Fresh Peas

A few weeks ago I told you that the white-crowned sparrows ate my tiny pea plants down to the ground. I was unamused, and invested in many yards of bird netting.

And last Sunday, we ate peas. Fresh from the garden.

So fresh, in fact, that I didn't even cook them. I picked them (all six pods) and arranged them artfully in the middle of the dinner table. We shelled them and popped the raw fresh-picked peas right into our mouths. Wow. Even Larry, not a pea-lover, admitted to really enjoying these peas.

Why were they so good? Because they were freshly picked, unlike any we will find at a market or a farm stand. Barely an hour went by between picking and eating, so the sugar content was still high. Plus more nutrients than I can think of.

Anything eaten fresh from the garden tastes better, as all home gardeners know.

And goodness knows I wasn't going to destroy that fresh pea taste and crunch by cooking them. When I want cooked peas, I buy frozen organic peas at Trader Joe's. Cheaper, less work, and a satisfactory taste and texture.

It reminded me of a question a friend asked me recently. She knows that blueberries are highly nutritious, and wondered if it was better to feed her family a small amount of the expensive organic fresh blueberries or a larger (and more affordable) amount of the cheaper pesticided blueberries.

My answer is to buy fresh organic blueberries to eat straight-up -- raw, out of your hand or with other fruit or yogurt or ice cream. If you want blueberries for smoothies or for baking, buy organic frozen berries. They are less expensive and in those uses you won't benefit from the fresh flavor, nutrients and enzymes of the organic raw berries. Pesticides are never beneficial.

Of course, ideally we would all be able to pick our own blueberries from our own backyard bushes. And then we'd appreciate that blueberries, like peas, have a short but delicious season.