I’ve moved recently, and found a wonderful farmer’s market not far from my new home. On my first trip, last Saturday, I found freshly picked and shelled spring peas. It was a lucky find, because it’s much warmer here than in my former Ohio home. Peas are going out here, but aren’t quite ripe up north. I bought all the peas I could to blanch and freeze. Not having to shell all those peas myself was a blessing.Boxes may still be everywhere, begging to be unpacked, but fresh peas won’t wait. In less than three hours, peas were in the freezer, waiting for what passes for a cold winter in southeastern North Carolina.
Click on the photos below to find helpful products from Lehman’s when you are freezing produce.–they’ll make your spring veggie freezing easy!
Here’s how I processed the peas:
![For each batch of raw peas, I picked out any leaves or foreign matter, and rinsed well to remove any soil or sand. Raw peas aren't as vibrant green as blanched ones.](http://empty.lehmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Wash-Raw-Peas.jpg)
![Fill the saucepan half-way with water, and bring it to a boil. I added the peas to blanch (at a rolling boil) for a minute and an half.](http://empty.lehmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Peas-at-boil.jpg)
![The peas will foam as they blanch. Skim off foam with a spoon. Be careful: if you overfill the pot, it'll boil over! Keep it at 3/4 full of water and peas.](http://empty.lehmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Foaming-Peas.jpg)
![After blanching, plunge peas into ice water to stop cooking. I pour them into a colander, and plunge into a sanitized sink full of ice and water. Peas cool in less than a minute. Note the brighter green color after blanching.](http://empty.lehmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Plunge-In-Ice-Bath.jpg)
![Pour cooled peas into freezer box. When box is full, snap on lid and pop into freezer. It's that easy!](http://empty.lehmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Superbright-in-box-peas.jpg)