Peas from the Gold Rush Days

 On his way to visit his sister Lionel Widdison would pull over at a road stop in Stawell, western Victoria, to stock up on fresh vegetables.

The market garden he visited was run by Chinese growers. It was a regular trip spanning many years during the 1950s and 60s.

A special climbing snow pea that grew with a lovely pink flower was a favourite with Lionel and his family, so different to the common garden pea. After many visits and no doubt lots of compliments, he was able to convince the Chinese gentleman to part with just a few of precious pea seeds.

For many years Lionel grew those peas and shared his harvest with friends and family. Two weeks before his passing he handed the pea seeds to his nephew, Roger. Those peas have been part of the Widdison and Oldaker families for 65 years since being shared by that Chinese market gardener in Stawell.

Meanwhile, in Capertee, NSW, life-long gardener and octogenarian May Barnes, has been growing “Frank's Pea”.

This family heirloom came out to Australia during the gold rushes of the 1850s with May's great grandfather Charles Franks and his wife Martha.

The seeds have been handed down through May's family and she grows them today. A climbing pea with pink flowers and pods unlike any other pea, this may very well have been the source of Lionel's peas. So the rich tapestry of Australian heirlooms becomes more apparent to us as the story of this humble pea evolves.

Origins of peas

History records peas as one of the most ancient old world vegetables, domesticated in Europe and reaching China in 600-900 BC. Early twentieth century vegetable catalogues list many varieties of peas. In the 1904 French Vilmorin seed catalogue two hundred strains of peas were listed, with most being shelling peas that were used fresh or dried for flour or soups.

The Chinese experience

As mentioned above, Chinese families had market gardens in Stawell beginning in the early part of the twentieth century. The lure of gold and of a better life brought many Chinese to Australia in the mid to late 1800s. Occupations such as market gardening, herbalism and shopkeeping were popular. The market gardens run by the Chinese were located in areas that are now the suburbs of Melbourne. These gardens were an important source of food for the growing city of Melbourne.

Seed Saving

Without dedicated home gardeners such as Lionel Widdison, Roger Oldaker and May Barnes seeds such as this pea would be lost, as would the story that goes with it. The simple act of saving seed, growing it each season, reaping the harvest and passing on the seed to friends and neighbours is a small step to self reliance. With food security being such a political hot potato, it is wonderful that such a simple thing can be so empowering and cost effective too. If every gardener saved just one special seed, what a diverse and unique resource we would have and what a multitude of stories we could tell. With every sowing we are respecting and honouring the story that resulted in having that seed into our hand. We are so grateful to these families for handing some of their precious seed to us so we can in turn pass it on to our members. Stay tuned for the results of our trials of Frank's and Lionel's Peas!

DEFINITION OF AN HEIRLOOM SEED...

“Seeds saved by backyard gardeners or historic seed merchants that are open pollinated and pre-date plant breeding for supermarket distribution in the 1960s. Modern heirlooms are bred from heirloom stock and are freely available public varieties.”