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Do I think that government should spend time debating which vegetable best represents a state?

No.

Do I think that the public should figure this out? I mean, I don鈥檛 think it really matters in the grand scheme of things, but it does add a little bit of fun to the mix of what can otherwise be a dreary amount of debate on what to spend and what to slash in government.

So let's flesh this out. On the table before the Minnesota Legislature is a bill to make Minnesota鈥檚 state vegetable the pea. It鈥檚 as humble and unassuming a vegetable as they come. It is one of my favorites to taste when it first ripens in the garden. At it鈥檚 early stage, the shell and seeds inside are delectable.

Peas are not only a tasty vegetable but used as a forage crop, rotational crop and even as green manure and cover crop because of their ability to put nitrogen into the soil.

One cannot forget that Minnesota is home to the Jolly Green Giant, a 70-foot green mascot celebrating our sweet pea farming and canning heritage in Blue Earth, Minnesota. That company, which got its start as Minnesota Valley Canning Company, started producing cans of the Green Giant peas 100 years ago. It's pretty good timing to put some focus on this vegetable.

The next best choice may be sweet corn; however, Illinois named that one their vegetable in 2015.

Onions, tomatoes, potatoes, beans and collard greens are among the others chosen by states, often varieties specific to that region.

North Dakota, too, is mulling over a state vegetable. They are considering rhubarb. It鈥檚 a fine choice and Minnesota could probably put up a fight for that one, though I recognize that both states hold the plant in high regard. I've enjoyed it in crisp here in Minnesota and in kuchen in North Dakota.

Mikkel Pates / Agweek file photo

Of course, you have to also consider that while they say rhubarb is a vegetable, I certainly use it as a fruit. A little research I did surprised me more to find out that the rhubarb plant is in the buckwheat family. Perhaps the mother plant should be the one earning the state vegetable recognition. But wait, isn鈥檛 buckwheat a grain? Nope, it鈥檚 a pseudo-grain that is used as if it were a grain.

On the topic of what鈥檚 fruit and what鈥檚 a vegetable is the strange outlier that is Oklahoma. They did the unthinkable in 2007 when they named the watermelon their state vegetable. Vegetable? Everything I see points to a watermelon being a fruit 鈥� one of the best in my books. The legislator who brought that one forward said it was because the watermelon was of the cucumber family. OK, but cucumbers are also in the fruit category, botanically speaking.

The debate is long, and it鈥檚 easy to get tangled in the vines of what鈥檚 what. An 1893 Supreme Court case looked into the topic because imported vegetables at the time had tariffs placed on them while fruits did not. Of course, people importing vegetables, like tomatoes, suddenly said that they were actually fruits, so they don't need to pay the stinking tariff. One judge at the time admitted that while science considered the plants one thing, common language and habits of the people dictated that they were something else. Perhaps that delicious thing you grew could be both fruit and vegetable?

This brings me back to the pea, which scientifically speaking is a vegetable. Why not the pea? The Minnesota State Horticultural Society calls the pea one of the easiest to grow. 鈥淧eas are flexible and forgiving. If you plant them, they鈥檒l grow,鈥� according to their website.

The bill, SF 2080, is one of the simplest bills you鈥檒l see. It reads, 鈥淭he pea, the seed from the Pisum sativum plant, is designated as the official state vegetable of the state of Minnesota.鈥�

The bill had it鈥檚 first reading on March 3 and was referred to State and Local Government committee.

The plant is cold tolerant, ready to plant early in the spring, something us northerners can be thankful for. You can also succession plant and plant next to other plants that can benefit from the nitrogen production.

Perhaps it won鈥檛 make any difference if this bill gets heard or not, but with none of the upper Midwest states having picked a state vegetable yet, we have a chance to have first dibs it seems. Wait too long and someone else may choose the pea, though it is unlikely. The top two producers of green peas are Washington and Minnesota. Washington has already chosen the Walla Walla sweet onion as their state vegetable 鈥� a fantastic choice, I might add.