Peas Please....

Today I began harvesting peas. A simple task it would seem, but I wasn't exactly sure when I was supposed to harvest them. I mean how do you really know when they are done? I have decided through my daily taste test that the best time is somewhere between too small but ultra sweet and really big but extra starchy. So I went about cutting off pods that seemed the appropriate shape and size to fit my taste theory and decided that about 25 pods would yield approximately a 1 cup serving - I used a very scientific eye to cup formula. I then grabbed my usual afternoon glass of wine, took a seat under my canopy of trees and began shelling. It only took a few moments, and sure enough I had shelled approximately a cup or so of peas. A rather enormous serving for one person as I soon found out. I took them inside and put them in the steamer - 6 minutes seemed like a reasonable amount of time - again another educated guess. I mean really, how often does one cook fresh peas? Turns out eight minutes would have made them a little more tender, but never the less promptly served them up with some grilled salmon and salad. Yummy and rewarding!

But as I ate my bounty, it really made me think a bit deeper about where food really comes from and why growing it myself has become more and more important to me. My peas were actually not the perfectly little round morsels I had predicted. Instead they were more of a tear drop shape, and though I was able to include my shelling time into my usual afternoon lounge in the backyard. Where were mass produced peas shelled. As I found out many are still shelled by underpaid migrant farm workers.
Next year... two fences of peas!