Love this! I spent many summers shelling peas (and butterbeans) while watching The Young and the Restless and As the World Turns as a preteen and teen. Everybody had big gardens and “put up” vegetables all summer back then.
Love this addition and looking forward mightily to the next essay. Any Mississippi fusion to be included? Great idea. And, yes, I remember summer in the 30s Upstate New York as a six or seven harvesting peas at the farm of a friend of my father and taking them home to shell. A nickel or dime a basket, maybe.
I loved shelling peas when I was little and I can still hear the sound of those little peas hitting the bottom of the bowl. Now I buy them already shelled at the farmers market, but maybe I need to buy a big bag of peas in the pod to teach my grandkids that special pleasure!
Well this caught my eye, sat on the bench earlier in my garden shelling 3 kilos of peas! Perhaps I should put the tv on next time!
I think you found the best way to get peas for shelling: your garden! Garden pea shelling sounds wonderfully meditative.
Love this! I spent many summers shelling peas (and butterbeans) while watching The Young and the Restless and As the World Turns as a preteen and teen. Everybody had big gardens and “put up” vegetables all summer back then.
Love this addition and looking forward mightily to the next essay. Any Mississippi fusion to be included? Great idea. And, yes, I remember summer in the 30s Upstate New York as a six or seven harvesting peas at the farm of a friend of my father and taking them home to shell. A nickel or dime a basket, maybe.
I love this memory!
There was always the trade off with purple hull peas — easier to shell, but they left stained fingers for a while. 🙂
Thank you for making me smile. I love these kinds of stories: Mississippi, librarians, fresh vegetables!
Jesse is a fabulous storyteller. I'm so glad you enjoyed this!
What a lovely article.
I loved shelling peas when I was little and I can still hear the sound of those little peas hitting the bottom of the bowl. Now I buy them already shelled at the farmers market, but maybe I need to buy a big bag of peas in the pod to teach my grandkids that special pleasure!
Confession: I've never shelled peas... I feel like I'm seriously missing out!
I'm not even sure where to get unshelled peas any more. Let me know if you find any!
Farmers markets and roadside stands…but they sell out quick. 🙂
Good tip!!