Saving Pea seeds

Saving Pea seeds

A month ago, in early May, my peas were finished and I collected the pods that had never been harvested (the ones that got away!), plus some pods that I was saving for seed.

How did I do that you may ask ?

Well, I allowed the pods to reach full maturity on the plants so that they were nearly dry and then carefully collected them into a paper bag. I made sure the paper bag top was folded over and placed the bag on a shelf in the garage for a month, so that the pods could dry put thoroughly.

It is important to make sure the top of the bag is folded over, because once the pea pods dry out completely, their method of seed dispersal is for the pod to burst open explosively, scattering peas everywhere in the local vicinity. This works great for the pea plant in the garden, but trust me - you don't want peas all over your garage floor -so keep that bag closed !

Today I brought the dried pea pods into the kitchen, harvested the pea seeds from the pods, packaged them up and now they are stored away ready for fall planting.

The old empty pods will be put into the compost.

 
Harvested dried pea pods.

 
Peas removed from dried pod.

 
Choose large pea pods to harvest, this gives you the largest healthiest seeds.

 
Large good seeds on left, poor, small seeds on right - these will be discarded.

 
Peas ready to be packaged.

 
By harvesting some of the largest healthiest peas, I am,in effect, selecting those plants that did the best in my garden environment and thus I am working my way towards creating my own special heirloom pea varieties.
It also means I don't have to buy any pea seeds for next season and thus save myself some money !
 
 
See photos below for details.

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