Tropical Peas Please

Opal Creek Yellow Snap Vine Pea "has been long standing and productive in tropical ecologies" brags the Peace seed catalog. What an extraordinary claim! I contacted the breeder, Alan Kapuler, to find out more.

"two young women took some Opal Creek Peas to Mexico, they told us that they were 'semi-perennialized' in that they grew for a long time, produced prodigiously in the heat and were unlike any other peas they had grown in the tropics...
then in our greenhouse, they outlasted all of our other varieties, seeming to thrive in the heat like no other peas..
so these are our observations about the tropical success with Opal Creek....in addition the pea leaves are sweeter than any other we have found, so far."

i planted some peas in March. The vines are about 3 feet tall so far and began flowering a two or three weeks ago.

Here are the first sweet, golden pods.

This is usually the end of Sugar Snap pea season for us but the Opal Creek vines do indeed look very happy and robust.

The peas are stringless with a nice crunch. They are not as sweet as Super Sugar Snaps but taste better straight off the vine.  If any make it back to the house they will be great in salads. The pods tend to twist a little bit as they get older, i think because they do not have very much fiber in the pods. The yellow pods are translucent so they appear greener as the peas inside swell.

Disease is rampant in my tropical garden.  So far i have lost one vine to Fusarium and powdery mildew is in the house. Fingers and toes crossed that Opal Creek steps up....

Mid April in the vegetable garden

Musica Beans are reaching for the sky.

The first flowers have just appeared and are already starting to fade. Beans will not be far behind!

A few runner beans have resprouted at the feet of the Musica beans. Maybe they will find spring weather more to their liking.

i had to battle the wild hens for these but finally i have a good stand of Striped Bunch beans. Look closely to the left to see the first few short tendrils.  Striped Bunch are supposed to be the best for Dilly Beans.

The Portuguese cabbage has been growing merrily in the recent cool and rainy weather. Caterpillers like it too!

Wow, the potatoes are growing fast now.

 

The Opal Creek Golden Snap Peas are about 6 inches tall.

Sugar Magnolia Peas are still just young sprouts. i'm looking forward to trying purple podded peas in a few weeks.

 

Wing  Beans reached the top of their trellis a few weeks ago and are draping back down. Flowers, flowers but no beans yet. A repeat of last year. The Baker's Creek seed was planted to the left. Not very vigorous compared to the seeds from my friend.

Artichokes are still growing sideways. Should start reaching skyward soon. i wonder if i will have to wait until next year for buds?

We received about 6 inches of rain earlier this week. Unseasonably cold, needed the heater for the first time all winter.