Dwarf pea Orion with round grain

The 'Orion' Pea is a very productive variety of dwarf shelling peas (smooth seeds), which produces pods filled with approximately 10 dark green round peas. They have excellent taste quality. Harvest from May to August. Very resistant variety to the yellow bean mosaic virus. Good for freezing.

The pea is an annual vegetable plant that has its ancient origin in the Near East. It is one of the oldest vegetables cultivated in Europe and Asia and has long been consumed dried and crushed before cooking. Its fresh consumption is rather recent and its nutritional and taste qualities make it an excellent spring vegetable.

There are many varieties, dwarf or climbing (pole) peas producing pods containing round, wrinkled or smooth seeds. Either the pod must be shelled, or it can be consumed whole.

For "shelling peas", the pod is not good for consumption because it is parchment-like, like green beans; therefore, it must be shelled. It is in this category that there is the widest choice of varieties and sizes. Among "shelling peas", there are: wrinkled peas, sweeter and more heat-tolerant, and smooth or round peas, more suitable for early cultivation, as they are hardier and less sensitive to moisture levels. In the vegetable garden, we start with smooth peas, and we sow wrinkled seeds later.

The "mangetout" or "sugar snap" pea, whose pod is not parchment-like, is edible in its entirety by harvesting it before the complete formation of the seeds. If harvested later, it can be shelled to be consumed like fresh peas.

The pea likes mild and humid climates. It dislikes extremes: heat, frost, drought and excess water.

Harvest

Depending on the earliness of the varieties, peas are harvested between two and a half to four months after sowing.

Pick shelling peas when the pods are well filled (about twice a week), but still green.

Storage

Fresh peas can be stored, unshelled, for 48 hours in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator

The flavour of round peas is finer, and their beautiful presentation is better suited for canning or freezing.

Wrinkled varieties are sweeter than round peas, and the seeds remain tender for longer in the pods if the harvest is a little late.

The gardener's little trick

Peas, like all plants in the Fabaceae family, enrich the soil with nitrogen. They are part of a rotation that takes place over 4 years. Peas are plants that are not very demanding in nutrients. Peas also associate very well with carrots, celery, cabbage, turnips, potatoes, and radishes because they protect each other. Avoid the presence of alliums or fennel as their growth inhibits each other.