Pickin' and Shellin' Cowpeas

Yesterday we talked about how the ants are farming the aphids in our cowpea patch.  Several things I read mentioned that this doesn't really harm the peas.  I'm not smart enough to know if that's true or not.  It is certainly unsightly and it just seems to me that your peas would be much healthier and productive if there weren't bugs sucking the nectar out of the plants.  I know it is certainly easier to pick the peas when there aren't ants biting you as you pick them!

Purple Hull Peas

To give some credence to the fact that the aphids don't harm the plant, we did go out and harvest a bucketful of peas the other day.  Because my soapy water concoction I sprayed on the peas wasn't successful in dissuading the aphids and ants from making their habitation on the peas, I had to pick peas with the water hose handy.  After I would pick a handful, I'd spray my hands off before the ants could bite me.  I also threw the pea pods in a bucket of water and sprayed the peas with a steady stream of water to wash the aphids and ants off.  I was mostly successful in picking peas without many ant bites.

Soaking peas to get the ants/aphids off

Once the peas were bug free, I brought them inside and Tricia and I stood up in the kitchen and shelled them all by hand.  Of course if you are doing this commercially, there are pea shellers that you can purchase that make the job a little easier.  One of these days I might look into picking up a second-hand pea sheller.  

For now, I feel that sometimes there's nothing wrong with doing things manually and not being concerned with efficiency. With all the modern technology we have and time-saving devices we employ, I often wonder where the big blocks of time go that we are accruing by being so much more efficient?  I don't know where it goes, but I assume we quickly fill that time with other tasks.  

Tricia and I were able to talk as we shelled the peas.  Pea shelling is not an exhausting job, and it doesn't require much thought at all.  Once you get going, you can put your fingers on auto-pilot and get the job done.  You don't need any tools except your finger nails to get the pod opened.  Once cracked open, you just use your thumb and forefinger to open the pod all the way.  Then running your thumb on the inside of the pod from top to bottom, you loosen all the peas and drop them into a bowl. The peas dropping in the bowl make a satisfying sound.  Repeated work fills the bowl and you can watch the progress.

Purple Hull Pinkeye Peas (appropriately named)

In no time at all, it seems that all the peas are shelled and the bowl is filled with a myriad of plump peas.  I planted Purple Hulls, Blackeyed Peas, Ozark Razorback Peas and Holstein Peas on the row, and it doesn't matter to me that they are mixed when we eat them.  All I know is that they taste good and are good for you, too.

In fact, This Link tells me:

"Nutritionally, southern peas {the purple hull pea is a member of the southern pea family} are a good source of protein and one of the best sources of dietary fiber available.  They are also very high in folate, a form of B vitamin that is important in the prevention of anemia, cancer and birth defects.  In fact, orange juice, which is often advertised as a good source of folate, has only about 10 percent of the amount found in a serving of southern peas." 

We're all done!

I think that is a lovely bowl of fresh shelled cowpeas.  A cow pea, medley, if you will.

A cowpea medley!

The Purple Hull Peas are greenish in color with pink eyes.  The Blackeyed peas are tan colored with black eyes.  The Ozark Razorback peas are mottled tan with brown spots.  Finally, the Holstein peas, appropriately names are black with white spots - just like its namesake dairy cows.

Pretty Peas in the Palm of my hand

We dropped all the pea pods into the compost bucket and they will be composted, improving the soil for the next crop.  Nothing goes to waste.  Everything either gets eaten or goes back into the soil.

Zero Waste

Our preacher talks about growing up in the Depression era.  He speaks about how times were hard, but they never went hungry - eating beans and rice one night and for variety, eating rice and beans the next!!  I tell you what, peas and rice is a mighty fine meal.  Tricia cooks the peas with a little sausage thrown in for smoky flavor and we serve it over rice.  I like to serve some pickled jalapeno peppers over the top, splashing some of the vinegar onto the heaping mound of peas and rice in my bowl.

Peas & Rice for Supper

In a few more days, there will be another mess of peas to pick and shell AND EAT! Pass the peas, please...