Harvesting Garden Peas and Blackberries on the vegetable patch - and how to store your harvest

It is that lovely time of the year, the first Garden Peas of the summer are being picked! 

I know, it's not huge news in the grand scheme of things and with all that is going on in this crazy world right now but it is a reason to be cheerful and should be celebrated. This year I am growing Pea Bingo which is a dwarf early maincrop variety growing no higher than about two-and-a-half feet; I have them in some large ornamental stone pots. I sowed the first batch in fibre pots back in March and they were brought on indoors until planted out in late April. A second batch was direct sown at that time, they are coming along nicely finding their way up the pea sticks, and the third batch, that was planned to be sown in May, will be sown this week; a little later than planned but it will prolong the harvest nicely. I have hopefully timed the sowings right and probably will have only a few excess Peas to store. Freezing your Garden Peas couldn't be simpler. Pop your Peas into the pot of rapidly boiling water and let them cook for one-and-a-half minutes. Drain the peas quickly and place them in ice water to stop the cooking process. Leave for a short while to cool entirely then into the freezer bags of your choice they can go and into the freezer.   

The Blackberry bush is covered in berries and I am planning on spending an hour or so out in the garden this evening harvesting them. I will have far more than I need for now so once a few family and friends have had their share the spare harvest will be frozen. As with Raspberries it is one of the simplest jobs when it comes to storing fruit and vegetables. Give them a wash and let them dry. Once dry lay out the berries on a baking tray or large serving dish, making sure none are touching. Place into the freezer for around two hours so the individual berries freeze but not as one big clump. You can then transfer the frozen berries from the tray/dish into the freezer bags of your choice, and pop them back into the freezer to be used whenever you fancy. 

I should add, re-useable and compostable biodegradable freezer bags are now available on the market and are far better for the environment than the cheap one use ones; please search them out and use them if you can. 

Cheers 🍺