What Are The Best Southern Peas?

Recommended selections include ‘Calico’, ‘Colossus’, ‘Mississippi Silver’, and ‘Peking Black’. Two other types of Southern peas, purple hulls and cream peas, are quite popular. The pods of purple hulls turn purple at maturity.

What are the different types of Southern peas?

Cultivars

• Field: ‘Iron/Clay,’ various heirlooms.
• Crowder: ‘Carolina,’ ‘Colussus 80’
• Cream: ‘Zipper Cream,’ ‘Carolina Cream’
• Black-eye type: ‘Pinkeye Purple Hull,’ ‘Dixielee,’ ‘Santee Early Pinkeye ‘

What is considered a southern pea?

Southern peas are also called cowpeas, field peas, crowder peas, and black-eyed peas. By whatever name you call them, they’re an old favorite in the South and can be grown where both days and nights are warm for a period of 60-90 days.

Are cowpeas and field peas the same?

Field peas are cowpeas, so named because they were grown as a rotational crop in the fields instead of in kitchen gardens. Dozens of different types—what we now call heirloom selections—were grown in Southern communities that valued them for their flavor and ability to flourish in local conditions.

What is the difference between field peas and crowder peas?

Field peas are similar in flavor and texture to blackeye peas and are ideal for soul food dishes. The crowder pea variety gets its name from the way its peas crowd themselves in the pod. It has a rich, hearty flavor and creates a dark pot liquor when cooked.

Are pink eye and purple hull peas the same?

Southern Purple Hull Peas or Pink Eyes are a delicious variety of field peas. While they’re all similar, each adds its own unique quality.

What is the difference between field peas and garden peas?

Field pea is commonly grown as a cover crop, or, in more arid regions, for its smooth dried seeds used as food or feed crops. Garden pea is more commonly grown in New England for fresh market use. Garden peas contain higher sugar and lower starch contents than field peas and have wrinkled mature seeds.

Are field peas and purple hull peas the same?

Yes, these are all names for field peas, each name as unique as each pea is in its own way. Mississippi Silver, Colossus, Cow, Clemson Purple, Pinkeye Purple Hull, Texas Cream, Queen Anne, and Dixie Lee are all familiar southern pea names.

What to plant after Southern peas?

Beneficial succeeding crops are vegetables like carrot, beet roots, leeks and lettuce. Carrots or potatoes in a rotation with onion simply prevent the buildup of disease and insect pests. Southern peas play a major part in increasing the microbial activity in a rotation.

Are zipper peas and crowder peas the same?

Zippers are small and vary in color from pale yellow to light brown. They are prized for their mild flavor and creamy texture. These are easy to shell too—the string on the pod acts like a zipper, hence the name. Crowder peas, lady peas, and zipper peas.

What month do you plant peas?

About Peas
Peas are very easy to grow but their growing period is very limited. It’s important to plant them early enough in spring so they mature while the weather is still cool. (This means planting in February, March, or April in most parts of the United States and Canada.)

How far apart plant Southern peas?

Seed should be at least three inches apart in the row and the rows should be at least 30 inches apart. Planting more seed causes the plants to become viney and compete with each other for light, water, and nutrients without necessarily increasing potential yield.

How late can you plant cowpeas?

Cowpeas can be planted in most of the country from May to August. Later plantings can provide succulent growth to attract deer for an early bow shot. Cowpeas can tolerate a wide range of soil types but do best when planted in well-drained soils that are slightly acidic.

What’s another name for crowder pea?

Crowder peas, also called field peas or Southern peas, are related to black-eyed peas and are part of the family of cowpeas. They got their name because they are closely crowded together in their pods.

Are crowder peas and black-eyed peas the same thing?

Crowder peas are from the same family as black-eyed peas and cowpeas. They are legumes, which is a plant with pods which contain edible seeds. Crowder peas are not only excellent for eating, but they also enrich the soil with nutrients as they grow.

What is another name for field peas?

cowpeas
Field peas, also referred to as southern peas or cowpeas, are grown on over 25 million acres throughout the world. They are sold as a dry, shelled product and used for either human consumption or livestock food. Closely related to the garden pea, field peas are annual plants.

What’s another name for purple hull peas?

Vigna unguiculata subsp. Purplehull peas, also referred to as “Purple Hull” peas, are a very popular category of Southern peas.

How many times can you pick purple hull peas?

You can harvest your Purplehull Pinkeye peas whenever you like, depending on how you want to use them, but I agree with the standard advice to shell them once they are 50% purple. If you harvest them earlier than that, they’re impossible to shell but great as snaps.

Do purple hull peas cause gas?

Beans and some other legumes, such as peas and lentils, have a reputation for causing gas. Beans contain high amounts of a complex sugar called raffinose, which the body has trouble breaking down.

Are field peas good for diabetics?

Yes, peas contain carbohydrate, but they can still be part of a diabetes eating plan. The fiber and protein content of peas is thought to help slow digestion, which, in turn, can help smooth out blood sugar levels after eating. Peas also rank low on the glycemic index scale, with a glycemic index of 22.

Can you eat field peas raw?

The peas are edible at each stage. Snaps can be eaten raw, macerated in vinaigrette, or gently cooked, similar to haricots vert. Freshly shelled beans from mature pods should be cooked and can also be frozen for storage to good effect. Dried beans keep for months and rebound quickly when soaked.