Gravedigger

Thursday, 10 September 2009 12:54

The age and origins of the Gravedigger pea are unknown and may never be known, along with its real name (if it ever had one). It's probably safe to assume that Gravedigger wasn't its original name, but like so many other varieties it came to the Heritage Seed Library with only a sketchy history, and was named after the earliest known person who grew it. In this case a gravedigger, who passed it on to a farmer called Mr Thompson. Gravedigger is a mid-height pea, growing between 3 and 4 feet tall. It has the best of both worlds really - tall enough to avoid trailing its pods in the dirt, stocky enough not to need too much support (though it does need some). The leaves are a grey-green, thick and fleshy and large. They have a slight crinkle and a succulent texture. Growth is compact but very vigorous. It has a short internode length (the length of stem between each set of leaves) which makes the overall growth very thick and luxurious. The only trouble with having such dense, lush foliage right down to ground level is that a huge number of snails took up residence in it. But they didn't do too much damage and very few pods were lost. Flowers are borne in pairs on short, curved stems. It was quite consistent in producing twin flowers, unlike many peas which show some variability for this trait. The flowers are a bright, pure white and very pleasant to look at, appearing abundantly all over the plants. Gravedigger flowers attract bees. If you've ever looked at the workings of a pea flower, the parts the bees are interested in are all sealed up and there's really nothing to attract them, so it's unusual to see bees taking an interest in peas. (The flowers are self-fertile and don't need insect pollinators.) Gravedigger only produces about 6 or 7 peas per pod, and the pods, although fat, are not huge. Not in the same league as some of the tall heritage peas. But it's so generous in its yields it easily makes up for it with the quantity of pods. And the peas themselves are very large indeed. Unlike many large peas, they remain rounded and don't get squidged out of shape (at least not until they reach a very late stage). The pods become very firm and heavy when they're mature, which makes it easy to judge when they're ready to harvest. Go to table of pea varieties