Pea Shoots Seeds, 'Kaspa' (NOT to TAS)
Untreated 'Kaspa' dun field pea (Pisum sativum) for growing pea shoots on a tray, from 200 g to 2 kg. This product cannot be shipped to Tasmania.
'Kaspa' is a field pea bred with tendrils in place of most leaflets, so its shoots are curly. Pea shoots are cut at 8 to 15 cm, usually 10 to 16 days from the start of the soak, and a second, smaller cut often follows.
How to grow pea shoots on a tray
- Weigh about 60 g of seed for a 25 cm square tray and rinse it.
- Cover it with about four times its volume of cool drinking water and soak 6 to 12 hours, usually overnight.
- Drain, then rinse and drain every 8 to 12 hours until most seeds show a short white root tip.
- Spread the seed one layer deep, seeds touching, on damp seed raising mix and press it lightly in. Mist it, set a second tray directly on the seed with a weight of about 1 to 2 kg on top, and keep it dark.
- Once the roots grip, take the weight off and grow the shoots on in bright, indirect light, watering the mix from below with water fit to drink.
- Cut with clean scissors about 2.5 cm above the mix, above the lowest leaf or two.
Store the shoots dry and sealed at 5°C or colder for 5 to 6 days. Sweet pea seed is poisonous: grow only seed sold for sprouting or eating, never flower seed.
Food safety
Pea shoots start as a raw sprout and can carry Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria, even when grown with care at home. The NSW Food Authority advises cooking all sprouts thoroughly before eating. People who are pregnant, aged 70 or over, children under 5 and anyone with a weakened immune system should not eat raw or lightly cooked, still crunchy sprouts. Wash, rinse and sanitise jars, trays and tools before the first batch and between batches, and use only water fit to drink. Potting mix can carry Legionella bacteria: follow the warning on the bag, wet the mix down, wear gloves and a P2 mask, and wash your hands afterwards.
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