It's a great way to expand kids' taste for vegetables. Raw peas are irresistable. Eating them right in the garden makes it even more fun. Same for cherry tomatoes, radishes and several other things.

Don't eat raw shelly beans though. They can be toxic.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Raw Bean Toxicity

I never liked peas until I grew some in my garden. All through childhood and young adulthood, when faced with peas--frozen, dried, or canned--I'd cringe and find some excuse not to eat them. Then I agreed to grow some English peas for my grandma one year. Out of curiousity, I decided to eat a few raw in the garden. Yowza! They were sort of like... sweet, juicy peanuts. Now I look forward to cooler weather so I can grow them again.

Most years, we plant a lb of pea seed, a good 40 ft row. We may shell and cook, at the most, a couple pounds of peas, all the rest are eaten standing in the garden by my kids, I have no idea how much is consumed, but they will spend hours out there eating them.

From the time you pick the pod they start losing sweetness. Eat them right out of the pod in the garden for best flavor.
Sweet corn loses the sweetness just as quickly. My father would boil the water first. Then he would pick the ears of corn and RUN to the kitchen, husking on the run, to put the corn into the boiing water.
Mmmmmm soooo sweet!

Some of my earliest memories consist of me robbing our big garden of peas and sticking them by the little grubby fistful into my pocket for nibbling on the sly. I'd do the same thing with turnips, but I would at least rinse them off with the hose, lol.

I've always ate raw peas as long as I can remember! My mother had to keep her eye on me so she couild have nothing to harvest LOL!!

Vera

David,

Your son will go far. That is terrific thinking. And thanks for the chuckle. Best one all day.

Jim

Hey, life used to be good! My late brother-in-law worked on a potato farm that grew peas! Now, I tell you I could easily pack away a LARGE paper grocery bag full of peas in not too much longer time than it took to pick them! I'd save a couple cups of the fresh peas to cook with new potatoes....ahh the good ole days....heck I never washed them, just ate them right out of the shell...

My daughters and I watched the World Cup final today and snacked on our garden's peas we were shelling. None made it past the second overtime. Jim

I had 5 sugar pea plants going like gangbusters. I kept score and from May 1st to June 26th I picked over 1000 pods. But then we had a heat wave and the plants started to turn brown from the bottom up-

Then they developed powery mildew. It got progressively worst until I yanked them out on July 2nd. All plants were 3/4 brown.

Now there are transplanted Brandywine and Sun Gold tomatoes in their place.

Apparently from what meislerj says it seems that I can re-plant peas in late summer. Can they take the chilly nights of autumn?

Glad I've found this forum! Always loved row peas.
This brings the childhood memories, especially of me and a friend leaving our sheep in the pasture, climbing over the short wire fence (semi-barbed), laying into the field of peas and feasting! This was in Dalmatia -Adriatic seacoast, something good and edible was always around.
I've been growing peas ever since and eaten them right off the vine.
Now I wonder if someone here would want to trade your best peas and beans?

Makes me want to make Red Beans and Rice,

peas and joy and all that jazz,

Bea

Roasted green pods of most of edible legumes (pulses) taste good. Roast them on the grill or oven till golden brown.We roast Lentil, Cow peas, Papadi ( three varieties)pods and Bengal grams( same as Channa).We eat fresh from garden plants also,an easier way to enjoy.

Roasting or grilling pods is a new idea to me. It makes sense. I haven't made acquaintance with some of those Indian pulses yet either, although I'm fond of Indian food. Thanks for the info.

Jim

The pods I am talking about in earlier posting should be hard enogh filled with seeds ,picked just before ripening process begins.

-- Apparently from what meislerj says it seems that I can re-plant peas in late summer. Can they take the chilly nights of autumn? --

Good gawd yes.

Fall peas are usually much better than spring peas. Believe it or not peas want warm soil to germinate and then cool air temps to grow in. In the spring what do you have? Cool soil and warm air. In the fall you have warm soil and cool air.

Not only can you plant peas in late summer, but you *should* plant them then.

Fall is pea time, not spring. Spring is just bonus pea time when it works out. It often doesn't because of disease or rabbits. Fall is much easier and tastier.

If you don't need the garden space for something else important like sungolds, we've had some luck with clipping the mildew'd, finished peas off about two inches above the ground, leaving a leaf or two. They sorta sit there until it gets cool again, and then some of them start growing again, and we can pick another few batches in the fall.

This isn't guaranteed by a long shot, but if you don't need the space for anything else, its worth a try. A better guarantee would be to plant fresh seed.

My maine interest is eating raw peas pod and all. I live in southern Indiana (95 f temp this week) and have had decent yields of peas all summer. I hear peas do better in shade during hot summer. I will soon try that. I like sugar snap pes and better than snow peas because the yield is higher. 'Sugar Sprint' is probably my favorite and it is a new open pollinated cultivar.
micropropagator

I like raw peas too. I eat them raw when they are first coing in and not enough to cook, and our little corgi loves raw peas too.
I give him peas that are not well formed, he doesn't care.

I got him hooked on peas, and then I would look out the window and find him harvesting his own, right off the plant! Silly little dog. I wish I had a picture of that. I was mad at the time, and ran yelling and screaming out the door for him to get out of my garden. He see's me in there, so he jumps in. He does know better, but when raw peas are involved, he can't help himslef.

When I am shelling peas, he sits right there and stares at me. Please mommy can I have some. I comply. He is so cute! He like them cooked too.

Mary

I'm glad to find I am not alone in this discovery.

I've known this secret for years when I learned it on a farm!

As a child, I HATED cooked peas, both the flavor and texture. My mom tried everything to get me to eat cooked peas. I could not stand the smell even. Pea soup would make me cry!

Relief came when I was an adult, staying on a farm for leave while in the Army. The farm wife suggested I try one raw pea. I was amazed! It was like eating a sweet nut. From then on, when they sent me into the pea patch to harvest the peas, they only got half the crop! (Guess who got the other half?) That was years ago, and I have been "pea positive" ever since.

Raw peas make a great substitute for snack foods. I can get them already shelled, and they need NOTHING to enhance them, no salt or anything. Just pop 'em like candies, only better!

Thanks for the post. Now I know I am not crazy!

Here is a link that might be useful: ClydeSight Productions

A surprising amount of sugar snaps typically don't make it into the house. This is a global problem. I have a hunch its the pea pickers, but I have no proof. They keep asking me, "Where's the evidence?".

I think I'll have to number the pea pods.

When the pods are tender, I will eat the whole pod. But when they toughen a bit, I'll eat the tender green peas.
I am also a fan of eating very young tender green beans.
You can add both to your salad too. Obviously cooking will take away some of the taste and maybe vitamins ?. But the only advantage of ripe beas/peas is that they will have more protein, a red meat substitute.

Are you people saying that there are folks out there who actually COOK peas??

When we could get our garden peas to grow we would eat them while we were picking them. Also we would eat the green beans while we were picking them also. Glad other people have found what we enjoyed.

Fresh green peas are as good as sweet fruit. Thanks David and Username for the tips on fall peas, maybe I'll try that this fall. I always have spring peas and they never make it into the house.