ROBERTSDALE, Ala. – Merle Pitts is proud of her peas. As well she should be because they’ve been in the family for over 100 years.

While the peas themselves are grown fresh every year, Pitts said, the seeds have been passed down through several generations of her husband’s family.

“I’m really not sure where the seeds originated from,” she said, “but my husband’s mother gave us the original seeds and every year we take seeds from that year’s crop to plant for the next year.”

She and her husband Jack planted the seeds together every May throughout their 52 years of marriage and she has continued the tradition since his death in 2000. It is a tradition they continued when they moved to Robertsdale from Magnolia Springs 20 years ago.

“Mr. Striplin (the previous owner) always had a garden here, so we just kept it up,” she said.

Her daughter, Karen Brown also uses the seeds in her Walnut Hill, Fla., garden. Her daughter, Marian Andrews, also used the seeds in her Elberta garden until recently, said Pitts, 79.

The peas grow in a single row covering a six-foot fence and, she said, would grow higher if the fence was higher. While her mother-in-law claimed pods of up to 36 inches, Pitts said her pea pods don’t get any bigger than 22 inches.

“And these have already gone to seed,” she said. The pods will grow until the first hard freeze, probably in late November. “But it’s unusual for them to be this green so late in the year.”

In fact, Pitts said, she had just about given up on having seeds for next year.

“We were running out of seeds and didn’t think we were going to have any more,” she said, “but these came in and it looks like we’ll have plenty for next year.”

While she’s tried other varieties, Pitts said, nothing has grown for her like the family seeds.

“These are just regular yard peas,” she said. “I tried Chinese long beans once, but they just didn’t grow well, nothing like these.”

The peas have another fan, Pitts said, her dog Mr. Prince.

“He loves them,” she said, feeding the tiny pooch a couple of pods. “He’s not really hungry. It’s like a game for him.”