To Pea or Not to Pea? Peas or pea pods come from vining or low-growing plants from the legume family that actually prefer cool weather and reach maturity relatively quickly, hence their popularity on spring menus after the produce drought that is winter. Hence also their ability to be grown in cool, damp places such as England, after which a particular variety of peas takes its name. The peas themselves are actually the seed of the plant, for which the pod that contains them is technically the fruit. English Peas, A Proper Variety English peas, garden peas, or sweet peas generally refer to the same thing and are the spherical variety often found in packages of frozen peas that many of us grew up chasing around our dinner plates. They grow in pods that are too fibrous to ingest, thus they are shelled and the pods discarded. The peas are starchy and sweet and just about as versatile as produce can get. Enjoy them raw or cooked, in everything from salads, to quiches, to pastas. U...

There are three basic categories of potatoes which are defined by their time of planting and lifting. These are: First Earlies Second Earlies Main Crop Some other subcategories are Extra First Earlies, Early Maincrop and Late Maincrop. Don't get too hung up on these, some potatoes are very fast to mature and others are a lot slower.  Within each category, there are plenty of different flavours, shapes, colours and textured potatoes. Some have exclusive culinary uses and some are grown for their excellent potentional storage capabilites. There is literally a potato for every garden! With planned planting of the different types, fresh potatoes can be available from your garden for almost six months of the year.   Extra First Earlies Extra first earlies should be treated just as first earlies but they will mature very fast. These won't keep their best for more than a week in the cupboard so they are best eaten as...