12-07-2003, 03:20 AM
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What Variety Pea for Tender Greens?
In article ,
(simy1) wrote:
more on it and then I will stop. I only do them in winter because,
well, they get ready all together, they are good for a week or less,
and even with a single tray you have to eat pea greens for 4-5
evenings (I use about 1/2 pound per tray, another reason not to use
pea seeds - way too expensive).
The greens are cut-and-come again (twice, three times if you are
desperate for winter greens as they become tougher), a good thing if
your whole garden is two trays. Unlike buckwheat or sunflower,
germination with peas (even a few years old) is always excellent, they
don't care if the temp is in the 50, and they don't catch damping off.
so if you seed a tray thickly, you will get a solid mass of greens. In
their prime (3 inches) they are a great salad green, mild but with a
definite flavor. I suppose for stir fries you will have to seed them a
lot less thickly and let them grow longer.
We start all our own plants under lights in a small room in the basement
so trying this would be no problem for me whatever. The pea greens i
used to get in the spring in Madison from the Hmong farmers up there
were about 6 inches long in bundles the diameter of a softball. VERY
tender. I'd usually get a couple bundles a week. I adapted use of them
in just about anything including stir fries, salads, dressings, omelets,
risotto, boiled potatoes, gratins, soups, etc etc etc. I am big on
greens of all kinds, really.
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