On 2/23/2015 6:47 PM, Derald wrote:
George Shirley wrote:

Have you tried crowder or blackeyed peas? They generally like the heat
of mid to late summer and produce well. Crowder peas were my money crop
when was a kid. Planted three acres of them along old highway 90 in
Orange County, TX (Pre interstate highways). Pick your own for one
price, I would pick them for a higher price. Crowders and blackeyed peas
have been a staple in the south for a long time. I grow crowders along
the six-foot board fence in the backyard and hang string for them to
climb. There are also crowders that are bush type. Might be worth a shot.
Yes. I grow "california" blackeye or purplehull pinkeye AWA
"zipper cream" crowder cowpeas every year. I buy the blackeyes off the
rack locally, pretty much just grabbing whatever's there, and the
crowders from a OP seed exchange in Virginia. As with some other
legumes, the tendency to vine or to ramble is somewhat affected by plant
spacing. I see no evidence that removing the vines increases yield,
despite a lifetime of hearing rumors and sage advice. In fact, my
experience has been the opposite. I block plant in raised beds instead
of in uniform rows and trellis them, after a fashion, by providing
bamboo poles on which they may climb. Cowpeas seem to stand up to the
heat better than any other legume except peanuts and may be
succession-planted far later into the year than any other bean I've ever
tried in this locale. As a child of the south, I cannot imagine a diet
that does not include (hominy) grits, corn bread, collards, "peas" and
100% sugar cane syrup.

I block plant in raised beds for most peas and beans, the crowders get
planted along the back fence and have nylon cord to climb and do a good
job of it. I'm sort of burned out on crowders but wife found some brown
crowders at an old mercantile store in my home town of Orange, TX so
will plant some of those this spring.

I'm also a child of the south, SE Texas, with a momma from Oklahoma
Territory (1905 birth), and a Dad from Central Louisiana (1911 birth) so
we didn't eat a lot of collards or grits of any kind. Did eat hominy,
generally home made, Arkansas cornbread (without sugar), any kind of
peas or beans and also 100% cane syrup. Plus rice from the rice
warehouse I worked in as a kid, 100 lbs at a time, big bag sitting in
the kitchen corner with a two-cup dipper in it. Nowadays I only eat
brown rice, helps with the diabetes. My favorite dish is cornbread and
large lima beans cooked with sausage or a ham hock, that was our go to
food when Dad was on strike at the refinery and for my own family when
money was short. Still like them beans and cornbread as do most of our
get. I guess it's all about what you grow up eating. I tell my great
grandkids about taking a quarter to the old store/filling station two
miles down the highway and getting two candy bars, a cold drink, bag of
chips, and a pack of chewing gum for that quarter and they just look at
me. Probably thinking, "Crazy ol' coot, you can't get that much stuff
for a quarter." And, when I tell them the quarter was made of solid
silver they still don't believe me. They will eat lima beans over
cornbread though.