Green Arrow Pea

We first grew this variety of early pea, when we were living in the Midwest. They were planted in the full, hot sun of Missouri and the vines got quite tall. Just as they were beginning to bloom and set fruit, we had the worst aphid invasion I've ever seen. We ended up losing the vines to those critters, but not before seeing a TON of blooms. Since moving to the Blue Ridge mountains, we have started growing these again. Still learning our garden spot and soil, we've discovered that although an early pea this variety loves the sun. In previous years here, we planted in a part shade area. This didn't give the vines enough sun to be strong enough to climb like they needed to. We still got a lot of amazingly tasty peas, though. This year, we've planted them in a full sun area and I have no doubt, Mother Nature notwithstanding, that these vines will climb and bear quite well. I hated green peas until I tasted these. Now, I can't get enough of them!! Oh, and those aphids? We have them here in the mountains, too. I plant cilantro in with the peas now, and haven't seen a single aphid since I started doing that! PLUS, I get cilantro!!!

These are very big, very sweet peas. Pods can easily contain 8 to 10 peas, and they grow quickly with very little care. I've grown them all winter without even watering them, and I'm sill storing a bag's worth in the freezer.

This is a very tasty pea, especially eaten raw. In fact it's a shame to cook them. They are very tender and sweet even when fairy large so don't pick them too early. The vines are short. They never came close to the top of the tomato cage I was growing them on. They aren't very leafy either, so they can be planted pretty close together. They do stop producing and dry up after a few weeks, so don't expect a continuous harvest all summer. Enjoy them while you can and plant lots. I didn't get many pods off each plant.