The Family Kitchen Gardener (1856)/Pea
PEA.
Pìsum Satìvum.—Pois, Fr.—Erbse, Ger.
The Pea is of great antiquity as a culinary vegetable, and is familiar in the domestic cookery of every country. It is an annual, the seed being sown and matured in the same season, and in some varieties in an incredibly short space of time. They are considered a pleasant and nourishing food, having the character of purifying the blood and correcting scorbutic humors. In flavor and quality there is as great a difference in the Pea as in any vegetable with which I am acquainted, though, from observation, cultivators and even cooks have little knowledge of the quality and flavor of the different varieties in cultivation. Some, when merely plain boiled and seasoned, are of themselves a luxury; others require more assistance from the culinary art to make them palatable. It is not our object to detail the various modes of cooking, yet we confess that we have seen them mis-boiled. The earlier sorts take from half an hour to three quarters; the Marrow-fats, from fifteen to twenty minutes, according to age. To have their flavor perfect, they should be picked, shelled, and cooked, all within three or four hours. When kept over night their quality is greatly impaired. Some prefer them boiled with a bunch of mint; the only seasoning admitted by others, is a little salt in the water.
We will not detail the numerous sorts we grow or are acquainted with, but the following will be found most useful for market or family supply. They are those most noted for their quality, and are arranged in the order in which they come to maturity.
Prince Albert.—A dwarf grower, pods and pea small, four days earlier than any variety we have yet tried, good flavor.
Extra Early.—A very early Pea that has been cultivated in this vicinity about fifty years, and was exclusively, for a long period, in the possession of a Mr. Cooper, near Camden, N. J., who, I am informed, obtained the seed from a German emigrant. It is the sort most extensively cultivated for our market, and for that purpose is preferable to any other, the crop being nearly all ready at once, when the ground can be cleared for a crop of Beans, or late Tomatoes.
Early Grotto.—A very superior family early Pea, both in size and flavor; three or four days later than the former, and continues a much longer time in bearing.
Early May.—A fine early variety, good flavored, and very productive. Early Frame.-A very celebrated Pea in Europe, where its hardiness makes it a general favorite. It is an abundant bearer and an excellent family Pea.
Early Charlton.—A very hardy early Pea, which comes in well as a secondary crop.
Bishop's Dwarf.—A very remarkable dwarf variety, requiring no stakes nor support of any kind, except the earth drawn to its stems. It is very prolific, but does not do to sow late, as it is subject to mildew. It can be sown in rows eighteen inches apart. Draw the earth more to one side of the plants than the other, which will lay them all in one position, from which the crop can be more conveniently gathered.
The above varieties, with the exception of Bishop’s Dwarf, should be sown about three feet apart. Give them all stakes or rods, for the double purpose of protecting them from the wind and to support the vines. With stakes the crop can be more readily gathered, and the plants will mature every pod. A quart of early Peas will sow four drills, each thirty yards long.
Royal Dwarf.—This succeeds the early varieties. It grows between three and four feet high.
Blue Marrow.—A fine large Pea, very prolific and well flavored, sown about first of May, will be fit for the table about the fourth of July.
White Marrow.—Very generally cultivated, but is far surpassed by the
Matchless Marrow, being larger, equally as productive, and superior in flavor; grows five feet high.
Woodford Marrow.—A very green Pea, and boils without losing color. It makes the most beautiful dish of green Peas, and is an excellent bearer.
Surprise, if sown about the twentieth of March, will be fit for the table about the twelfth of June. A very excellent late Pea, of large size, and superior flavor.
Sugar Pea.—So called from its flavor. It is usually boiled in the pods whole, only drawing the thread from the back of the pod before it is put into the water. It can also be cooked in the usual way: a very sweet Pea; grows five feet high.
Knight’s Dwarf Marrow.—This is called Dwarf, though it grows five feet, and should be sown in drills at least that distance apart.
Knight’s Wrinkled Marrow.—There are several varieties of this, all of first-rate excellence. Though the ripe seed are peculiarly wrinkled and very untempting, yet the green fruit are exceedingly fine flavored.
Scimitar.—A large Pea and abundant bearer; takes its name from the shape of the pods; it is well flavored. Sown about the first of May; it will be ready about the sixth of July.
New Mammoth.—A very tall-growing Pea, requiring rods six feet high; a great bearer, of large size, and perhaps the very best flavored Pea grown. The only objection to it, is the quantity of ground it occupies. They should be planted two inches apart in the drills, and six feet from row to row. A quart will plant three rows, cach thirty yards long. If sown about the first of May, it will be ready about the 12th of July
British Queen.—A wrinkled marrow Pea, of large size, and luscious flavor, grows five to six feet high; a new Pea of great excellence.
There are twenty or twenty-five other varieties of the Pea, but to go into a detail would be merely repeating what we have already said. They are generally mere varieties of those given, and so closely assimilated, that a name constitutes in most instances the only difference. The above list embraces varieties that become fit for the table in from six to ten weeks; and by repeated sowings, judiciously made, the garden will be supplied with Peas from May to frost. We believe that there is no vegetable in the catalogue so universally agreeable as the Pea. We have never heard any one say they could not eat well-cooked green Peas, and it should be an emulation to have them always at least in their season.
Culture.—The soil in which an early crop of Peas is sown, should be light, dry, and well sheltered. I have had great success with early Peas, by sowing a row along the south or east side of a board fence. This is done as soon as the frost is out of the ground—in some seasons about the first of March, while in others as late as the 19th. Such was the Spring of 1846, yet I had Peas fit for the table on the 17th of May. This is no criterion of the earliness of the Pea, for in 1844 I sowed Peas on the 30th of April, which were fit for the table on the 10th of June, being within six weeks, and on heavy, loamy soil. Ground for Peas should be well manured the previous year; if it is heavily manured for the crop, it causes them to grow more to straw than seed. As soon as they are two inches high, draw earth to them, and when they have grown a few inches more, repeat it again. When they are eight or ten inches high, this earthing greatly protects the vines, and keeps the wind from driving them about. After the final earthing has been completed, stake them. The stakes, or branches more properly, should be of a fan-form, and put in the ground in a slanting direction. On the other side of the row reverse the position of the stakes, which affords the vines more protection and security. When they show their first blossoms, it is a good plan to top off the point of the vine It then ceases to grow, and throws all its strength into the pods, by which they swell off more readily. Early Peas should be sown in drills two inches deep, and the seeds about one inch apart in the drills and two and a half feet from drill to drill. If stakes are scarce, two rows of Peas can be sown six inches apart, and then two rows the same way, four feet between each pair of rows. This is the general system, though I do not see what are its advantages. If the same quantity of seed be put into one row, it appears evident the product will be the same; but I have not satisfactorily tried the experiment. The height to which Peas grow very much depends upon the season and soil. Early sorts, in a dry Spring, will grow two feet, while in a moist season they will grow four. Many of the Marrow Peas in some seasons will grow six feet, and in others ten. The spaces between the rows of early Peas can be planted with Lettuce or Beans. The late kinds, where the rows are four to six feet apart, can be planted with early Celery—the vines will partially shade the young plants till they have taken root. The late Peas can also go on ground whence early Lettuce or Spinach has been taken. If the kinds we have named be sown from early in Spring to the 10th of May, a crop of young Peas will be in constant succession from May to the end of July. August, and the two first weeks of September, in this vicinity and South, will be in want of green Peas, which is very liberally supplied with the varieties of Beans. Early Peas may again be sown about the 15th of August. If the weather be dry, soak the Peas twenty-four hours in water before sowing. Indeed this is an excellent practice with all the tribe. When the ground is dry, the drills should have water poured into them before being planted, the seed will then grow at once, and not be in the least retarded, should the season continue dry. It will greatly prevent mildew if the Peas are watered in continued droughts.
The following mode of staking the tall varieties of the Pea is both cheap and simple, and possesses many advantages. Procure a number of stakes, in length according to the height of the Peas, and drive them into the ground on each side of the row, at the distance of six feet; pass a small line of cotton, or Onion-twine, along the poles, taking a turn on each. As the Peas advance, raise the next line higher, and so on, till they have attained their full height. Two lines will be enough, as the one line can be raised over the other. The air can circulate better through the vines than by the common method of staking.
Peas can be successfully cultivated by artificial means, and a good crop produced either in pits or very gentle hot-beds. For this purpose Bishop's Early Dwarf is most suitable. Sow in pots or boxes, rather thickly, and place them close to the glass till they are sufficiently strong for transplanting, when they may be carefully taken out, with the roots as entire as possible, and planted in frames or pits, from front to back, in rows fifteen inches apart, and two inches from plant to plant. Give plenty of air by day, should the weather admit of it, but keep them well covered at night. It may be observed, that in whatever way Peas are raised for forcing, they should invariably be transplanted. The temperature should be from 40° to 60°. When they appear dry, moderate waterings will be necessary, more especially in time of bloom, and when the pods are setting and swelling. Those who pay some attention to the cultivation of this very luscious vegetable, can very readily have them on the table from May to November in all ordinary seasons.