The secret to success with peas is planting them early, like in mid-April. So, when my garden was dry enough to till around Easter, I grabbed packets of pea seed at the local Tractor Supply store. It cost me $4.

One variety came up well, one didn’t — that’s par for the course. At least the peas survived the 27-degree-F freeze on May 9. By late June, I picked a mess of peas. Actually, I picked off pods. My wife, Carla, shelled them, and we had enough for two meals.

That was a Saturday. The next Wednesday, off and on all day, I kept wondering what we could do with the grandkids that evening that would be something special. There is Graham, 10, Addy, 7, Avery, 5, and Reagan, 3. We used to take them to a local arcade, but with COVID-19, that didn’t seem like a smart idea.

By feeding time, I hadn’t come up with anything. But I noticed while checking gates near the garden that peas were ready to pull. That’s the old-fashioned way my mom taught me. By the second picking, just pull the vines. Then sit under the shade tree and pull off pods.

So, I pulled vines and took them to the porch. Carla went right to work. Soon, she had helpers. Who knew picking pea pods off vines could be so much fun! Addy got her own bucket, the small plastic kind you take to the beach, and put her pea pods in it. Even Reagan was dancing around, holding a small pea vine.

Graham couldn’t help until the sheep were walked, but he made Grandma promise to save him some vines with pods on them to pick. What fun!

Then Grandma transitioned to shelling peas. Each kid got in the act again. Yes, it’s the same old story. If you told them they had to shell peas, they would have scattered quickly. Instead, they found it quite entertaining.

FUN TIMES: Avery Langreck shells peas and thinks it’s great fun! There is a fine line between fun and work — it’s all in the attitude.

Turned out it was more fun pulling pods and shelling peas than eating them. Nobody was too eager to spoon up peas and take a big bite. Finally, Grandma told Graham she would give him a dollar if he ate a bite. A big smile spread across his face.

It’s possible Grandma got set up on that one. Before supper was over, Graham had a couple of bucks, and the others had a buck each for eating peas. Graham ate two spoonfuls of peas for the extra buck. The grin on his face just might have meant he pulled one over on Grandma — they tasted pretty good after all.

I thought they tasted great. Nothing beats fresh anything out of the garden. When it was all done, we had enough peas from the patch for five messes.

I could probably have bought five small bags of peas for about what I paid for the seed. But I wouldn’t have enjoyed peas fresh from the garden, and I wouldn’t have found something entertaining to do with the grandkids for an evening. Actually, they found it themselves. And even with Grandma sweetening the pot with a few extra bucks, it was still far cheaper than a trip to the arcade!