Sorry to hear about your husband's passing.

I usually harvest my pigeon peas around December, January when the pods have a light yellow like color and the peas feel tight in the pod. If you hold the tree branch to the sun and the pod is a light green color with tiny flat little peas, then the peas are not ready. The brown ones I cook with brown rice. That's the best way that I can explain it.

Isobella:
You can also let the peas dry and harvest them when the pods are brown. In this case, they need to be soaked before cooking, and may be cooked with rice, or boiled with onions, thyme,tomatoes and garlic, and served as a side-dish. In this way, you will also have saved seeds for sowing more plants, preserving the memory of your husband whom I am sure you miss very much. Please accept my deepest sympathy.