Adhela's Research Midden: Carlin Peas Experiment 2025

Carlin Peas Experiment 2025

Introduction

I wanted to see if field peas (Pisum sativum var. arvense), such as were available in period times, would grow well in Zone 8b Oregon, and whether they tasted significantly different from modern soup peas. I hope to try a number of medieval recipes that may not be well-approximated with standard dried peas. My theory is that the field peas don’t turn to mush like modern soup peas. We will see!

Research

I chose Carlin peas as being a good equivalent for medieval peas– lots of sources of admittedly variable credibility saying they have been grown since the 12th century. Several old stories about them coming from Norway with a Captain Karlin, but nothing verified. [more work tbd]

Seed Saving

Don’t save seeds from pods which have fully or partially twisted open. That trait will encourage pea drop and make drying pods on the vine more susceptible to harvest loss.

I have a concern that there may have been cross pollination between my super sugar snap peas and the Carlin peas. Some portion of the pods had “crowded” peas with flat sides, similar to super sugar snap. The majority of the peas were fully round and barely touching in the pod, which might be characteristic of Carlin peas. I will not save the flat-sided ones for seed, just in case.

Growing Out the Peas

August 4, 2025

Carlin pea update: they shelled out to a little over 2 cups, which should let me try several small-batch recipes. I saved some for next year too.

July 12, 2025

Carlin pea update: I have about half the pods off the vines now, the rest are still drying out. I started this with just 25 peas, of which only 18 sprouted and maybe 15 survived the snail attack. Peas are such a bountiful crop, returning your initial sowing manyfold.

July 9, 2025

Carlin pea update. The pods are starting to dry out! I've taken a few of the driest ones off the vine because I don't know if these peas have a habit of opening up and dropping their precious cargo. I'll be harvesting them as they dry out and checking them every day or two. It looks like we're going to get enough to make a couple of dishes and that's exciting!

June 12, 2025

Carlin pea update: yea verily, we have pods!

May 30, 2025

Carlin peas starting to bloom. They have red and white flowers, very nice.

May 26, 2025

Carlin peas update. A month after planting, they are about 15 in tall. Still look like crazy aliens with curly tentacles!

April 22, 2025

I am trying this year to grow Carlin peas, an old starch pea variety that has been used since medieval times. I've got them started and planted and I'm truly amazed by how different they look from any modern snap, snow, or shelling pea that I have seen. I feel like I'm hatching little aliens in my garden!

April 14, 2025

Planted the Carlin pea starts in one of my raised garden beds, next to a trellis.

March 27, 2025

Soaked the Carlin peas for about 30 minutes, then planted in 3-inch 4-packs, two to each cell. I only have 25 seeds!

January 2024

Researched medieval peas and came up with Carlin peas as a modern equivalent. They are still grown in the UK, but seed import restrictions make it difficult to impossible to source them from overseas. Fortunately I found both US and Canadian sources. I went with an Etsy seller called “44Plants” (https://www.etsy.com/nl/shop/44Plants) and received the seeds in mid-January. Poor garden planning in 2024 meant that I had to wait until the spring of 2025 to start my project.

I also received a bonus pea called “Rejovo” that has been grown in Umbria since antiquity. I chose to only grow one of the Carlin peas at a time, keep it simple.

Prairie Garden Seeds carries Carlins, but were sold out. https://prairiegardenseeds.ca/collections/peas/products/carlin

Sources and Links

Origins & Characteristics

So many of these link to each other and some links I have omitted because of gross misinformation (confusing them with the tropical cultivar “pigeon peas”, etc)

The Fat of the Land: History of Peas (super detailed info)

https://thefatofthelandblog.wordpress.com/tag/history-of-peas/

Peas (much good info on origins and development)

https://www.encyclopedia.com/food/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/peas

What’s cooking: carlin peas

https://www.susanlow.com/post/what-s-cooking-carlin-peas

The revival of the Carlin Pea

https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/what-we-do/citizen-science-and-research/members-experiments/the-revival-of-the-carlin-pea

ALL ABOUT: THE QUEEN CARLIN PEA

https://boldbeanco.com/blogs/news/all-about-the-queen-carlin-pea

Grey, Black, Carling, Pigeon Peas and "Burning the Witch"

https://adambalic.typepad.com/the_art_and_mystery_of_fo/2007/02/left_maple_peas.html