Carlin Peas

Carlin peas have deep roots in British food culture but are now little known outside regional pockets of appreciation in the North of England. Seed Sovereignty is working to raise awareness of carlin peas. Northern England coordinator Catherine Howell describes their recent "Carlin Wednesday" celebration.

James Bucher grows carlin peas for us at Hall Farm in Knettishall on the Suffolk-Norfolk border as a mixed bi-crop and with no pesticides or synthetic fertiliser, one element in his transformation of the farm from intensive input-reliant production to working with the soil and nature.

This August has seen amazing work in the face of adversity at Green Acres Farm in Shropshire, bringing in an incredibly precious crop of organic carlin peas.

How do you eat your peas? Whole or soft? Parched or mushy? Black or green? Carlin or marrowfat? (We’re talking proper dried peas here, not those Johnny-come-lately immature fresh “garden pea” imposters*.)

Three of Hodmedod's British-grown pulse and grain products are among the 2016 Great Taste awards winners! We're delighted that the quality and taste of our Yellow Pea Flour, canned Carlin Peas and British Quinoa have been recognised in these acclaimed awards, widely considered as the benchmark for fine food and drink in the UK.

Hodmedod's Organic Carlin Peas have been awarded the prestigious Soil Association BOOM award for best pantry product. We're overjoyed that these wonderful but little-know traditional British peas have been recognised for their deliciously nutty flavour.

We're continually amazed at the wonderful things people do with our Organic Carlin Peas and have collected these superb dishes from Instagram. In no particular order...

Religion, folklore and now Facebook encourage us to give things up for Lent. And if you’ve got a meat-, alcohol-, chocolate- or sugar-shaped hole in your life for the next few weeks, there are centuries of history behind the foodstuff you could fill it with: carlin peas