Dave, the field peas as per dilla's link and of what are typically used for "split-pea" soup are of the same family as "english peas" or "green peas", brought from europe to NA: pisum sativum. Southern peas or cowpeas of course as you know are the family Vigna from africa and have a dramatically different taste from pisum(IMO), Yeah, I know. Thus the use of "moniker" as opposed to genus or family since many use the common labels interchangeably, incorrectly but still interchangeably. A long discussion over on the Harvest forum some months back came up with several more alternate labels for them but I can't recall all the "we call them" names folks came up with. Sorry if any confusion. But whatever one calls them, they still are not productive enough in the typical home garden to off-set their inexpensive store-bought cost. Dave

There are several cultivars of blue podded English peas and I am not sure which one Baker creek is offering. They have been around since Noah got off the Ark, but not immensely popular. Blauwschokkers ( sometimes sold as Blue Pod) is a climbing pea. Large vine with pink flowers. Blue Pod Capucijners is a smooth seed pea used primarily dried in split pea soup. Blue Pod Desiree is a bush type whose pods are more purple than blue. No experience with Golden Sweet, supposedly came from India as opposed to most snow peas which came from China. Climbing pea with 6 foot vines. other than that I am in the dark. If you like to experiment with novelties, well worth trying.

Dry beans and dry split peas have pretty much converted their sugar to starch and taste accordingly. Green Peas picked at the mature stage are sweet, tasty, and highly edible straight from the plant. Shell the green peas first, eat the sugar snap types as is, or stir fry snow peas. Cowpeas are a 'whole nother animal'. The best cowpeas are picked when the peas are just mature but before the pod has dried down. There is a unique maturity stage at which the peas can be readily shelled out of the still flexible pod. This stage can usually be recognized by a color change in the pod. White Whipporwill peas for example change from a darker green color to a pale cream to pale yellow. If the pod has turned straw colored, then the peas are over dry but still edible. They have to be cooked longer and the flavor is not as good. Please note that the difference between a green pod, a pod ready to shell, and a too dry pod is about 3 days so you MUST be out there picking cowpeas every day to get the very best flavor. Green snap beans would normally be picked when the beans are just sizing up before the beans develop in the pod. If you are like me and love greasy beans, we need to have a slightly different conversation. If you let the pods swell up with the beans inside and then pick them just as the pod changes color, they are referred to as 'shellies'. Do not eat the shucks, they will be too tough. The beans are sometimes referred to as 'horticultural beans' if they are deliberately grown to be eaten at this stage. There are also many varieties that are grown to be dried down on the vine, picked, and shelled. This would be the common Pinto, Navy, Great Northern, etc. The important thing to know is that each variety of bean has a specific use that it is best adapted for. There are very few beans that are truly multi-purpose. Turkey Craw is one that comes to mind that can be snapped, shelled, dried, and used for Leather Britches though there are trade offs for such diverse uses. What would you think of being able to pop beans like popcorn? Look up Nuna Beans if you are intrigued. DarJones

Unclejohn, some bush varieties sprawl, or send out one short runner... but support should not be needed. Of the varieties listed, I have grown Calypso & Tiger Eye beans; while they sometimes put out a single 24" runner, they did not require support. "Adzuki" is a type of bean, not a variety; I have grown several varieties of adzuki, none of which needed support. All of these beans benefit from a layer of straw (or other mulch), which keeps the beans clean & reduces the chance of disease. I should also point out that "adzuki" (the generic type is most likely red) is a different species from the others, so you could save pure seed with no chance of crossing.