Choosing the best varieties of peas

Before the widespread use of potatoes, peas were the number one vegetable. It was cultivated on a par with the main grain crops, was eaten as often as they, that is, bread and peas occupied the main place on the table. The old name for pea jelly (who cooks it today?) Is "to eat". It reflects the rich in proteins, sugars, vitamins, the composition of the seeds of a humble herb called peas. Now summer residents are trying to sow the best varieties of peas so that they can eat delicious peas throughout the summer.

Content

1 Description of the plant
2 Classification
3 The best varieties
4 Video "Peas of different varieties on the site"

Description of the plant

Peas are a herbaceous annual plant that belongs to the legume family. Its root is pivotal, but very branched. Like other plants of this family, it improves the soil with its roots, enriches it with nitrogen. This is due to the nodule bacteria that develop among its roots. They assimilate nitrogen from the atmosphere and accumulate it in the soil. That is why different varieties of peas are advised to be sown before planting the main plants, that is, they are often used as green manure.

The stem of the plant is hollow, herbaceous. It can be lodging or bushy, simple or branching, depending on which species and varieties are selected. Different varieties of peas differ in stems of different lengths, they can be from 15 cm to 2.5 m in length. The leaves are pinnate, the terminal leaves have changed, turning into antennae that help curl. As you know, the plant clings to the support with them.

Different varieties differ in color (light green, dark green, even bluish). The shape and size are also different. Bisexual flowers of the moth type are white or purple in different shades.

The fruit is a pod according to the pedigree, even though we call it a pod.

Each bean contains 4 to 10 seeds. They also differ in color and shape. The seeds we call peas are round or irregularly angled, smooth or wrinkled.

The amazing nutritional value of the vegetable is due to its huge content of vegetable protein with a number of essential amino acids. In addition, it contains various sugars, starch, vitamins, fiber, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and iron salts. Traditional medicine uses decoctions of seeds and tops of this amazing plant as a diuretic, and pea flour is used as a poultice to soften boils.

Classification

The botanical classification divides the whole genus of peas into the following species: red-yellow and sowing. Red-yellow is only wild, it is not cultivated. It grows in Asia Minor. The plant is undersized. Its stem is thin, the fruits are small (no more than 4 cm), light green, the seeds are round, their diameter is no more than 0.4 cm.

Sowing peas, in turn, are divided into 6 subspecies:

high;
Syrian;
Abyssinian;
transcaucasian;
Asiatic;
sowing.

The first two subspecies are simply weeds, the next three are cultivated, but quite primitively. Only seed peas are widely grown as food, fodder, and green manure crops. Here are the varieties of sowing peas that have great nutritional value. Among them there are sugar, sweet, brain varieties, descriptions and characteristics of which summer residents are looking for, whose seeds are sown on their plots.

According to the structure of their fruit, a huge number of varieties of seed peas are divided into two large groups - shelling and sugar.

Pea pods have a hard parchment layer; they are not eaten even in green, unripe form. Ripe seeds contain a lot of starch, they are dried, frozen, canned, they boil well, they are used for making soups and cereals.

The pods of sugar peas do not have such a parchment layer, they are sweet and tender, so unripe fruits are eaten whole. Ripe fruits do not look so beautiful, they wrinkle slightly, because they lose moisture during the ripening process. Sugar peas are more capricious in terms of soil and care, they are more likely to get sick, and pests attack them.

Brain varieties are those whose seeds are not smooth, but wrinkled, square in shape. There is little starch in them, but a lot of sucrose, they are sweeter in taste, do not boil soft during cooking. Smooth, round and wrinkled square seeds are found in both hulling and sugar varieties. Sweet peas, or rather their seeds, are eaten unripe, canned and frozen.

The best varieties

Sowing peas are divided into varieties depending on different characteristics. So all its varieties are divided into canteen, canning and universal. Canteens are usually used for preparing various dishes in a ripe state. Canned food is eaten and prepared at the green pea stage. Universal are used both unripe and fully ripe.

All varieties are divided into 3 large groups depending on the length of the growing season. The early ones ripen in 45-60 days, the middle ones - in the period from 60 to 80 days, and the late ones need more than 80 days after germination to ripen completely.

When choosing a variety for cultivation, you need to carefully read the description, paying attention to the ripening time, description of the taste and purpose of the fruit.

Avola

This is a mid-early ripening variety, only 57 days is enough for it to mature. Avola is consumed fresh, frozen and preserved. It grows up to 70 cm, does not require support, forms bright green fruits with sweet fleshy peas.

"Adagumsky"

These are also mid-season peas, ripening in 55 days. The plant forms dark green fruits up to 8 cm long with 5-9 sweet brain seeds (peas). It grows up to 60 cm without support. The seeds are eaten and used for cooking, canned and frozen for long-term storage.

"Alpha"

In early shell peas "Alpha", technical ripeness occurs in 46-53 days after germination. This low-growing plant forms wide (up to 1.5 cm) and long (up to 9 cm) fruits, each of which contains from 5 to 9 peas. It is most often canned, but it is also good fresh.

"Viola"

The mid-ripening cultivar "Viola" ripens 61–79 days, the stem grows up to 80 cm, the fruit is green, slightly curved, its seeds are squashed-square, they are used as green peas, and canned. Viola grows well in the non-chernozem zone.

"Troika"

Late pea "Troika" ripens in 80–90 days, it belongs to medium-sized universal brain varieties.

"Khavsky pearl"

Mid-ripening peas ripen in 60–70 days, are universal, they are eaten fresh and canned. Grows from 70 to 100 cm, forms curved pointed dark green beans up to 8 m long.

"Zhegalova 112"

Mid-season sugar, ripens 60–80 days after germination. Its cerebral sweet seeds (8-10 pieces) are placed in a wide long light green pod. The stem grows up to 180 cm. It is eaten and canned both unripe and fully ripe.

"Inexhaustible 195"

This wonderful sugar variety belongs to the mid-season, it ripens in 65 days. It can give a second crop if the first one is not allowed to overripe on the stem. The stem grows up to 115 cm, the fruits are light green large, up to 10 cm long, their valves are thick and sweet. Peas are eaten fresh, canned and frozen.

"Oregon"

It is also called "Sugar 2", it is medium-early ripening sugar peas (55-60 days), the seeds are eaten fresh, frozen and preserved. The plant grows up to 120 cm, the pods are long with thick fleshy valves without a parchment layer.

"Gregor"

High-yielding mid-season peas, which are grown in Ukraine on large areas. Seeds "Gregor" are high in protein. The stem grows up to 110 cm, resistant to lodging.

Early maturing varieties "Madonna" and "Starter" with similar characteristics are called new generation peas. They are not capricious, undemanding to agricultural technology, show excellent resistance in adverse weather conditions.

Video "Peas of different varieties on the site"

Take a look at a short review about the features of growing vegetable peas, in particular varieties of Alpha, Grasshopper, Sweet Pearl.