strange noise will alert them and they will become extremely hard to detect. You must casually approach the plants as if you are coming to water the garden. Any containers should be concealed behind your back or in some other manner.
Once you are in front of ome of the plants, nonchalantly reach up and quickly, with a flick of your thumb, pluck an unsuspecting pod from the plant, trying not to alarm the others. They are very devious, so you must use cunning and skill. After you pick one, move the surrounding plants gently, causing the nearby pods to sway back and forth. Glance quickly - right, left, up, down - to catch the swinging pods in the act.
Continue in this manner down the row. As you finish with a section and move along, glance back over your shoulder surreptitiously. If you are lucky, you may be quick enough to catch some previously concealed pod now brazenly hanging out in the open in the very spot you inspected only a moment ago, as if to mock your incompetence and flaunt its superiority. Snag it before it can retreat and continue on with your quest.
Another technique is to drop suddenly to your knees, allowing a different perspective and letting you snatch some of those wily pods that are lurking almost invisibly behind the large, flat, elephant-eared leaves of the plants. Don't be dismayed if you occasionally find a pod that has gone undetected for days and resembles a banana. It can happen to anyone.
Do not get discouraged if an Expert Pea Pod Picker (EPPP) is able to capture numerous pea pods from a section you thought you had thoroughly inspected. Just keep honing your skills. Practice, practice, practice.
Once you have perfected all the moves, which may take years of persistent practice, you will qualify as a professional pea pod detector (PPPD.) You may even want to join your local Pea Pod Detector Group (PPDG) and participate in some of their timed events. You, too, could become an expert. But, even if you decide to limit your expertise to your home garden patch, you will have the ability to cleverly outsmart the evasive sugar pea and truly enjoy one of the most memorable taste sensations of the early summer garden. I wish you success and fulfillment in this new endeavor.
|
|
 |
 |
|
||||||