FDB · 12 October 2011, 23:11 · #

Also you freeze well.

jose jones · 13 October 2011, 09:37 · #

… and are effectively harvested using mechanised shelling! (substitution of capital for labour!)

Liam · 13 October 2011, 09:56 · #

Pea harvesters are the agricultural technology I vote most likely to have come straight from a drug-induced science fiction first draft.

Can’t you just imagine one slowly moving along, harvesting the green expanse, while the ornithopters overhead watch for the inevitable wormsign or for Fremen raiders?

I once watched an episode of Landline which featured footage of pea harvesting at night time (which is better, if there’s dew, apparently, for preserving the peas) and the row of them, in the paddock, with lights on, looked like one of James Cameron’s nightmares. The piles of human skulls being crushed underneath to the sound of drums and synth were the only things missing.

On the other hand—the substitution of capital for labour in this instance has had a massive productivity gain for peas with accompanying social benefit. I mean, you try shelling a paddock full of pods with your fingers, and selling them at the price point you can get frozen peas at the IGA. I’m not overly fussed about the machine-obsolescence of a class of oppressed pea-shellers.

Lefty E · 13 October 2011, 16:26 · #

Thats why nature invented snowpeas. Eat the whole lot! We’re harvesting ours at the mo, and they is yummy.

Pavlov's Cat · 13 October 2011, 18:41 · #

The Aust lit classic The Pea Pickers by Eve Langley is relevant here.

Also, sugar snap peas do not need to be shelled, and are delicious.

FDB · 14 October 2011, 09:46 · #

Also also, if you ARE shelling peas, make a soup out of the cooked and pureed shells. Strain out any string. Yum.