Purple Hull Peas

[Ozark Tracker]

I planted about 2 acres of purple hull peas this year for a deer plot, by now the deer usually have them pretty well eaten up.  But this year there is an overload of acorns in these Ozark mountains, so now I have purple hull peas coming out my ears. I guess them deer pefer them acorns.

Besides just cooking them with a hunk of pork meat how else can these be fixed.

and also can these be frozen or do they need to be canned?

thanks for any input   

[Delmonico]

Are these like a sweet pea or they more like a blackeyed pea or such?

[Ozark Tracker]

The are the black eyed pea variety,  I'm hoping they have the chance to mature and dry in the hull to the point I can store some that way,
The weather has been so warm they may.    Not too wet

[Camille Eonich]

I love purple hull peas!  I have not had them anyway except with cooked with a hunk of country ham but you could use them in bean relishes, pea soups etc.


I get mine frozen but you could can them too.  Freezing would probably be easier.

[Camille Eonich]

Cornbread Salad with Purple Hull Peas

Winner 2003 "Best Original Recipe"
by Christine Snider of Springhill, LA
1 pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
1 cup mayonnaise (not salad dressing)
2 tomatoes, peeled, chopped & drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can or 2 cups fresh cooked or canned
  purple hull peas, drained 
1 can whole kernal corn, drained
10 slices bacon, chopped, after cooking crisp
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped, red or yellow bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 pkg. cornbread mix, cooked, cooled and
  crumbled

Mix all ingredients, refrigerate overnight

Above recipe from the Emerson, Arkansas
PurpleHull Pea Festival & World Championship
Rotary Tiller Race Web site:
www.purplehull.com

[Camille Eonich]

Try this link...all kinds of recipes

http://www.purplehull.com/recipes.htm

[Delmonico]

Ok, I know now what you have, I think it is what I know as a crowder pea.  Grandpa used to grow them.  If they don't mature to the point they cand be dried they won't taste worth a poop anyway, they will have a green taste similar to grass.  

When the vines die down or the pods start to split just pick them, hull them and dry them welll and store them like dry beans.

The canned and frozen you buy in the store have been dried and then re-soaked and cooked like a dry bean.  I do make large pots of dry beans/peas and can them from time to time.  

If you do they need to be pressure canned and my county ext. service told me to use the same times an pressures as canned meat.  If you want, let me know and I'll look these up for you.

[Camille Eonich]

I think that purple hulls and crowders, although very very similar are still two different peas.  I know that I can buy both from the store and one reads crowder peas and one reads purple hull.  If they aren't the same pea there isn't enough difference in them that using one or the other would change the flavor of a recipe.   

[Camille Eonich]

Yeah....here we go.  They actually are different peas.

http://www.cooperseeds.com/vegetables.php3?cat=Peas

[Delmonico]

Ok I did some research and I see they have done a lot of hybridizin' on them, the ones Grandpa used to grow were the older unhybridized type that he saved the seed on, the hull had a faint purple to it, not uncommon in the legume family.

The crowder, blackeye, white-eyed, purple pod and other's that are similar are often called cowpeas
and are all variantes of Vigna unguiculata, I did not realize some varieties are eatable green.

Up here we only see them as dry peas and the ones grandpa grew were nasty green, cause I tried them.

What are often called English peas or sweet peas are variants of Pisum sativum.

[Joyce (AnnieLee)]

Ozark, Forty Rod's been looking for a source of black-eyed peas. You could ship yours to him!



AnnieLee

[Ozark Tracker]

I'll tell you what,  them peas have gone wild,  I plant them every year for the deer and usually I get a mess before the deer have them eaten.  but this year the acorns are thick as hair on a dogs back, so I get to get a few more meals of the peas.

I've got 5 food plots on my place for the deer and it looks like they may let some of the turnips mature too,  so I guess I'll be eating them a little later.

[Delmonico]

PM me dry peas and turnips.