The Pea Patch

Peas have a gentleness about them that is reminiscent of a warm spring rain. A mountain of shelled fresh peas tossed lightly with butter and mint is the first of the gardener’s rewards, for peas are a cool-weather crop and can never withstand the heat of the summer sun. Fortunately, shelled fresh peas freeze well so we need never be without.

Cousins to the shell pea are those peas with edible pods—the snow pea (or sugar pea as some call it) and the sugar snap pea, which is actually a cross between the snow pea and the shell pea. Snow peas are fíat; sugar snap peas, rounder. Both are sweet and available year round thanks to the mild winters in the southern states.