Unusual Vegetable Plants

Asparagus Pea - Psophocarpus Tetragonolobus

The Asparagus Pea is also known as the winged pea, but it is not really a pea at all but a member of the Vicia family or Vetch. These are all legumes like peas and beans, (plants that fix Nitrogen in the soil through nodules in their roots) and most species have developed the habit of sprawling through undergrowth in the wild. To help them clamber over fallen branches and the like they all grow tendrils with the exception of, Vicia Faba - Broad Beans, which grow erect and the asparagus Pea. They are also closely related to the highly decorative flowering Sweet Pea - Lathyrus.

Asparagus Peas are easy to grow, but as they are not frost hardy they need a little warmth to germinate, so should not be sown ‘till May unless you start them off in a greenhouse, before pricking them out, to give them a flying start. They crop late in the season for a pea (August onwards) and you may even consider growing them under cover in something like a polythene tunnel to improve the harvest.

As with many plants of the same family they have red flowers that are followed by pods which should be harvested while they are still small (About 1-1.5 inches long) , or else they will get fibrous and stringy. Asparagus Peas should be cooked and eaten whole like Mangetout.