100 Austrian Winter Pea Seeds. These are bulk seeds and will not come packaged for resale but in a ziplock bag. 98% pure seed, 85% germination, 0.7% Inert, 1.25% Other Crop, 0.05% Weed.Austrian winter pea (Pisum sativum) is a cool-season annual legume that has long been considered a high-preference forage for whitetails and is also used as a cover crop due to its nitrogen-fixing ability, winter pea has numerous agricultural uses, and it is very easy to establish in fall food plots and as a cover crop. The dried peas and fresh pods are edible by both stock and humans.Widely Adapted Deer ForageWinter pea is considered a cool-season annual legume, although it can be successfully grown in the spring/summer in cooler regions. It is a low-growing, viney plant that can reach 2- to 4-feet tall, depending on soil fertility and management. The stems are hollow and slender, and the fleshy leaves are pale green with toothed margins. It also contains branched, slender tendrils on the top of the plant. Winter pea produces flowers in the spring, which are pinkish-purple in color. If plants are not overgrazed, seed production can occur through pods that are 2- to 3-inches long that contain several round seeds.Winter pea grows well virtually anywhere within the continental United States and parts of Canada. As the name implies, it has good winter hardiness and can withstand very cold conditions. It grows well in a variety of soil types, but best production occurs in light-textured loamy soils. Winter pea is somewhat sensitive to soil pH, thus, the pH needs to be maintained above 6.0, which already needs to be the goal for any food plot to maximize nutritional quality and attraction.Germination of winter peas would be considered moderate relative to other cool-season forages, and grazing resistance would be considered moderate as well. Once established, they are capable of producing lots of quality forage for a period of seven to eight months, ranging from 1.5 to 2 tons
