The Train Driver’s Giant Pea

This rare wonderful heritage pea came to us from collectors in Sweden. It can grow up to 2-3m tall and has a good yield of unusually large edible pods (15-20cm long, 2-3 wide) with ca. 8 peas each.

The Train driver’s Giant Pea is one of our favourite crops. The whole pod can be eaten directly as a delicious crispy snack, or used in cooking. It is suitable for freezing if the pods are parboiled for 2-3 minutes first.

This vigorous “grey pea” has decorative flowers shifting from red to violet.

The short story of  the Train Driver’s Giant Pea

We don’t know much about its older history. However, we know that a train driver with the name Bergfeldt gave the peas to the couple Alida and Efraim in Ludvika, county Dalarna in Sweden, some time around 1940. The family grew the giant peas in their garden until 1972 when they donated seeds to a local nursery school as something unique to be preserved. The heritage pea has since been preserved by seed saving enthusiasts in Sweden under the name “Lokförare Bergfeldts Jätteärt”.

We can assume Bergfeldt picked up the seeds somewhere along the railroads he worked on. While we don’t know where we do know that seed bank collectors later found the pea in county Helsingland where it was known as the giant pea. Hence, we know it was in wider use at some time.

Some speculate that the pea originally came to Sweden from France in the late 19th century, possibly originating from the variety Carouby de Maussane from Avignon. However, while there are similarities there are also clear differences. Others speculate that it could be one of the varieties in Swedish seed catalogues that were assumed being “lost”, e.g. the “Grey Giant” (present in catalogues 1876-1930) or the “Grey Giant Sabre” (present in catalogues 1936-1948).

Whatever its origins, it has developed its own character over the years and we think it will be interesting to see how it develops going forward. We hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.