When should you pick peas?

Ripening terms

Most pea varieties take 12-14 weeks from planting to harvest. If the variety is late ripening, then you will have to wait 15-16 weeks. After the pea plantations have bloomed and the first blades are formed, you can start harvesting.

Peas are a multi-harvest crop, so the shoulder blades must be harvested every 2-3 days, starting with the bottom ones.

If your goal is shoulder blades, then they can be harvested 10-11 days after flowering. In the case when you need peas, you will have to wait 13-15 days. It is at this time that they contain the most sugar, which increases their culinary value.

What is the best time frame for harvesting green peas? As soon as possible, since overripe blades and peas slow down the growth of new ones. It is fairly easy to tell with the naked eye when to start picking: a white mesh bloom will appear on the pods, which precedes the drying of the pod.

Collection process

After the plant has formed blades, the first harvest can be done. According to the method of harvesting green peas, they are completely manual and automated when the combines are involved.

Do it yourself carefully, holding the stems and tearing off the shoulder blades so as not to damage the plant. You need to walk along the beds carefully so as not to damage the shoots. It is also worth purposefully picking up the beds one by one, and not wandering between them, as this way you can miss out on many pods that will simply dry out.

A harvester is a good way not only to speed up the peas harvesting process, but also to facilitate the subsequent processing of the beds. The work in this case is carried out in a complex manner, the plant is completely mowed from the garden. After that, the green mass is threshed in stationary or mobile threshers.

And even using a combine, peas can be harvested in two ways: separately and directly (by combining). When harvested separately, the plants are mowed to form rollers. They are then loaded into a trailer, taken to the thresher and processed there. You can speed up the process using a combine loader. In this case, the rollers roll and are immediately grinded in the loader. Direct combining means that the green mass of peas is not rolled into rollers, but immediately sent for threshing.

At the moment, the harvesters are well enough modernized to process peas with practically no loss or damage to the fruit.

Self-propelled combines Ploeger, FMC Technologies Inc., PMC Harvesters Ltd. are used to harvest the blades. They consist of a frame, header, storage container, engine, chassis, hydraulic system and cab. Most models are suitable not only for pea beds, but also for harvesting other crops.

To collect seeds for drying or subsequent germination, use combines RMC HarvEsters Ltd 979-CT, Ploeger EPD 538/540, OHVO 2440/6156. These models are equipped with a frame, header, thresher, haulm conveyors, cleaning conveyors, elevator, container, cab and process control system. For grinding peas, special drums with beaters inside are used.

When the harvest is harvested

After the crop is harvested, it is important to immediately cut the tops and send them for processing. The root part of the peas is dug up and left to rot in the ground. This is done in order to reduce the consumption of fertilizers, since the tops of the peas provide sufficient fertilization, increasing the fertility of the soil. The fact is that bacteria develop in the rhizosphere of plants, which contribute to the accumulation of nitrogen in the soil.

The peas themselves must be processed immediately. First, rinse the pods in cool water and let the water drain. Then begin to peel the pods, collecting the peas in a deep bowl. It is better to freeze them later in order to preserve their beneficial properties as much as possible. Another option is to eat or use in cooking.

In the case of industrial harvesting of peas, it is necessary to rinse the crop, additionally clean it from the tops and send it for processing. Some of the peas can be used for subsequent germination or dried for use in cooking.

Heat treatment of this culture is carried out for 2-3 minutes, since the peas are quickly cooked. Boil it in boiling water, rinse it with cold water, dry it and put it in the oven. Dry it there for 10-12 minutes at a temperature of 45 ° C, leave it to cool for an hour or an hour and a half, and then put it in a cabinet at 60 ° C again. The peas, ready for storage, are dark green, wrinkled.

To prevent insects from spoiling the stored peas, store them in glass jars with metal lids. The fact is that pests easily gnaw through paper, fabric and plastic bags.

You can cook peas with any vegetables. It looks good in stews, soups, cereals, vegetable casseroles. Often peas are salted so that they can then be used instead of seeds or nuts, as a light snack.

Video "Processing of peas after harvest"

In this video, you will learn what manipulations should be done with peas between harvesting and storing them.