My Favorite Peas in the Garden

If you want to "grow protein" in the garden, you cannot overlook the cowpea.  We grow them every single year.  Mostly, we grow three varieties: Black-eyed peas, Purple Hull peas, and Ozark Razorback peas.  The lowly cowpea has nodules that set nitrogen in the soil.  They effectively produce their own fertilizer!  They thrive in heat and drought conditions and produce fantastic yields. 

Here are some black-eyed peas that are ready for picking.  Once the hulls turn a yellowish color, well, it's time to get out there with a bucket and start picking. 

Right next to the row of black-eyed peas, I have a row of purple hull peas planted.  You can tell how they got their name, can't you?  When the hulls turn purple, they are ready to pick as well.

I filled a large basket with black-eyed peas and had to go back inside to get a bucket to finish with the purple hulls.

Once you've picked them, the fun's just begun.  Now there's pea shellin' to do.  Pea shelling is great therapy, I think.  I like to sit down somewhere with a bowl and release them from the shells into the bowl.  We have an electric pea sheller, but I have to tell ya, I didn't even plug it in this year.  

These in the bowl below are black-eyed peas, as their black eyes testify.

Here is a bucket of purple hulls that are ready to be shelled.

Purple hull peas, once shelled look a little similar to black-eyed peas, but their 'eyes' are more pink, I would say.

This year we put tray after tray of cowpeas in the dehydrator and dried them for a bit.

Once they are fully dried, we pack them in half gallon-sized jars and vacuum seal them.  We have a gallon of peas put up in the pantry.  It's good to have a store of peas.

Growing them is gratifying, for sure.  Picking them is fun.  Shelling them, we've already established, is therapeutic.  But the best doggone part of it is eating them.  Cooking them in a pot with some onions, peppers and some smoked sausage and then serving over a big mound of rice with some homemade corn bread on the side.  Well, I'll tell you what.  You've got a southern meal that can't be beat.  It's comfort food that sticks to your ribs and puts a smile on your face.

I've got to brag on my wife's homemade cornbread.  She tried something new and it was a hit in my book.  She took some sweet corn scraped off the cob with the 'milk' and cut up some fresh jalapenos and added to the batter.  It made a moist, sweet and spicy cornbread that we all enjoyed.