Butterflies flit through the sweet pea-scented air as the Mirror arrived at HMC Peas in Lincolnshire, while sure-footed hares dart this way and that. For six hectic weeks each year, behind the bucolic scenes, pea farms run like a tight military operation, where every second counts in getting the peas picked, transported, and frozen.
24/7 Pea Production: A Military Operation
Throughout the harvest season from June to August, staff work 12-hour shifts on a 24/7 rota to supply 90 percent of the UK's pea demands. A staggering two billion portions of peas are produced in the frenzy by 18 farmer groups across the country. HMC Peas is one such co-operative that I visited for Great British Pea Week (July 7 to July 13), a full week dedicated to the beloved yet perhaps under-appreciated vegetable, which has never come close to the trendy heights of the avocado or sweet potato.
The HMC team prides itself on its 150-minute peas, whereby the fresh peas are delivered safely to the nearby factories of Prince's (five minutes away) and Greenyard's (20 minutes away) within 150 minutes flat. This means the pressure is on from the moment the peas are popped from their pods, with any traffic disruptions on the bumpy Fen roads potentially spelling disaster.
Inside the Colossal Pea Viners
I am given a crash course in driving one of the farming co-operative's four towering pea viners by Josh Reeve, who has worked for four seasons in a row at the 5,000-acre site in Holbeach, Lincolnshire. The wheels are the size of dinner tables. Once inside, it feels a little bit like hopping inside a transformer. If you were under any illusion that farmers were ever so gently removing the peas from the pods by hand, then one turn around the field will set you straight.
The Viners are colossal things, but move with surprising delicacy and are a joy to sail about the fields in - although you likely wouldn't want to try pulling up in the Tesco car park in one. Fortunately, there is also enough visibility to ensure that no scampering hares - who really should have more fear - end up meeting a sticky end.
Once we reach a lush patch of unharvested crops, the header is lowered, ready to pick the peas with its deft 'fingers'. These are then scooped up into the threshing chamber, where the peas are separated from the pods at a quick-fire rate. Nothing goes to waste, with the nitrogen-rich plant parts churned back out into the field, ready to nurture next year's crops.
Then, once the load is full, the viner drivers pull up beside a tractor, and let the peas rain down into the parallel cab. It's a striking sight, not to mention extremely satisfying to see the counter dropping right back down once more.
Communication and Camaraderie on the Team
Communication is everything here. The tractors are fitted with iPads, which keep track of the load, as well as the all-important routes to the factories. Any issues on either side of the well-oiled chain are communicated without delay. Earlier on, the drivers had to stop vining as the factory rang up to alert them to an issue at their end.
Josh, 32, works the day shift as a viner driver, with his working hours stretching from 7am to 7pm. This 24-hour season is certainly not for slackers, with life outside of the pea fields temporarily on hold. Josh explained: "You start at seven, you finish at seven. And then you're in the car on your way home. It's the same when you finish at seven, go home, walk the dog, have tea, and start the next day again. Life does take a back seat for those eight weeks, but we all do it because we love it."
For those who take over on the night shift, there are additional challenges. Imagine, if you will, trying to sleep all day through a baking heatwave, only to work out in the fields right through the humid, sweaty night. Thankfully, there is air conditioning in the cabin.
There's great camaraderie on the team, who communicate through radio, with the majority of them returning year after year. They've gotten to know each other well and have become accustomed to each other's rhythms in the fields. Josh has a good sense of when one of his co-workers is about to reverse or which direction they're headed in, with each driver having their own quirks and habits. It's this elegant, ingrained choreography that allows things to run smoothly and safely.
Josh shared: "I quite like the buzz of it. They're moving, they're on the go, a lot of moving parts. It's like a military operation, getting everything from the field, in the tractors."
Climate Change and Virus Threats
But as with any military operation, plans need to be put in place for the long-term future. Like many areas of agriculture, the team are noticing the effects of climate change, with warmer winters and summers giving some indication of the seasons to come. According to Josh, the workers started earlier this year, with dry conditions making things challenging. He revealed: "So we've got the later crops in the program that are struggling to survive. Unless we get rain in the next couple of weeks, they're really going to suffer because they lack that rain. So for us, it's very similar to last year."
Meanwhile, general manager Allen Giles told the Mirror that global warming is a "big concern" for pea farmers, who are now looking for ways to innovate, including building all-important drought resistance into pea varieties. Allen, who is also a director of the British Pea & Bean Association, shared: "We are seeing things that we have never seen before. Last year we had big problems with virus. So we have aphids that feed on the crop, they spread virus, and then the virus gets in the plant. It is a bit like us getting a cold. The plant gets a cold, some of it dies, some of it doesn't produce. And we had really low yields last year because of that."
The Great British Pea: Quality and Promotion
HMC prides itself on providing high-quality petit pois, and Allen is keen to shed any misconceptions about peas among those who've had bad experiences with the lower-end quality often used by the catering industry, based on price. He said: "They are not as good quality as your frozen petit pois or the own-brand finest brands and things like that. So there is a big difference between peas. A pea isn't just a pea; there is a big difference. And educating the public about that really is key for us."
After sampling a few fresh peas from the field, I can confirm these certainly aren't the bland ones you might remember recoiling from during school dinners. Flavoursome and moreish, it's no wonder the workers here still aren't tired of enjoying a pod or two. Josh told us, "I still love them. There's nothing better than getting them fresh out of the field, picking them straight from the pod into your mouth; they taste amazing." Meanwhile, Allen added: "I like peas just boiled with a bit of mint and a bit of butter on them, like probably most people do."
Although you'd be hard-pressed to find a British household that doesn't have a bag of peas at the back of the freezer, there is that sense of them being always the side dish, never the main. But that doesn't mean the Pea Revolution isn't on the way. Discussing his work with the British Pea & Bean Association, Allen disclosed: "We are looking to rebrand and take on a new company to help us promote peas. We had the 'Yes Peas' campaign that has been running for so many years now, and we have Great British Pea Week. That was innovative from the British Pea & Bean Association. So we are trying to get the pea message out there. We are looking to do some collaboration with maybe carrots as well."
"It's getting it out there and getting people to see it and understand it and hopefully enjoy it, and understand what it takes to get a frozen pea to your plate, really, because it is quite a lot of work and time and effort. But we enjoy it, otherwise we wouldn't do it."
It's clear this is a veg that needs a little more love, not to mention an appreciation for the nutrients that should satisfy even the most discerning of gym buffs. Packed with vitamins, protein, and fibre, those looking to keep healthy would do well to listen to their parents' words of wisdom from childhood, and eat their peas. As Allen put it, "I think peas are a great British success story. All the peas that we produce, or virtually all the peas we produce in the UK, are for the UK market. The factories from this field, you can nearly see them from here. So in terms of locality and being fresh, you can't really beat them, in terms of how other veg is done. And I think really we need to champion the peas."
