Easy Peasy: Grow Your Own Organic Pea Shoots

After hearty meals of roots and meat over the winter months, my body craves green.

I want fresh, light meals (I feel lighter even just being next to the trays of seedlings in the greenhouse).  Thank goodness for the over-wintered spinach and lettuce!

If you don’t have overwintered greens (we didn’t until just this year!), there’s a fast track you can take to a fresh spring harvest.

Enter: Pea Shoots!

These are the fastest greens we grow, and take only 10-14 days from seed to harvest.  These tender shoots are harvested when they reach between 2″-4″ tall, and their flavor brightens rainy spring days.  Pea shoots are particularly delicious in salads and green smoothies.

You don’t need to run a farm or even grow a garden to grow shoots. All you need is a tray (we use recycled cafeteria trays), an inch of soil, seeds and water.

Start by soaking the pea seeds in water for 8-12 hours.  Next, prepare your tray. You can use cafeteria trays, or 10 by 20-inch growing trays. The size of the tray will determine how much seed you use. Generally, you want the seed to thickly cover the soil so you almost don’t see any soil at all.

Once the seeds are in the tray, gently press them into the soil and cover with another tray or germination dome. A moist paper towel also works. The goal is to keep the seeds moist until they germinate, at which time you can remove the top tray.

Place the tray in a sunny, warm place (at least 60 degrees), and water as needed.

I prefer to harvest when the pea shoots are closer to 4″ tall, but you can experiment with your own harvest time, snipping them earlier at 2″.

You can find organic pea shoot seeds at High Mowing Organic Seeds.

Harvest & enjoy!