Colored flowers of the field pea.
It is now time to plant your peas in the middle colonies. In Williamsburg we endeavor to have them in the ground before Mr. Washington’s birthday and certainly no later than the middle of March. The garden pea is the relatively recent offspring of the ancient field pea whose primeval ancestor has never been found and is likely extinct. The matriarch of all peas, however, is thought to have originated somewhere in central Asia between Afghanistan and northern India. This was not, however, the garden pea beloved of gardeners everywhere. The ancient pea was used only in the dry state and is the variety forever immortalized in the children’s nursery rhyme of “pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold.”
White flowered green pea.
The first recognizable variety of green pea to appear in the historic record was known as the Hastings pea, first recorded in the fifteenth century and like all peas eaten in the green stage, it bore white flowers. The ancient field pea bears colored flowers. The green pea achieved its first real fame in France as the petit pois. A 1695 letter from the court of Louis XIV records, “The subject of peas is being treated at length: impatience to eat them, the pleasure of having eaten them, and the longing to eat them again are the three points about which our princes have been talking for four days. There are some ladies who, after having supped with the King, and well supped too, help themselves to peas at home before going to bed at the risk of indigestion. It is both a fashion and a madness.”
In colonial Virginia the green pea was no less fashionable. Thomas Jefferson famously engaged in a yearly competition with his neighbor George Divers to see who could bring the peas in first, the winner having the honor of hosting the other to dinner. Mr. Divers always triumphed, except in the year before Mr. Jefferson’s death when his peas were ready first. According to his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph, “When his family reminded him that it was his right to invite the company, he replied, ‘No, say nothing about it, it will be more agreeable to our friend to think that he never fails.’”
For a further examination of the culture of peas you are encouraged to examine, Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg way, 18th century methods for today’s organic gardeners (Rodale Press)
Dear Wesley,
I ask the favor of your knowledge again. What varieties do you plant that are the closest to late 17th & early 18th century peas? Do you start them in the hotbeds or direct sow?
It looked earlier in the week you that received some rain. Did the rain help or hinder your planting schedule? The Chicago area has been in a drought condition since 2011. The excessive heat of last Summer did not help. I’m hoping the little bit of snow of the last two weeks will lessen the condition. We shoveled about 3 inches over the last two days.
Stay warm and dry,
Chris
Dear Christine,
The Prince Albert pea is likely the last Hotspur type pea, the most popular of all 18th century varieties left in cultivation. It is a smooth seeded, small stature pea. The Sickle pea is the first form of edible podded, or sugar, pea and probably dates to the 17th century. The Marrowfat pea is a much larger variety, I have had them grow to 8′ in the garden, and was a very common late season pea in the 18th century. An even later season pea that dates to late in the 18th or early in the 19th century is the Blue Prussian pea. The Carlin pea is an ancient field pea, dating to the 12th century.
Wesley