NOTE: The poor growing season this past year resulted in crop failures for many of the rare varieties we normally offer. We hope that 2008 is a better season.
Indicates New Variety for 2008
Cowpeas or Southern Peas are probably
native to the continent of Africa and brought to the United States
in early Colonial times. They became a staple food in the
Southeastern U.S. where they are eaten as green shelled peas or left to dry on
the vine for later use.
They are more likely to succeed in
areas with warm soil temperatures (at least 60F) and no danger of
frost for ninety to one hundred days after planting. They are highly
tolerant of drought and a wide variety of soil conditions, including
heavy clay and sandy soils. Soil pH can range from 5.5 to 7.
In areas with cooler climates, the plants will tend to be plagued
with pests and disease.
(Approximately
90 seeds per ounce)
One ounce will plant about a 10 foot
row.
Big Boy
75 days — The bushes of 'Big Boy' stand erect and bear eight inch pods that are high on the plants and easy to pick.
A very productive field pea that is good for fresh use, freezing or canning. Peas are cream colored with light brown eyes.
Black Crowder
70 days — A very productive variety that yields unusually long pods.
The peas have a deep purple color when shelled and turn black when dried. The green pods are easy to shell.
Brown Crowder
80 days — An old-time Southern favorite table pea. The dry seeds are light brown in color with a darker eye.
The eight inch pods fill well and borne on vigorous vines that reach about thirty inches. Very productive and used for market, fresh green shelled or dried.
Blackeye Pea, California
70 days — The
plants of this variety are high yielding, vigorous and fairly easy to
grow.
You can use these as green shell peas or dry like winter beans. Resistant to wilt and nematodes.
Lady (aka Lady Finger)
90 days — A heat tolerant, Southern-type pea.
The peas are very tasty, very small, and cream colored with a darker eye. They are good green, frozen or dried.
Because of the small seed size, there are a lot of seeds (about 350 seeds per ounce), one packet goes a long way.
Pinkeye
Purple Hull BVR
65 days — The
plants are vigorous, bush to semi-vining in habit and produce pods
that are six to seven inches long. The seeds are cream colored with a
maroon eye. It is resistant to Blackeye Cowpea Mosaic Virus and
Bacteria Virus Resistant (BVR).
Texas
Cream
8
75 days
— A bush-type pea with oblong, kidney shaped peas when dried. Nice garden pea that produces a nice crop.
Texas Cream 40
65 days
— Texas Cream 40 is a distinct, early variety. The semi-bush growth
is very prolific. The pods are six to eight inches long, medium sized, and slightly curved. The
seeds are small, kidney-shaped, and white with an orange eye.
Whippoorwill
85 days — Although this is the old standard for
general purpose cowpeas, it is becoming quite rare. The
seeds are light brown, smooth and speckled. The plants
are very prolific and tall.
We are down to one grower which makes availability
vulnerable to weather, insects, and other causes of crop
failure. It is very rare and always in short supply.
Very limited supply for 2008.
Pigeon Peas (Cajanus indicus)
140 days —
Although not common in the U.S., pigeon peas are an important crop in many parts of the world. It has been cultivated at least 3,000 years and is believed to have originated in India, spread to East Africa, and then to the Americas via the early slave trade.
Pigeon peas are a vigorous, drought-tolerant legume, productive. They have a pungent, sweet flavor and mealy texture and are used in dishes combined with beans and rice and are often seasoned with hot chilies. The slow cooking nature of these beans allows for a rich, savory broth to be created.
Culture: They are cultivated like Southern peas and soybeans. Sow seeds 3/4 to one inch deep, three to four inches apart on raised beds with forty inches between beds. Plant late in the spring after soil temperatures have warmed. It is a long season crop requiring approximately 140 days from seeding to the beginning of harvest. In most parts of the United States where freezing temperatures are possible, they must be grown as an annual.
Cowpeas can be planted from May to August.
The seedpods form in about 60 days and will mature in about 100
days. Therefore in most areas, cowpeas must be planted in May
or June.
Plant four to six seeds per foot, 3/4
to 1-1/4 inches deep in rows twenty to thirty six inches apart. Control weeds
early in the season with shallow cultivation. Later the peas will
shade out most weeds. Avoid cultivation after the plants begin to
bloom. Irrigation is normally not necessary; southern peas are
renowned for their ability to grow and produce under harsh
conditions. Southern peas are self-pollinating with insects, as well
as wind, being responsible for moving the pollen to achieve
fertilization.
There are four types of
cowpeas. They are:
Field pea
- Vigorous, vine-type
plants with smaller seeds.
Crowder pea
- The seeds are
crowded into the pods and starchy.
Cream pea
- Small plants
with light colored peas. Examples are 'Texas Cream' and
'Zipper Cream'.
Indicates New Variety for 2008
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