A large slice of beef liver, some smoked mackerel fillets or a kidney dish, without skimping on vegetable oils, will fill you up with vitamin B3. Let’s be honest, plants are way down the list of foods rich in this vitamin. However, it would be a shame to neglect the friendly pea.

Pea harvest – Source: spm

First observed in 1735, pellagra (literally “sour skin”) will not reveal its secrets until the 20th century. This disease causes severe dermatitis in areas exposed to the sun, violent diarrhea, attacks of dementia and, sometimes, death in the most severe cases. Between 1906 and 1940, three million people were affected and 100,000 died. We now know that it is linked to malnutrition and deficiency of tryptophan, the precursor to vitamin B3. The first link between a nutritional factor and pellagra was established by Joseph Goldenberg in 1915 according to studies carried out with five volunteer prisoners. It was completed in 1926 during treatment trials in yeast-fed dogs with black tongue disease. Joseph Goldenberg deduces that yeast is rich in pellagra preventive factor. This is why vitamin B3 was long dubbed vitamin PP, and Americans spoke of vitamin G in honor of Goldenberg.

Here is its identity card: annual herbaceous plant with hollow and branched stems, which grows in loose clumps from 40 cm to almost 2 m for the tallest varieties. Leaves composed of 2 or 3 pairs of entire, oval and opposite leaflets. The petiole ends in a prehensile tendril. Hermaphrodite, white or purplish flowers, located in pairs in the axils of the upper leaves. Fruit in a pod containing the seeds.

Culture

It will be necessary to sow between February and June. In temperate regions, also sow from November to February for an early harvest. Place the seeds 2 to 3 cm apart and 1.5 to 2 cm deep in rows 30 cm apart for dwarf varieties and 40 cm apart for peas. Snow pea varieties are sown later, in late spring, around May-June.

Hoe, brush and brush, keep the soil cool by watering. Peas don’t like chalky soils, heavy soils, and excessive summer heat.

Later, during periods of heat or drought, cover liberally. Three weeks later, pile up the young plants to keep them and make them strong. At the same time, attach the oars for the climbing varieties.

Harvest as the pods mature, they should appear very full under the finger and be very green.

Diseases and pests

Mildew: In humid and hot years, “with mildew”, purplish and hairy spots appear on the foliage. Avoid overwatering too much, it is better to water deeply and less frequently. In humid regions, make two preventive sprays of Bordeaux broth, when the plants are 15 cm tall and then 1 month later. At the same time, you will avoid anthracnose.

Pea anthracnose – produces grayish spots on leaves, stems and especially on pods. The plant soon withers. If you respect the crop rotation, the disease is rare in the orchard.

Powdery mildew: White felt on the leaves and young shoots is a classic. Water at the foot without wetting the foliage and treat the first symptoms with sulfur sprays, to renew if the disease persists.

Pea Salad – Source: spm

In the pea maquis

There are two categories of peas, husked peas or peas and snow peas.

In the first category we distinguish:

• Round grain shell peas (we are also talking about smooth grain): they are resistant and early, they resist the cold well, so they are the first to be sown in spring and late autumn in temperate climate regions for early harvesting the following spring. They are thin and tender.
• Rough-grained sheller peas, so called because when dried they have a rough appearance. They are much sweeter, more flavorful, and stay tender longer. They adapt better to heat and are grown second.
• Snow peas are varieties whose young pods, still flat and with very small seeds, are eaten before they grow.

In the two classes of peas, according to their height, we separate the pole peas, more than 70 cm high, for staking, which are attached to their support by numerous tendrils, and the dwarf (or half dwarf) peas with a height of between 40 and 70 cm (knowing that the taller varieties can also be placed in short stakes).

Vitamin B3 in the garden Vitamin B3 is one of the few vitamins that the body produces from tryptophan, but in insufficient quantity to cover the estimated daily needs between 11 and 14 mg for an adult. Among the foods best endowed with it, yeast stands out with its 25 mg/100 g, and these are the richest foods of animal origin (liver, kidneys, oily fish, chicken, duck)… The cereals in our breakfasts are spaced (5 mg/100 g). In the garden, peas are the champions (2.2 mg/100 g), followed by broad beans (1.8 mg/100 g), Jerusalem artichokes (1.3 mg/100 g) and potatoes, aubergines and broccoli (1 mg/100 g). ). And to round out the menu, fresh mushrooms you grew at home (thanks to your September issue) are a great addition (5.2mg/100g).

For the little story

Since ancient times, the dried pea has occupied an important place in the human diet, along with other grains and dry cereals. It was from the thirteenth century that it began to be consumed fresh in the form of mashed potatoes. And it wasn’t until Catherine de Medici and the discovery of certain Italian eating habits, to eat green, unripe vegetables, such as piselli novelli. The French at court claimed these “peas” and the craze for this fresh vegetable grew during the reign of Louis XIV, who was very fond of early peas.

Small selection of peas

The ancient varieties were first very tall and late, grown with oars, selected for manual harvesting. Second, gardeners asked for shorter varieties to save the work spent setting up the oars. This is how dwarf and semi-dwarf peas have multiplied. And today, all these good old varieties are still used in orchards.