Purplehull Peas

Purplehull (Purple Hull) Cowpeas or Southern Peas
Vigna unguiculata subsp.


Purplehull peas, also referred to as "Purple Hull" peas, are a very popular category of Southern peas. The small town of Emerson, Arkansas (pop. 368) holds an annual summer event called the "PurpleHull Pea Festival." You can even order a cook book, "The NEW 20th Annual PurpleHull Pea Festival Cookbook," from their website by clicking here. Listed below are the purplehull-type peas that we currently have available for your garden.


Each ounce is about enough seed to plant a ten foot row.
Click on variety's picture or name below for more information and quantity pricing options (where available).
Growing Information:

Southern Peas can be planted from May to August, as soon as the soil has warmed to about 65ºF. Most varieties are ready to harvest at the green pea stage in about sixty days and at the dry stage in seventy five to one hundred days. Therefore in most areas, Southern Peas really should 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. As a legume, they have the ability to fix their own nitrogen from the air so planting in too rich of soil or fertilizing can cause the plants to keep growing (running) and with pod production greatly affected. Southern peas are self-pollinating with insects, as well as wind, being responsible for moving the pollen to achieve fertilization.

There are several types, groups or categories of Southern Peas. These include:
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Black-eyed peas - The peas are white or light with dark, black hilums (eyes). Examples: 'California Blackeye #5' and 'California Blackeye #46'.
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Colored-eyed peas - The peas in this group have eye colors other than black. These are typically brown, tan, or pink. Examples: 'Early Scarlet' and 'Six Week Browneye'.
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Cream or Conch peas - Generally small plants with light colored peas. Examples: 'Lady', 'Sadandy', 'Cream 8', 'Texas Cream 40', 'White Acre' and 'Zipper Cream'.
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Crowder peas - The seeds are crowded into the pods and typically starchy. Example: 'Black Crowder', 'Mississippi Silver', and 'Colossus'.
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Field peas - Vigorous, vine-type plants with smaller seeds. Example: 'Red Ripper'.
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Purplehull (Purple Hull) peas - The pods in this group are either completely purple or exhibit some purple coloring at the tips. Example: 'Big Boy Purplehull', 'CT Pinkeye Purplehull', 'Coronet', 'Early Scarlet', 'Knuckle Purple', 'Mississippi Purple', 'Pinkeye Purple Hull BVR' and 'Quickpick Pinkeye'.

For more information, click here for a PDF document on growing Southern Peas.