Telephone – or in old heritage speak ‘Alderman’ – is a very old and excellent large podded green pea that is perfect for shelling. If you can hold off long enough and not eat them all straight from the pod, they are one of the best of the peas for cooking once grown to full size. Eating the pods is like chewing on dental floss – so you do need to let them grow and then fully shell them and eat the perfectly formed and flavoured peas inside.
Its hard to imagine anything much better than eating your own freshly podded peas.
They are long growing and cropping pea.
There is some variation but Telephone (Alderman) peas tend to be fairly big pods and fairly thinly leafed but tall climbing plants. Usually from 1.5m up to about 2.5 metres high depending on the year and climate.
They tend to hold the pods out a fair distance from the main stem and so are very easy to harvest as well.
If you leave them on the plant and they get to full maturity they still retain a very good flavour.