How to eat cowpeas

[MuddyToes]

Originally Posted by PhilaGardener

21 Peas went right up a short trellis for me and were quite good as shellies!

Good to know. I will give them a trellis. If they get too unruly, I will pull them up.

[BigVanVader]

Originally Posted by TC_Manhattan

BVV, you're right. Unless you can grow them by the acre, I didn't think they were worth the space. I buy mine from Camellia Brand, from Louisiana. They offer free shipping with a $25 order. I love their Lady Cream peas and Crowders!

Here's a link: http://www.camelliabrand.com/product...-peas-lentils/

Thanks, Crowder's and BE peas are still my favs. Speckled butter beans are good to. I eat a lot of beans from my market, Take em home and like you eat with cornbread, tomtoes, and maybe fried taters. For me it doesn't get much better.

[Worth1]

Is it just me or has the price of these things skyrocketed.
Over 3 dollars for a pound for crowder peas is unheard of.
Even at the store I cant find them dried and the beams I do see are expensive.
To me they are a source of protein and that is it.
When that protein is more expensive than pork something is wrong big time.
What once was a food of the poor has became a food of the rich.
Yes you can grow cow peas of all kinds but you have to row crop and work at it.
Not something for the small back yard garden for people that have to work all day at another job.
It is one heck of a lot of work.
We used to sit on the porch every day messing with beans and peas shelling them in the summer.
Then there was the canning and so on.
My cousins grow some sort of cow pea every year.
About 50 to 100 acres and they use a combine.

[dustdevil]

Cowpeas are good in tuna noodle caserole. They are a bit coarser than a regular sweet pea. Be sure to line them up on your butter knife if you eat them by themselves

[Worth1]

I stopped eating tuna due to ethical, environmental and health reasons.
Even I have my limitations.

Worth

[MuddyToes]

Grocery store prices are the reason I started gardening 2 years ago. And yes, Worth, I am appalled at the price of fresh produce, including legumes, at the store. I can get dried pintos and black beans pretty inexpensively because we have a substantial Hispanic population that the local supermarkets cater to. But I like fresh produce during the warmer months and farm stand prices are crazy expensive here. I saw a small package of fresh unshelled Lima beans at the farm stand last summer tagged at a few dollars. Once shelled, it would barely have been a portion for one person. The cowpeas might be more trouble than they are worth, but I'm experimenting with all kinds of crops. I have found a couple things that are very happy here and I want to see what else I can do. At the moment, I am a stay-at-home mom, gardening to supplement my dh's income with food on the table. So I have the time. I wouldn't bother or have the time/energy if I was at work all day. I am amazed at the people on this board that do both. But then again, everyone's situation is different.

[Deborah]

Muddy, that's my dream-a stay-home Mom with a garden!

[MuddyToes]

Thanks for reminding me how blessed I am, Deborah!

[BigVanVader]

Yeah I don't want to discourage anyone. I know a couple in their 70s and they grow a huge garden every year including several types of beans. All comes down to preference and free time.

[TC_Manhattan]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Yes you can grow cow peas of all kinds but you have to row crop and work at it.
Not something for the small back yard garden for people that have to work all day at another job.
It is one heck of a lot of work.

This is why they're $3/lb.
Folks don't buy these for sustenance. They couldn't afford to do so.
We buy these as a novelty, for a once-in-a while treat.

BTW, Dixie speckled butter pea limas and Jackson Wonders are worth growing. I can get a decent yield from a small garden bed and they are really tasty, too.

[JohnJones]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Is it just me or has the price of these things skyrocketed.
Over 3 dollars for a pound for crowder peas is unheard of.
Even at the store I cant find them dried and the beams I do see are expensive.
To me they are a source of protein and that is it.
When that protein is more expensive than pork something is wrong big time.
What once was a food of the poor has became a food of the rich.
Yes you can grow cow peas of all kinds but you have to row crop and work at it.
Not something for the small back yard garden for people that have to work all day at another job.
It is one heck of a lot of work.
We used to sit on the porch every day messing with beans and peas shelling them in the summer.
Then there was the canning and so on.
My cousins grow some sort of cow pea every year.
About 50 to 100 acres and they use a combine.

Camellia gets a premium price on their products because folks associate them with quality. I catch sales on Kroger brand dried beans for around $1 a lb pretty often and they have a large number of canned beans you can get for 50 cents a can from time to time. Cowpeas are not so common though.

[whistech]

I grow cow peas every year in a 4' X 24' raised bed. I plant rows 6 to 8 inches apart and space the peas 4 inches apart in the row. Using this method, I usually pick a 5 gallon bucket of peas and maybe up to 7 gallons about every 2 weeks. I usually get 3 pickings per planting. I am going to try to post some pictures of growing them last year in another post.

[TC_Manhattan]

Originally Posted by whistech

I grow cow peas every year in a 4' X 24' raised bed. I plant rows 6 to 8 inches apart and space the peas 4 inches apart in the row. Using this method, I usually pick a 5 gallon bucket of peas and maybe up to 7 gallons about every 2 weeks. I usually get 3 pickings per planting. I am going to try to post some pictures of growing them last year in another post.

That sounds do-able!
Do you find better yields with different varieties?
Which varieties do you grow to get that much?

[AlittleSalt]

When I see this thread, my first thought is, "How to eat cowpeas" - "With a spoon."

[Worth1]

Other than the occasional thrashing I guess I was blessed growing up.
We ate like kings.
Giant tow sacks of pecans and peanuts.
Fruit and vegetables of all kinds.
Home grown meat of every kind wild fish and game.
Many years later it still baffles me at the prices in the store.

Worth