Purple Hull Peas, If You Please

The rains we've received in the past couple of weeks has really made the grass start to grow.  It was high time.  The cows and goats and chickens had the pasture eaten down so much the remaining grass resembled felt on a pool table.  The rains also kicked the weeds in the garden into overdrive.  But let's look at the positive, shall we?  The purple hull peas have been a beneficiary of the rain, too!  Green immature pods cover the garden rows, accompanied by white blooms and the ripened purple hulls of the peas that gave the pea its name.

It has been very hot and humid the past few days, but I made the most of an opportunity yesterday between rain showers to go outside and pick peas. 

I went down one side of the row and then back up the other side, picking ripe peas and pulling weeds.  I threw the weeds over the fence where the goats and chickens quickly gobbled them up.  I had to be real careful where walking as watermelon vines, cantaloupe vines, and sweet potato vines compete for real estate.  I spotted more than a few melons growing.  They look like they'll be ripe just in time for July 4th.

I picked a pretty good "mess" of peas and brought them inside.  Bending over and picking peas is a task, a chore, to be sure.  There are mosquitoes.  It is hot.  It makes your back hurt.  It is nice when you come to the end of the row.

But the work isn't done.  Those peas aren't going to shell themselves, no sirree.  Shelling peas, however, is an enjoyable task.  I sat down at the island in the kitchen while Tricia cooked down fresh picked okra and tomatoes for supper and I began shelling peas into a tupperware container.  Plop, plop, plop.  The fat peas made a pleasant noise as they plopped into the container.

We ate supper and then I moved the pea-shelling endeavor into the den.  In no time flat the pea shelling was done.  I had a full container of fresh-shelled peas and a full bucket of empty pea pods to compost back into the garden.

I dropped a hint to my wife that purple hull peas over rice with smoked sausage or tasso would be real good.  Also added that some homemade cornbread to accompany that meal would make me happy.  The simple things in life are the best!