What to do with "old" pea pods?

[wild_reilly]

Hi all,

I was away for a couple of weeks and did have someone taking care of my garden, but the pea plants are going crazy and she could only do so much (I have a pretty big garden...)

I came home to lots of "old" peas that haven't been harvested... some of them are super old (light brown/whitish) on the outside and dried up, while others are getting wrinkly and bitter (but are still more green in colour).

I have two questions:

I've never saved seeds before... I'm guessing that some of these old peas could be saved for planting next year?

Is there anything (cooking/preserving) that I can do with the old peas that aren't totally dried out?

Thanks! I'm looking forward to your suggestions!

Jen

[JamieCatheryn]

Some varieties would work in peas porridge/ split pea soup. I think if they're white probably not though. Save them in a paper envelope and plant them next year.

[SweetSilver]

One thing you might see in sprouts from saved seeds is a bit of pea weevil damage.  This happens only when the pea sprouts are under 1 foot and is rarely if ever a problem as the sprouts quickly outgrow the damage.  The weevils cut little notches all along the edges of the new leaves.  I'm just letting you know so you won't be surprised or concerned when/if you see this.

[Tjej]

I saved some of my peas from last year and it's really satisfying to do the whole cycle!  I just let them dry out on the plant, then saved them in my desk for the year and soaked them overnight before planting.  They all came up great!

Tjej

[rhianna813]

Great post! I was just wondering this myself and we decided to save the peas as seeds for next year, too.

Rhianna