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Freezing Peas
Around here, we start harvesting our shelling peas (or snap peas) around the end of May. This year it will be more like June since I didn't get my seeds in the ground as early as usual. In any case, this will be one of the first crops harvested in the gardening year. My favorite way to preserve peas is to freeze them. I can't handle the taste and especially the texture of canned peas. But, freezing preserves that sweet flavor and is less labor intensive to boot.
I always plant plenty for fresh eating, since my kids love fresh peas, but I make sure I have enough to put by, as well. For us, that means planting at least 80 to 100 ft. row of peas. We have 40 foot raised beds and I plant two rows of peas in one of them.
Once you have picked and shelled your peas (that's a chore in itself!), get a pot of water boiling. A pasta pot is perfect because you can use the basket to lower the vegetables into the water and pull them out again. Once you get the water in your pot boiling, fill your clean sink with very cold water. Now, pour your peas into the boiling water and let them boil for 2 minutes. When time is up, lift the basket out of the hot water and plunge it into the cold water. This is called blanching. This process starts the enzyme action of cooking in the vegetable, but then abruptly stops it with the cold water. This keeps your vegetables from turning to mush in your freezer, which is what would happen if you froze them without blanching.
Now, you can drain your peas, put them in a ziploc freezer bag and throw them in the freezer at this point, but I like to go one more step. I spread my peas out on a cookie sheet and let them "flash" freeze in my freezer overnight. When they come out the next day, I use my Foodsaver vacuum sealer to seal them, and then they go back in the freezer. This will extend their freezer life for a couple of years, rather than the 9 months or so if they were just frozen in the Ziploc bag. It also prevents the dreaded "freezer burn". A vacuum sealer is a very good homestead gadget to have.
I use my peas straight out of the freezer for salads, fried rice and soups. I hope you will give this a try, even if you have to buy the peas when they show up in the market. You will be very glad you did!
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