A Seed Saver's Garden

[Pulsegleaner]

What kind of peas are those?

Like the vast majority of things I grow, I found them, so I don't know what their official variety name is, if they even have one.

They MAY be what is referred to as "Kala Vanata" (Black Peas) in India, but I am not sure. To be clear I'm not sure, because I'm not totally sure what the definition of Kala Vanata is. Most sites seem to indicate it is a catch all for all soup peas with dark brown or mottled seedcoats. So, for example, a Carlin Pea, Maple Pea, Latvian Pea or any of the other would count as Kala Vanata, and I have often seen peas resembling these in bags of dried peas from India. But there was ONE picture I once saw that resembled these specific ones in being super small (either the peas were small, or the bowl they were in was equipped with a spoon like handle. With nothing else for scale in the picture, I could not tell.

I used to find a LOT of these peas in bags of lentils back when I was in college, along with lots of those tiny grass pea seeds. They stopped showing up when I left, and I thought that was the last I'd see of them. However, after the whole incident when one of the brands of lentils became full of vetch seeds, there was brief period where they again began to show those grass peas and peas (though at a much lower quantity). And those are the ones I planted this year (the company's lentils now have NOTHING of note in them, and haven't for some time, so I assume this is it.)

Besides the small size and mottled seedcoats, these peas also have an extreme version of the "chenille" or "caterpillar" trait, which is analogous to the "crowder" trait for cow peas. So, when ripe in a full pod, they come out as basically cylinders, not spheres.

Based on the last time I did them, they are also VERY fast maturing. Assuming the weather holds up, I could easily be seeing ripe, dried seeds in as little as 45 days. Certainly by 60.

 

[heirloomgal]

Like the vast majority of things I grow, I found them, so I don't know what their official variety name is, if they even have one.

They MAY be what is referred to as "Kala Vanata" (Black Peas) in India, but I am not sure. To be clear I'm not sure, because I'm not totally sure what the definition of Kala Vanata is. Most sites seem to indicate it is a catch all for all soup peas with dark brown or mottled seedcoats. So, for example, a Carlin Pea, Maple Pea, Latvian Pea or any of the other would count as Kala Vanata, and I have often seen peas resembling these in bags of dried peas from India. But there was ONE picture I once saw that resembled these specific ones in being super small (either the peas were small, or the bowl they were in was equipped with a spoon like handle. With nothing else for scale in the picture, I could not tell.

I used to find a LOT of these peas in bags of lentils back when I was in college, along with lots of those tiny grass pea seeds. They stopped showing up when I left, and I thought that was the last I'd see of them. However, after the whole incident when one of the brands of lentils became full of vetch seeds, there was brief period where they again began to show those grass peas and peas (though at a much lower quantity). And those are the ones I planted this year (the company's lentils now have NOTHING of note in them, and haven't for some time, so I assume this is it.)

Besides the small size and mottled seedcoats, these peas also have an extreme version of the "chenille" or "caterpillar" trait, which is analogous to the "crowder" trait for cow peas. So, when ripe in a full pod, they come out as basically cylinders, not spheres.

Based on the last time I did them, they are also VERY fast maturing. Assuming the weather holds up, I could easily be seeing ripe, dried seeds in as little as 45 days. Certainly by 60.

Please keep us posted on the results! I'm curious what the peas you'll harvest from those will look like.

 

[heirloomgal]

Overwintering peppers, picture update. I really had some kind of good luck this year. @Alasgun I'm postively thrilled that this chiltepin is doing so good. Given the weather I'll soon be able to put it out in the greenhouse during the day, and I'm quite certain now it will pull through until summer. Wow. My own chiltepin plant. I didn't believe I'd ever get one of these to grow! Thank you!!!!

The Wiri Wiri, and it has fruit!

The 3rd overwintering flexuosum pepper.....well, it's alive, it's flowering....but are the flowers actually making anything? Does it need a friend? I was going to do a cutting just in case it does, but then I thought, that doesn't actually make any genetic sense? I might be stuck with a mule.

And today's seed mail. VERY curious to try both of these. Apparently, the red nightshade plant (which grows an edible berry) gets much bigger than both golden berries and wonderberries. So, probably only 1 plant is in the cards.

 

[Alasgun]

You are welcome; And, you know someone with a lot of seed, should you ever need some more.

 

[ducks4you]

I don't often have 2 cents to put in, but I will tell you that MY experience that chicken wire is the friendliest fencing for climbing annuals. My tomato fencing is ok, but the openings are larger.
Otherwise I end up tying each plant to the fencing, instead of naturalized climbing. This is from 2 years experience growing climbing beans. I did NOTHING to get them to climb the chicken wire, whereas I experimented with peas last year and I ended up tying them to other fencing to encourage climbing, which is one extra step/plant.
Just some food for thought...

 

[ducks4you]

Back to growing things
Alas, when I went to look at it around 11:00 AM this morning, the jacketed seedling had totally dried up and the top had fallen off. What makes this extra odd is that, when I had last looked at it, around 9:00 it not only looked fine, but looked like the jacket was no longer giving it trouble, since the first leaf was just begging to poke out between the seed leaves. I have no idea what happened in those two hours. That was a find seed, and the only one of it I found, so I guess I'll have to wait until I find another bag of senna with another one.

I have also decided that, since it is being unusually warm at the moment, it's probably OK to start moving seedlings for cool weather plants into the cold frame to harden off. While I was going over them, I took a pic of the leaves of those tiny peas I am trying, to show the plants as well are extra small (those leaves are not going to get any bigger than that)
View attachment 64269

Gotta be good seed. I haven't had much luck growing in those expandable peat pots.
Still have some left.
Maybe I will start some sweet peas in them.

 

[heirloomgal]

I don't often have 2 cents to put in, but I will tell you that MY experience that chicken wire is the friendliest fencing for climbing annuals. My tomato fencing is ok, but the openings are larger.
Otherwise I end up tying each plant to the fencing, instead of naturalized climbing. This is from 2 years experience growing climbing beans. I did NOTHING to get them to climb the chicken wire, whereas I experimented with peas last year and I ended up tying them to other fencing to encourage climbing, which is one extra step/plant.
Just some food for thought...

Did you use chicken wire for your peas too?

 

[heirloomgal]

Gotta be good seed. I haven't had much luck growing in those expandable peat pots.
Still have some left.
Maybe I will start some sweet peas in them.

The peat pots probably work very well for certain things, but I haven't had good experiences using them. They are prone to mould if the plants are kept in them too long, and I find they can take awhile to break down once you plant them - and stunt your plants ability to root down in the process. This happened to my watermelons one year when I used the bigger peat pots for less 'transplant shock'. Maybe they shocked less, but it took SO long for that peat to break down before the roots could break free and find garden soil. I tried the coco coir peat pots too, same.

My honest conclusion about nearly all plants is that they are far more capable of transplant from regular plastic pots than we give them credit for. I've even had both beans and corn stay in plastic pots WAY too long, as I keep extras in case of any unexpected losses, and they still grew great. That's 1 1/2 months in a small starter pot! I haven't use a peat pot in years, and I'm a transplant fanatic.

 

[ducks4you]

"mould"
You crazy Canadians and Britons who spell funny!

 

[Zeedman]

The peat pots probably work very well for certain things, but I haven't had good experiences using them. They are prone to mould if the plants are kept in them too long, and I find they can take awhile to break down once you plant them - and stunt your plants ability to root down in the process. This happened to my watermelons one year when I used the bigger peat pots for less 'transplant shock'. Maybe they shocked less, but it took SO long for that peat to break down before the roots could break free and find garden soil. I tried the coco coir peat pots too, same.

Peat pots can be useful for fast-growing transplants, which won't spend much time in the pots. I've used them for beans & cucurbits for many years, with great results. But having observed that the roots of some plants had difficulty penetrating the pot sides, I make a point of cleaning out the bottom hole, and adding extra holes on the bottom & sides.

The mold issue (if too wet), and the tendency to wick moisture away from the soil & dry out (if too dry) can both be overcome by nestling the pots into a layer of sand. That stabilizes the soil moisture, reduces air pruning, and also allows the roots which emerge to run freely in the tray. Those long roots, if handled carefully during transplant, greatly reduce or eliminate transplant shock.

The peat pots/strips seldom break down completely in the first year; but as long as the roots go through, that is not a problem. I've seen no sign of those pots the following year. When I grew peanuts last year though, the results were interesting. Apparently nearly all of the early flowers were on the main stem, and the pegs which developed from them went straight down - into the pots. When I dug the plants up in the Fall, nearly every pot was packed tightly with peanuts, in their own little "boxes". I wish I'd taken photos. which I will do when I grow them again this year.