I’ve been growing Llanofer Peas since receiving seeds three years ago from the Heritage Seed Library.
The name Pys Llanofer comes from the Llanofer Estate where the plants were originally grown. During the second world war, the estate was used as a camp for German prisoners of war. There, one of the prisoners fell completely in love with one of the maids of the estate. After the war ended, the German soldier returned to Wales and married the maiden and with that brought her Pea seeds as a gift (life was a lot simpler back then ). The Peas were grown there from then on and have now particularly adapted to the Welsh climate and are a Welsh type of pea. However, later in the 21st century it became clear that the Pea would not survive unless more were grown domestically.
We often hear about the extinction of animals, languages and cultures but never consider certain types of plants as well and they are in danger of being lost forever if we don’t grow them in our gardens Every year I keep most of the peas to dry as seeds with the hope of donating them to community growing groups and schools across Wales to grow
