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Tuesday, October 18, 2011
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Growing peas
Three varieties of peas can be grown. Garden peas are the variety that you shell and take out the peas inside and throw away the outer shell. The grow into untidy sprawling plants.
Snow peas grow on trellises and can reach up to 2 metre tall. Sugar snap peas were developed in Holland in 1970 by crossing garden peas and snow peas.
Peas are a winter crop. On Tamborine Mountain we start planting peas in March and harvest from May to October.
Peas are a very valuable crop to grow for three reasons.
The first reason is that peas are legumes. Peas add valuable nitrogen, which is freely available in the air and make it plant available via the rhizobia that live in the nodules that grow on the roots of the plant.
The second reason is that peas are an excellent food because they are supercharged with minerals including manganese, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc and potassium.
They also contain vitamins, A, B1, B2, B3, B6, C and K as well as folate and tryptophan.
The combination of folic acid and B6 helps reduce build up of homosysteine, which can
obstruct collagen cross-linking, which causes osteoporosis. Folic acid is so important for cardiovascular function that a major 1995 study concluded that 400 milligrams of folic acid per day help prevent death from cardiovascular disease.
Vitamin K activates osteocalan, the major non-collagen protein in bone. Osteocalan anchors calcium molecules inside our bones. Vitamin K is also vital to the body's healthy blood clotting ability.
The third reason to grow peas is if you want to make money by selling them. In 2011 we planted snow peas along 5 trellises each 6 metres long, two rows of garden peas each 10 metres long, and 6 rows each 10 metres long were planted with sugar snap peas. In total we picked over 100 kg of peas which we sold at prices between $14 and $25 per kilogram. Sugar snap peas fetched the highest price.
The one drawback in growing peas is that they are very labour intensive when it comes time to pick them.
Bev Buckley For more information learn more
Snow peas grow on trellises and can reach up to 2 metre tall. Sugar snap peas were developed in Holland in 1970 by crossing garden peas and snow peas.
Peas are a winter crop. On Tamborine Mountain we start planting peas in March and harvest from May to October.
Peas are a very valuable crop to grow for three reasons.
The first reason is that peas are legumes. Peas add valuable nitrogen, which is freely available in the air and make it plant available via the rhizobia that live in the nodules that grow on the roots of the plant.
The second reason is that peas are an excellent food because they are supercharged with minerals including manganese, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc and potassium.
They also contain vitamins, A, B1, B2, B3, B6, C and K as well as folate and tryptophan.
The combination of folic acid and B6 helps reduce build up of homosysteine, which can
obstruct collagen cross-linking, which causes osteoporosis. Folic acid is so important for cardiovascular function that a major 1995 study concluded that 400 milligrams of folic acid per day help prevent death from cardiovascular disease.
Vitamin K activates osteocalan, the major non-collagen protein in bone. Osteocalan anchors calcium molecules inside our bones. Vitamin K is also vital to the body's healthy blood clotting ability.
The third reason to grow peas is if you want to make money by selling them. In 2011 we planted snow peas along 5 trellises each 6 metres long, two rows of garden peas each 10 metres long, and 6 rows each 10 metres long were planted with sugar snap peas. In total we picked over 100 kg of peas which we sold at prices between $14 and $25 per kilogram. Sugar snap peas fetched the highest price.
The one drawback in growing peas is that they are very labour intensive when it comes time to pick them.
Bev Buckley For more information learn more
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