1) I didn't care if they grew and don't know a thing about growing them.
2) I have never eaten one before and don't know how to prepare them.
3) They were a packet of seeds my son picked out and I thought it'd be fun to let him pick something completely random that we knew nothing about because they probably wouldn't grow anyway.
If I was looking forward to them, loved to eat them and had my heart set on them, they'd be a big fat failure. But of course, they are doing great.
They're doing so great in fact that they have snaked all around the fencing, on top of the leeks, overwhelmed the parsnips and have terrified the green beans. I don't know when the pods are ready to be picked, but I think they have to be around four inches to be good to go. My little pods are about one inch, so I have three inches of growth for my black thumb to kick in gear and decimate them.
An interesting fact about black eyed peas - if you try to research black eyed peas online you can find out a lot about the band, but not so much about the pea. Thanks to my research I now know more facts about Fergie and Will I Am than I care to know, but still don't know much about this big green plant that's overtaking my garden. I do, however, find myself wandering around the house singing... I like that boom boom pow..growin' my cowpeas now… and realizing how completely and totally uncool I've become.
Very cute. I can see ya walking around singing that tune. LOL
ReplyDeleteI don't know a thing about them either and have never eaten them, but your photo of the blossom is gorgeous! Let me know how your family likes them, they might be worth a try here, too!
ReplyDeleteThey are some pretty easy things to grow, and I bet they'll be good! All peas like to vine, even my cowpeas. You're gonna grow these to maturity, I just know it! Yay!
ReplyDeleteYou know the fact that they can overrun the parsnips etc is an excellent problem to have! That means you've got a TON of stuff growing in that garden. Yea, Kate!
ReplyDeleteI grew two kinds of cow peas this year, purple hull peas and brown crowder peas. I planted them within proximity, assuming it'd be a cinch to tell them apart. They both have purple hulls. Having no idea what to do with them or what they should look like they got away from me before I figured out when I should pick them and what to do with them and several dropped seed. I now have new sprouts sprinting to make more. I'm sick of them LOL.
ReplyDeleteI found that I needed to wait until the peas were big and the hulls were starting to dry out to pick them as peas, although this time around I think I'm going to try picking the young pods and sauteeing the whole shebang. Something about "self preservation" and "alien antennae pods taking over the yard" or some such.
I too have peppers, both bell and ancho. The purchased transplants are waist high and still churning them out (although to date the bell plants have yet to produce one that actually turned yellow), the grown from a supermarket green pepper plants range from mid-calf to thigh high and are slowly producing much larger, blockier, thicker green peppers.
Other things we still have going are beans, some tomatoes, basil, and our chard has been spared so it too is growing slowly along in it's barrel. We live in SC and I expect any day now to go outside and find everything frozen from a surprise frost, but for the moment we're enjoying fresh picked home grown veggies in December.
You have to have black eyed peas on New Years Day..have to!! They are easy to prepare....you are so much cooler than I am!!!!!
ReplyDeletelol. Now I have that song stuck in my head! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you. I just had a great laugh; your post was very funny to another tragically un-hip mom.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite BEP recipe is Hoppin' Juan:
Saute 1 lg onion diced until browned. Add ~ 4 c softened BEP, 1 chopped bell pepper and 1 c. corn. (I also add one FINELY chopped halapeno). Simmer until cooked through. Serve over brown rice. Top with sour cream, grated cheese, and finely chopped raw onions. Filling, cheap, loved by our whole family.
Rock on!