Our Tricks to Harvesting Pea Shoots

Pea shoots grown in the field are a fast growing, high-value cover crop with the added financial bonus of the first growth harvested as delicious shoots.

We use a round-nose serrated, Victornox knife to harvest by hand and grade as we cut. As we cut, handfuls at a time, we turn the pea shoots upside down to see the base looking for soil or seeds that are still attached, and clean them off at that point.

The sharper the knife, the better.

It is possible to use the quickcut greens harvester, but we find this leads to more work in the grading in the wash and pack.

The ideal time to harvest is just before the tendril closes in to attach on to adjacent plants. Avoid harvesting when they are wet, as they take a very long time to dry.

To process we spin the pea shoots in a fine laundry clothes bag to remove excess moisture. We place them on a drying screen on top of a fine curtain netting for a final grade and moisture adjustment. If the weave of the laundry bag or the curtain netting is too open, the peas will get caught easily.

A great year-round crop that tastes like sugar snap peas. 12 days to maturity in summer, 23 days in winter.

1kg of dry seed will produce 1.1kg – 1.8kg of delicious shoots.

Priced atNZ$54kg+gst.

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