If you have the freezer room and want to try them fresh, try blanching and freezing them. Growing up, I only ate them fresh. Now that I have tried fresh & dried, I like them both ways. They taste a bit different - I think the fresh is the best. To harvest them fresh, you want to let the pods fill out before you pick them. If you want snaps, pick some when they are real young and thin. After shelling them, blanch them, and then put in quart freezer bags and freeze. Around here, most folks like to grow them in the fall since there doesn't seem to be as many bugs. Hope this helps.

I like regular green peas that have been frozen. They are blanched first before freezing, however. If you have the space, they do have 3'x3' square chest freezers for very little money. I used to have one that cost me about $100 a few years ago. It held quite a lot compared to a refrigerator freezer combo. That, was very old, and wouldn't even keep ice cream firm. The chest freezer was a great investment.

Hi, I've been lurking and learning on GW for quite a while now, and finally decided I'd better post something. Harry shared the wonderful Black Jungle beans with us and they are producing delicious beans here in Northern California. Typically, we don't get limas until August/September, and this year the BJ's were first. We've had a very cool summer. We are also starting to get Gigandes (the lima, not the runner bean), Speckled Calicos, Dreer's Improved, and Illinois Giants, but haven't yet eaten Dr. Martin's or any of the bush limas, which we got in later (German Red Bush, Fordhook, Dixie Butterpea and Jackson Wonder). Does anyone here grow the Gigandes lima? It is the largest seeded lima that we've grown, and yet it seems to cook more quickly than other limas. As soon as it hits the water, the seed coat splits, and the beans I cooked tonight (from yellowing pods) were done in 15 minutes! This is the first year here for both BJs and Gigandes. Also, I wanted to mention that the German Red Bush lima is different from Dixie Speckled Butterpea. I got the German Red Bush seed from a place in Pennsylvania (http://www.landisvalleymuseum.org/2011seeds.pdf). This is our second year growing the GRs. Hope we'll get some beans to harvest soon. Glad you got to enjoy some, Harry! Jana Here is a link that might be useful: Landis Valley

I picked and shelled the first batch this past weekend. I only got a bit less than a quart of shelled peas, but there's another round ready to pick. How long do these usually produce? The plants look fine and healthy, not like my bush green beans which often start looking puny after the first picking. We had green beans we needed to cook, so I froze most of the first picking, only saving out a half cup to throw in with the green beans. They were right tasty, though it is hard to separate out their taste from the beans. I figure to cook the next picking right away. I don't have any kind of sheller, but I got pretty good at zipping them open by the time I'd shelled the first batch. Seems like a good thumbnail helps! Chuck