Seed saving

We sowed 18 Latvian Peas back in April with the aim of collecting enough seed to grow a small crop next year and a larger crop in 2009. One of the advantages of the Latvian Pea is that it’s very hardy and has a long season. Some of ours are still flowering despite hard frosts and bitterly cold winds.

Not only are the plants still flowering, but they’re still setting pods and the pods are filling out even now. This pod had barely formed two weeks ago and is already a good size.

What we’re really after, though, is the dried pods and the peas they contain from the more dessicated stems. I’d have liked to leave them a little longer to dry, but I spotted mouse activity yesterday so it was time to harvest the peas. Ideally, I’d leave the stems standing until the pods were totally dry, with a parchment-like feel.

The first job is to remove the dry pods from the stems and pass them to my capable assistant to remove the peas. Dry pods are more difficult to shell, so to make it easier I carefully cut the tips off each one. Any pods that feel cold and damp are left on the stems.

The stems and remaining pods are then hung on suitable surfaces above a radiator to continue drying. As the peas are mature and almost dry, handing them up like this doesn’t do any damage - where more accelerated drying in a low oven might. It will take another seven to 10 days to fully dry the remaining pods.

The completely dried peas turn brown, while the less dried ones are still green. The latter feel quite hard to the touch, but the green is a good indicator that they are still moist. Normally, I’d have left the pod the green peas came from to dry further, but it’s useful to see the difference between almost dry and dry. This is about a quarter of the total number of peas harvested, so we should have a good chance at growing a reasonable crop for seed and perhaps one or two meals next year.