I'm a Yankee who started growing cow peas a few years ago. Cow peas are the most trouble-free crop I grow, and one of the most satisfying to eat.

Grow them as you would grow any bush beans. They are generally larger than bush beans, so allow for that. They like heat, so don't plant too early.

Harvest when the pods are well filled out but the peas are still green. This is easiest to determine with Pink Eye Purple Hull peas. Those are ready as soon as the pods are dark purple all over. Cow peas harvested too early will be puny. Harvested too late they will not be tender.

Cook the shelled peas in water with some fat added. Traditionally that would be any form of pork fat. Olive oil, although different from pork fat, is also good tasting IMO. Spoon the cooked peas over Southern style corn bread with some of the pot likker. Top with a little chow chow or relish if you like. Sprinkle on some hot sauce to your taste.

REAL CORNBREAD
From Butter Beans to Blackberries by Ronni Lundy

4 tablespoons drippings
2 cups fine ground white cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 and 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk

Turn the oven on to 450 degrees. When it starts to get hot, put the drippings in a 9 inch cast iron skillet (or small cake pan, but a skillet is what you really want). Put the skillet in the oven and let it get really hot while you mix up the batter.

Mix cornmeal, salt, baking soda and baking powder together well in a bowl. Add the egg and milk and stir until just blended. Don't beat.

Remove the skillet from the oven and very carefully swirl the drippings around the pan to coat the inside. Drippings should be bubbly. If you're using butter and it's browned a bit, that fine. It'll make the cornbread yummy!

Pour the drippings into the cornbread batter, stir just enough to incorporate, pour the batter back into the skillet and pop into the oven. It will take 20-25 minutes for it to turn brown around the edges and get firm in the middle. Remove and turn upside down on a sturdy plate to turn the cornbread out. (If it sticks, you can serve it straight from the pan.) Pass while it's hot.

Jim

You can also harvest the tender young pods as green beans. Yard Long Beans are just a form of cow pea. I've eaten them a couple of years now, taste just like the long ones. Don't know of any reasons why you can't use them like this. In fact, I kind of think it's better, because dry beans are cheap to buy and tedious to grow and harvest.

Concur. Cow peas are easy to grow. The bush forms are quicker to mature and would be better in the north. Cow peas are not as cold tolerant as beans, but are almost impervious to heat. They can be used as dried peas ( blackeyes being predominant for this use) Traditions newyears dinner is boiled dry peas usually blackeyes seasoned with salt pork. Hoppin John is also a popular dish using dry peas.
My favorite use is as green shellies with snaps. Boiled with a little butter or substitute. Served with chopped ripe tomatoes. Purple hulls do have abuilt indicator as to when to pick, but the others are easy with a bit of experience. Snaps are the tender immature pods, which are broken up and cooked with the peas.
Certainly could be used as an alternative to Yardlongs, but I don't care for them except in stir fries.
{{gwi:10436}}

Thanks everyone. I think I'll be saving some garden space for some cow peas this year.

Booberry,

One difference I've observed, with every variety of cowpea I've grown, compared to bush beans, is that, if they get something to climb on, ... they WILL! For example, Penny Rile is listed by most as shorter than average. Yet, when given a pole to climb on, I've seen Penny Rile top 9'. I like this about the cowpeas I've grown.

For me, cowpeas are one of those "feel good crops." They tolerate heat, drought and neglect; look beautiful, produce well and to top it all off, they smother weeds!

George
Tahlequah, OK

Good luck to you all yankees.
For the first time, this year, in Atlanta GA area , am trying to grow
cow peas. I have hearned that they ARE NOT peas but rather BEANS.
I have some planted with other beans(same timae). Cow peas and yardlong beans are the slowest,
even in the heat of GA.
Iwonder how they will do in cool northeast, zone 5.
But the cost to venture is no more than a few beans. lol

Actually they are in a group of their own. But in the south they are the true peas. The other things are called English peas. Totally different flavor, texture, and growth habits from Beans ( Phaseolus group). No southerner would ever confuse them with beans ( common, runner, or lima)

Professor Dilla has just done a succinct job of presenting Chapter One, Lesson One of Cowpeas 101. In the south, if you want to talk about them, you don't need to say cowpeas, southern peas or anything other than just "peas". And never, ever call them beans, even if you "know" that's what they are.

So far as growing them in the north, they have grown well for me for several years in a row. I'm in the northernmost point of Zone 7, but hardiness zones are only very indirectly related to the growing season. My summer growing season is much like most nothern areas in zones 5 or 6. I'm sure cowpeas will do well in those places. For some reason I don't understand, people in the north just don't know about cowpeas. They are a wonderful vegetable.

Jim

Jimster said: "For some reason I don't understand, people in the north just don't know about cowpeas. They are a wonderful vegetable."

Suggestion: some peas are sensitive to day-length and will not set flowers/crops until length of days suits their mojo, say 12-13 hours.

In the North, our days in late spring and summer are very long.

In my NY region, day-length is now 14h 52min.
on June 21 = 15h
on July 21 = 14h 43min;
August 21 = 13h 35min
on September 21 = 12h 13min.

To look up day length in your area, click "Sun Rise and Set."
http://www.almanac.com/sun

If I (unknowingly) planted a day-length sensitive variety, it would probably not set flowers until August-September, much too late for a good crop of peas to develop.

Unfortunately, seed companies seldomly flag day-length sensitive varieties.

Jimster, would you mind terribly to post the seed source of your Pink Eye Purple Hull peas?

Here is a link that might be useful: look up day length in your area

I got my original PPH seeds from Victory Seed Company. They are nice folks who grow much of the seed they sell.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Victory Seed Company

Jimster, do you ever trellis your cow peas, i.e., if space is tight on the ground?

Thanks for helping out another pea newbie....

ppod, in case you need another source, I got mine from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.

I will be sowing purple hulls soon, as soon as I can harvest the last of the cilantro seed, read oak leave lettuce seed, beets and carrots from one of my raised beds. The bed is only about 3 feet by 5 feet. This might be all the space I get for them :-(

According to Macmex comment, trellising them would be a good idea? Will this increase my yield? In the mean time I will look for another space after we get all the peppers on the ground.

The cowpeas I have grown weren't trellised and I did not find it necessary. I usually plant double rows of most vegetables and the cowpeas, lanky and sprawling as they were, seemed to support each other.

On the other hand, George seems to be saying that most, or all, cowpeas will grow much longer vines if given support. I can't dispute that. I haven't tried it. It would be interesting to see.

Jim

Thanks Cabrita and Jimster for your feedback. I have one row of purple hulls w/o trellis, but the comments above made me curious. I may plant another row and trellis them, for comparison.

I like the double-row concept, but it probably works better w/o trellis?

Penny Rile on a cattle panel arch. (Peppers in front, Carolina Red Lima to the right)

Can I plant black eye peas from the store? Thinking about find something that handles heat for a green manure on my new garden which is vacant until the fall.

Sure, I do it all the time. The commercial processor peas are better varieties than the old California # 5 carried by most seed vendors. Only drawback is that you never know what variety you are getting. I got some from Foodline that were purple hulls. Blackeyes not pinkeyes but with a red purple hull.

Just an update on my end. I did plant Crowder Peas & Purple Hulls. They sprouted and seem to be doing fine. We'll see how they do!

I am growing Mississippi purple hull on a trellis and they have been very productive!

Tomorrow I will be making the corn bread, and I already made the corn relish to go with the peas.:) Thank you for the recipes.

Silvia

What a beautiful mess of peas!!!!

Jim

That's it! I've only grown bush beans because I'm so limited on space in my garden, but after reading these posts, this TN gardener is going to try to grow black eyed peas next year. Cowpeas? Never heard of them.
Do they need an inoculant like beans or peas?
What variety would you recommend for a smaller garden?
BTW, thanks for link for daylength, it's also important for growing onions.