Dave, the field peas as per dilla's link and of what are typically used for "split-pea" soup are of the same family as "english peas" or "green peas", brought from europe to NA: pisum sativum. Southern peas or cowpeas of course as you know are the family Vigna from africa and have a dramatically different taste from pisum(IMO), Yeah, I know. Thus the use of "moniker" as opposed to genus or family since many use the common labels interchangeably, incorrectly but still interchangeably. A long discussion over on the Harvest forum some months back came up with several more alternate labels for them but I can't recall all the "we call them" names folks came up with. Sorry if any confusion. But whatever one calls them, they still are not productive enough in the typical home garden to off-set their inexpensive store-bought cost. Dave

How are are your hyacinths doing? Healthy hyacinths should be growing rapidly at this time of year. They should be doubling their mass every two to three weeks. They should be a vibrant green. The plant tops should be robust, with compact root structures. They should have lots of plantlets sprouting from the plants. If the above description doesn't sound like your plants, it is likely that your pond is deficient in potash, nitrogen, or maybe iron. If your pond is missing any one of these nutrients, the hyacinths cannot process phosphates, which is likely the nutrient that is currently in surplus. Phosphate equals algae. Since you have very few fish for the size pond you have, the fish aren't contributing significant nutrients to the pond. The nutrients you do have likely came from the water you filled your pond with. Water nutrients vary widely from one water source to another. We fill our ponds with the water we have, but sometimes it is necessary to make adjustments if the water contains too much phosphate, or too little potash, iron, or even nitrogen. Take a good look at your hyacinths. They are good indicators of the nutrient status of your pond. Check for the things mentioned at the beginning of this post and let me know how they are doing. If the hyacinths are doing really well, you might need to add some more. Twenty-five plants isn't that many in a 3,800 gallon pond. Many ponders are now composting excess plants, so you might be able to find a ponder in your area that will give you a bunch.

I may be totally wrong, but I don't expect the pea soup in the Ball Blue Book will go. In fact, I'm not convinced the changes in the new USDA guide (when/if the darned thing ever comes out) will be that significant. I'm cynical, but I don't think the resources are being allocated to do the kind of testing that might result in major changes and/or lots of new recipes. Mainly I expect "tweaking" and updated information of the type we're already aware of - wait times for boiling water bath, pulling many refrigerator pickles due to listeria, replacing any remaining flour-thickened pickles with ClearJel. Ernlynn, we do understand. It can be overwhelming to learn all these things at once. First, I'd recommend you bookmark the NCHFP (National Center for Home Food Preservation) site. Dave already provided a link to soup info. I'm putting in a link to the homepage. If you scroll down that page you'll see they offer a FREE self-paced online course in home canning that will bring you up to speed on the basics. What's not to like about free? The NCHFP site is the gold standard in home canning and should be your "go to." Be very careful of other online sites. While some are good, many offer untested and unreliable recipes and/or questionable procedures. I do think you could can split pea soup, following the recommendations at the NCHFP page Dave linked to, but it sounds like first it might be a good idea to get your feet under and be clearer about basic canning principles. Right now your idea of freezing the soup is a great one. You might want to return those 2-quart jars. Otherwise they do make great canisters. You asked about recommendations for pressure cooking cookbooks. Do you mean for regular pressure cooking (i.e. family meals) or do you mean a reliable book that gives recipes for pressure canning? Carol Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP Homepage

It is hard to go wrong with split pea soup. I prefer using a ham bone, but if I don't have any, I do use a couple of ham hock chunks. The ham bone usually has some nice bits still clinging to the bone, and I shred them and add to the soup when it is done and has been pureed. I add carrots, onion, celery and usually any odds and ends in the refrigerator such as left over green beans, broccoli, squash, a potato or two. I use water to make the soup and add salt, pepper, a bay leaf and maybe a dash of nutmeg and a dash of Worchestershire sauce. After 2 or 3 hours or so, I remove the bone, bay leaf and any meat and whirl it in the blender or use the blender wand. Then I shred any meat morsels and return them to the pot. It is always tasty, no matter what odds and ends I throw in.