# Purple Hull Peas.



## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

I've seen these peas raved about on various youtube channels and I was wondering if any of the membership as grown, dried and cooked this pea.

Seems the Southern folk are mad about them.:2thumb:


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## SouthCentralUS (Nov 11, 2012)

Tank_Girl said:


> I've seen these peas raved about on various youtube channels and I was wondering if any of the membership as grown, dried and cooked this pea.
> 
> Seems the Southern folk are mad about them.:2thumb:


YES we are!!! Never grew them, just ate them.


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

So far I have found 1 small, old fashioned mail order seed business that sells the seed here in Australia......All the way on the other side of the country in Western Australia!!

It's just about as far as you can get from me while still staying in Australia!!
Oh well, thank goodness they mail seeds to my state.


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## rawhide2971 (Apr 19, 2013)

Yes to all 3 questions. Pretty much a staple around these parts.


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

I was wondering if you would be kind enough to give me some tips about growing them.

They look stunning when they're freshly shelled.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Eat them & grow them, I try to get out of shelling them anytime I can. . Honestly, we just plant them & they produce. They don't seem to be too particular or fragile. They are sure tasty!


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

We freeze them or can them, we've never dried them. I've never seen them dried & I couldn't take the chance of wasting any.


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## debbluu (Dec 16, 2012)

We pick at a U pick farm. Shell and then can or freeze. I've never had them dried either.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Tank_Girl said:


> I was wondering if you would be kind enough to give me some tips about growing them.
> 
> They look stunning when they're freshly shelled.


TG, here in Texas, they grow just about anywhere. I have them in the poorest soil in my garden and they do just fine and will produce with minimal water. The grasshoppers and other pests seem to go after other garden plants first, when they do invade the pea patch they go after the peas themselves and dont attack the plants too much until most other greenery is gone. Plant them as early as possible in full sun(water only when necessary) and you will have peas until fall.

They build the soil so you can rotate other plants into the area they grew in and get a crop where you may not have been able to before.

I prefer the younger peas prepared as "snaps(like green beans), with a few mature fresh peas mixed in. You can "snap" them until they get too stringy then let them grow a little longer and shell them for peas. If you let the pods mature on the vine, you wont have to dry them, just crumble the shell off them and store them to eat or plant next year. Here they will produce pretty much until the frost kills them off in the fall so they are a good choice as a summer long producer.

Most people around here, if they have nothing else in their garden they will have tomatoes, squash, okra and "Black-Eye-Peas(Purple Hulls)".


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

I grow them every year. As others have said, they will grow in just about any soil and when they start producing it seems like you can't pick them fast enough. I pick them and she'll them to freeze. Some I leave on the plant until they dry themselves and that's what I use for seed the next year. They are pretty much a staple in every garden around here. I personally love them.


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## unlessitwillhelp (Aug 5, 2013)

8thDayStranger said:


> I grow them every year. As others have said, they will grow in just about any soil and when they start producing it seems like you can't pick them fast enough. I pick them and she'll them to freeze. Some I leave on the plant until they dry themselves and that's what I use for seed the next year. They are pretty much a staple in every garden around here. I personally love them.


I agree! Yeah soyummy


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

I just removed mine from the freezer and dehydrated them and sealed in a mason jar.
1) trying to clear out second freezer; going to one 
2) smaller space needed and last lots longer than frozen
3) power failure won't bother dehydrated peas


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

I just ordered 4 packets of purple hull peas from the only place in Australia that sells them!
All the way over in Western Australia!
They said they sourced their seed over 20 years ago from America.
Goes to show that seed saving really pays off.

I forgot to ask if they are a "Top Pick" variety.
I watched a Youtube video posted by an absolutely charming southern lady called "I'm still working" about purple hulled peas and hers are the variety I wanted.
Still I'm grateful for small mercies I was able to find them at all regardless of how or where they set their pods.

I'm going to have to buy myself a "Mr Sheller" off ebay to shell all my yummy peas.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Tank_Girl said:


> I watched a Youtube video posted by an absolutely charming southern lady called "I'm still working" about purple hulled peas and hers are the variety I wanted.


Small world, I just found her on YouTube the other day myself, elderberries I believe. Guess I'll have to check out her purple pea video.


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

*sigh*

My seeds turned up and, well, let's just say they aren't exactly what I expected.

They're dark beige/fawn/light brown color and they are small.
About double the size of a match head.

At this point I'm disappointed and I've thrown my hands up, and bit the bullet and shot an e-mail to Baker's Creek seeds in the US as I know they have an export license and they have the "Top Pick" variety that I'm after.
It remains to be seen if they are able to do enough to appease our strict bio-security laws and regulations.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Hey TG, dont write off the seeds you bought from Australia, plant them and see what you get. If you dont like them or if they are too small you can always cook them up like "Snap Beans", they are really good that way!


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

Davarm said:


> Hey TG, dont write off the seeds you bought from Australia, plant them and see what you get. If you dont like them or if they are too small you can always cook them up like "Snap Beans", they are really good that way!


Thank you so much Davarm!

That cheered me up so much.

*HUGS*


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

Yeah sometimes when they dry they get small. You can soak them in water overnight before you plant them and they usually swell quite a bit. They will sprout faster if you soak them too.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

I have grown, shelled,cooked & saved seed southern,( field, cream,clay,cow) peas for over 40 years.
I love black eye peas, Purple hull, lady fingers, red rippers & clay peas.
The are eaten in Asia,Middle East, UK all over North America.
In Pakistan the street venders boil them & sale them to children who are on the way home from school.
The SV take a sheet of paper & turn it like a ice cream cone, then fill it with boiled peas & sprinkle spices on it.
In Asia they are picked young peas for stir fry(yard beans are a running southern pea).
In africa the young beans & pea leaves are eaten like fresh green in the USA.
I just vacationed in Nicaragua, Central America, they seemed to like red beans & rice for all three meals.
I was only there for seven days, but saw no southern peas.
Check & see if you can receive seeds from the USA.
I sent seeds to Pakistan(with a people from UK & other parts of the USA) after the big flood washed the villager seed supply away.
If they will let you have the seeds, then I can send you some different kinds from here if you like.
MY wife makes hummus out of Black eye peas.
I like them best boiled with garlic & onions chopped on them.


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