Growing for The Glorious Fourth

“No New England garden was considered a success if it did not furnish a large mess of green peas for Fourth of July dinner. If the season were a late one, the whole family watched the rows of peas anxiously. If the season were early, the peas were left on the vine to be sure of enough to go with the fresh salmon and lemon sherbet.’’

— Ella Shannon Bowles and Dorothy S. Towle, in Secrets of New England Cooking (1947)