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Purple hulls

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 12:27 pm
by Cole_Robbie
Here is a pic of some purple hulled peas I picked yesterday. I used to pick them with my grandma for her market garden years ago. They are very easy to grow and nutritious enough to sustain a person. I let the weeds grow up in mine out of neglect, but then the peas used the weeds like bean poles and grew on top of them. These got zero insecticide, fungicide, or irrigation. It was hot and dry, but they don't care. I sprinkled some calcium nitrate by the row one time, which was their only fertilizer.
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Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 1:40 pm
by Texgal
Nice haul! Cowpeas are one of my favorite summer foods. I remember us getting bushels of them during the summer and our fingers turning purple from shelling. No one else liked shelling peas but I enjoyed it. It was a real drag washing and blanching all those peas to freeze but boy did I enjoy them in the winter! I planted out a 4x4 plot of cream peas this year for the first time and am getting a cup at a time, lol. Why is it I keep thinking "need more garden space!". 😉 Planning to do another bed of the top pick pinkeye purple hull this weekend. Yours look wonderful, great job!

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:35 pm
by GoDawgs
That's a pretty haul! Time for shelling. I've got one bed of Colossus that's just starting to vine. No flowers yet. The Red Rippers won't get planted until tomorrow or Sunday, depending on how fast I can get those former corn rows ready. You're so right about peas not caring about heat and dryness.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 4:15 pm
by worth1
Just planted a few today to see how they can deal with the real ((((Texas Heat)))).
Probably wont be shelling any if they make but eat them at the immature stage hull and all.
If that is at all possible.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2020 5:11 pm
by karstopography
I like getting my handful every other day, your haul looks like a commercial operation compared to mine.

They are tasty and I like them best in that not dry, still mostly green to barely yellow state. I freeze mine without blanching and have had excellent results that way.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:32 pm
by worth1
4 to 5 days later the confounded peas I planted sprouted. :shock:
The packet says 7 to 10 days.
Was really shocked to see this.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:44 pm
by Cole_Robbie
I ate some last night with grilled bratwurst. It is an unusual combination, but very tasty.

After spending more time shelling than picking, I can see the value in a shelling machine. A very successful market gardener I know has one and takes it to market so that his customers can have their peas and beans shelled when they buy then. In the recent covid environment, he has been shelling his beans before market and packaging them into bags by the pound.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:49 pm
by worth1
Spent hours upon hours shelling peas as a child slave on the front porch barefoot shorts and no shirt. :lol:

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 6:19 pm
by Cole_Robbie
worth1 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:49 pm Spent hours upon hours shelling peas as a child slave on the front porch barefoot shorts and no shirt. :lol:
Grandma and I grew them and picked them, but the next step was take them to town and sell them. She spared me the shelling.

I have the rest of the peas set out to dry in a spare room with a dehumidifier. In addition to preserving, am trying to learn how to actually cook and eat a lot of what we grow, instead of just sell it at market. I have only made dried cherry tomatoes once, but they were delicious. I never bother, because they can't be sold, even with a cottage food exemption. The health department really really hates dried tomatoes.

So the market gardener perspective influences practices a lot, I think. I tend to grow massive amounts of anything, from a home gardener perspective, but then all I know after that is selling it, instead of using it.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2020 7:25 pm
by worth1
My pink eyed purple hulls are climbers and starting to bloom. :D

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:09 pm
by JohnJones
I've had an interesting and at times frustrating cowpea/field pea/pea (in the South) year in 2020.

Planted 7 different varieties around the garden in patches to test the varieties for productivity and growth habit etc. Wanted to see what I liked (besides PEPH, which I love). Most of these areas had never had a nitrogen fixing crop so worst case I was hoping to improve soil.

Results have ranged from terrible to Wow!

Two varieties of PEPH have been pathetic. I'm struggling to get enough decent pods to save a few seeds.

Brown Crowders from Georgia have been extremely disappointing as well. I think a rat found them, but even the plants that look decent are producing nothing, right next to the Calico Crowders described below.

Big Boy (a large seed with a brownish eye) has produced, but not at all vigorous.

Yellow Ripper, a Mississippi heirloom cream, has been very productive and tasty. Started a late season patch.

Rouge et Noir, a beautiful maroon to black seeded pea, has done so well I've started some late season (didn't plant enough) on an arched trellis to get them away from pests and hopefully get some seeds and eats.

The star has been the Calico Crowders. Planted in a low spot that stays wet and has never grown anything but weeds successfully, they have thrived and are now running up the fencing and adjacent trellises with reckless abandon. Sending out pods everywhere and looking like they'll keep right on till a killing frost. Beautiful mottled seed with rich flavor.

I've enjoyed the adventure and am grateful to have found some varieties to fill out neglected garden spots in the future.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2020 9:41 am
by ponyexpress
JohnJones wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:09 pm Most of these areas had never had a nitrogen fixing crop so worst case I was hoping to improve soil.
How does one know if the peas/beans actually fixed the soil with nitrogen? At what point is it done? Let's that I'm growing beans. I harvested the beans but do I leave the plant in the ground so it continues to "pump" nitrogen into it?

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:55 pm
by karstopography
https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A129/

This link covers a lot of the subject of nitrogen fixation by legumes. From the article, some nitrogen fixed by legumes like cowpeas is leaked to other nearby plants. But it doesn’t sound like the nitrogen remains for long once the legume is gone or removed. I guess the legumes at least aren’t removing nitrogen like any other non legume.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:51 pm
by worth1
My pink eyed peas are producing beyond my wildest imagination.
Not only are they climbing they are producing.
I have one lone wheel bug that has been hanging out taking care of the pests as best it can.
The bug has been there for about two weeks or more.'
Wasps of all kinds all over the place, a welcome sight for me because I'm not scared of them.
Many little bees too.
When I water every day they fly out and into my face but never harm me.
I actually walk around wasps and never get hurt unless I do something stupid.
This was only an experiment to see what this type of legume can handle and it was a great success.
100 plus heat they just laugh at it and keep on growing and producing.
Sometimes a person may want to grow something they cant and they just need to give it up and grow something they can.
This is a perfect example of a food that will grow in our horrific late summer conditions here in my part of Texas.
I bet those wasps and little native bees are helping too.
Thank you wheel bug for your help too.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 1:47 pm
by JohnJones
ponyexpress wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 9:41 am
JohnJones wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:09 pm Most of these areas had never had a nitrogen fixing crop so worst case I was hoping to improve soil.
How does one know if the peas/beans actually fixed the soil with nitrogen? At what point is it done? Let's that I'm growing beans. I harvested the beans but do I leave the plant in the ground so it continues to "pump" nitrogen into it?
This is a late response, but I actually responded not long after your post and it somehow didn't make it to the board.

I learned a lot from karstopography's link.

My experience is anecdotal in that through the years whatever follows legumes seems to do well. I just like keeping something growing in my various planting patches. When the plants are done in a couple of months, I will cut them off at the stem to leave the roots to break down, compost the tops, weed a bit and cover with mulch for the winter.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 3:01 pm
by karstopography
Purple hulls and other cow peas are sort of little care necessary, take the full abuse of a southern summer and just keep on keeping on. Mine have been out there now most of the summer and are on some new generation.

Interestingly, about half or more now out there in the garden are some other cowpea, not purple hulls and not a black eyed pea, another cowpea without any black or purple marking. Some earlier genetic lineage coming through or something.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2020 6:54 pm
by worth1
I have first pods turning purple, the plants are running strong in spite of the heat and my wheel bug is still hanging around.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:32 am
by worth1
Picked a few yesterday after work.
20200923_171356.jpg

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 7:01 am
by JohnJones
worth1 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 10:32 am Picked a few yesterday after work.
20200923_171356.jpg
Those look pretty pest free. The leaf footed bugs and curculios are getting more peas than I am lately.

Re: Purple hulls

Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2020 7:17 am
by worth1
Had a wheel bug hanging out and only pests were leaf miners.