Purple hull peas are some of the very best table fare I've ever had the pleasure of eating.
An old Farmall tractor will help you raise a bumper crop – if you are tough enough to pick them.
Easy to grow and hard to pick, but man, they are so worth the effort.
If you haven't had purple thumbs after shelling a few bushel of purple hull peas you really haven't experienced life as we know it in South Arkansas.
Legend has it that purple hull peas, which is a variation of a cowpea, originated in South Africa and made their way to America during the slave-trade era of history.
Have you ever planted a row of peas? I have, and let me tell you they are by far one of the easiest things to grow. Just plant then a depth of 1 to 2 inches and hope that it doesn't come a downpour.
A heavy rain may keep them from coming up. So choose the day you plant accordingly. Purple hull peas need lose soil, folks. We grow our peas on sandy loam soil. Another great thing about peas? They don't need a lot of fertilizer, just put them in the ground and get ready for a backache.
That's one thing I can say about peas. They are labor intensive. Peas on average stand about 2-feet tall from the ground to the top of the plant. Depending on the variety the peas can be growing at the ground, at the top or anywhere in between.
A Farmall tractor is a good way to pull some dirt up around them to keep them reaching for the sky. My grandpa "Pop" always said, "Keep the grass down and pull dirt up around your plants to keep them going, son." Pop knew what he was talking about.
The Farmall tractor (in the featured picture) was made around 1949, and it's still plowing peas, corn and everything else we grow.
International Harvester branded equipment made the Farmall tractor. Started in 1902, International Harvester sold off all of its divisions in the 1980s except for International Trucks.
The Cub is still going.
Top pick peas
Purple hull peas are named after the color of their pods.
The University of Georgia cultivated a pink-eye purple hull pea in the 1980s that's easier to pick than traditional peas and resistant to the Blackeye Cowpea Mosaic that affects blackeye cowpeas and asparagus beans and is transmitted by plant-sucking insects, particularly aphids.
This pea is not genetically engineered instead it was developed through traditional plant breeding methods.
Purple hull peas goodness
Are purple hull peas good for you?
Yes!
For years until 2024, Emerson, Ark., hosted the Purple Hull Pea Festival and World Championship Rotary Tiller Race.
According to the festival's still public website, "Southern peas {the purple hull pea is a member of the southern pea family} are a good source of protein and one of the best sources of dietary fiber available. They are also very high in folate, a form of B vitamin that is important in the prevention of anemia, cancer and birth defects."
With the Golden Age of America on the horizon, people across the nation are returning to a lifestyle almost forgotten to time. Raising a garden is like therapy for the soul. Many Americans are turning their lawns into beautiful crop bearing gardens. You can too.
So pick out a spot to do it, break up some soil and try your hand at gardening. Remember plant your purple hull peas thick and pick them when they change colors, from green to purple.
