He's the inventor of the sugar snap pea and more recently, a new product that we're growing here on the farm that is named for this amazing gentleman, the Calvin Pea Tendril. I had the honor of meeting Calvin a while back and he reminds me so much of my dad, Bob Jones, Sr. Their inquisitive minds always filled with fresh ideas and creative ways to dream up exciting new ingredients. Thomas Keller is as impressed by the work of Calvin Lamborn as I am, especially his incredible pea tendril which the botanist diligently created by introducing the pollen of one pea variety to another using a tweezers and his very sharp eye. He painstakingly cross-pollinated varieties that offer the very best in flavor, color and texture until he produced a tendril with tightly curled fronds that emerge in the early stage of a plant's life. The result is a beauty and because it appears when the plant is still young, the tiny leaves that flourish alongside the tendril, along with the tendril itself, are incredibly sweet and flavorful with a silky texture and vibrant green color. We were asked to grow the Calvin Pea Tendril at The Chef's Garden for Thomas Keller's restaurants. I couldn't be more proud of this mighty little vegetable conjured by a man who proves time and time again, just like dad, that age is just a number and doesn't define our ability to come up with brilliant new ideas no matter what stage we are at in life.