:: Peas & Beans ::

“Little Marvel” – “Wando” – “Zipper Cream” -  “Edamame Soybean”
- “Blackeye Cowpea” – ” Henderson’s Baby Lima” -
“Indian Woman Yellow” – “Scarlet Runner Bean”

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:: 1.24.10 ::

Someday Peas

Wando peas went in the ground today…soaked for about 1 hour, no inoculant since all the stores are out of it.  I’ll plant more later this week.

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:: 2.28.09 ::

Grrrrrr….

Well it has been two weeks and I have two one inch sprouts from the wando peas and that’s it. Nothing else has come up and I am starting to get discouraged.  I can’t decide if I should try to plant them again, or wait a bit longer, or just not plant anything this year.  Maybe it’s a sign that the garden needs a break.

The weather has been up and down. It got freezing cold right after I planted the peas but then it got warm, up to the 80’s!  Tonight it’s suppose to freeze again. I might not have watered them enough when it first got cold…so maybe they are late because they didn’t get enough moisture?  When this cold spell passes I will set out the rest of what I have.

Darn those peas they better come up!

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:: 2.13.09 ::

Back To Beans

I haven’t planted peas or beans in the last couple years, but this year I’m trying again, and planting more varieties.

I got the beds prepped this week and put the peas out yesterday. I pre-soaked the seeds for a few hours and then dusted them with inoculate powder before planting.  This is something I did not do in the past, so maybe it will help.

I still had some Wando seeds so I used those again plus some new ones… Edamame Soybeans and Henderson’s Lima Beans (scroll down to bottom of page to see photo and info on the varieties). The Edamame seeds are over a year old so I will be surprised if they germinate. But it never hurts to try. If they don’t come up, I’ll just fill in with more of the others for the second round.

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:: 4.05.06 ::

Updates

Last year the wando peas and the little marvel peas just quit growing after they got to be about three inches tall. I think they were not getting enough sun on the backside of the trellis. I probably didn’t water them enough either… not sure, but they definitely did not make it past the sprouting stage seen in the pictures from June of ‘05 (below).

The black-eyed peas did excellent by comparison. They got bushy and put out a pretty steady supply of beans. Some of the plants got leaf miners on them, and I pulled those out and threw them away. This cut down on the number of plants I had and beans that I got from what remained. Overall I plan to make some changes to how these are planted next time. Hopefully I learned how to do a better job!

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:: 6.03.05 ::

Super Sprouts

Wow! I planted the cow peas (left row, left image) and the zipper cream peas (right row, left image) and they exploded out of the ground in just a few days! They are already as tall as the English peas (right image) that were planted weeks ago…

California Blackeye Cowpea sprouts (left) and Wando English Pea sprouts (right)

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:: Posted 4.20.05 – Updated 5.27.05 & 2.13.09 ::

Varieties

Scarlet Emperor Runner Bean
(Matures 90-95 Days, Vines 6-10ft high)

FEATURES: Phaseolus coccineus – Grown mostly for the purple flowers which attract hummingbirds, but the beans are also edible. Pods are slightly fuzzy and get 6-8 inches long. For eating – Pick when pods are almost full size and firm, but before the beans get large….about 2 weeks after bloom. The beans must be small and just starting to form for them to be eaten with a savory sweet flavor. For replant- harvest when pods are brittle. Store seeds in a cool dry place. Will germinate in 6-14 days. Tolerates a cool partly shaded area..

Indian Woman Yellow Bush Shell Bean
(Matures 75 Days, Vines 20-24″ high)

FEATURES: Phaseolus vulgaris – Space about 4 seeds per foot.  sprouts in 6-14 days. Beans are 1/2 inch. This is a traditional and rare variety that matures early. Productive and good for areas with a short growing season. Excellent for soups. Keep soil moist For fresh eating pick when pods are t peak color. for dry beans allow them to dry on the stalk until brown.
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Edamame Soybean
(Matures 78 Days, Vines 2-3ft high)

FEATURES: Glycine max – Space about 2″ apart, sprouts in 7-10 days. Each pod will yeild 3-4 beans, best harvested when pods are plump but still green. Can be used shelled, dry or green. Cook like peas after shelling or boil whole fresh pods in salted water for 5 min. for shell-it-yourself snacks.
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Henderson’s Bush Baby Lima
(Matures 65 Days, Vines 15-17″ high)

FEATURES: Phaseolus lunatus – Buttery tender bean. Soak beans overnight before planting. They will germinate in about 6-8 days, space about 4″ apart. Pods are flat and approximately 3″ long. Very productive when picked often.

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Wando Peas
(Matures 68-70 Days, Vines 24″ high)

FEATURES: Pisum sativum – An excellent sweet fresh pea for hot, dry climates, Often called “the hot weather pea.” A prolific producer of 3 1/2″ to 4″ dark green pods that contain 7-9 dark green peas. Wando can be planted later in the season, after earlier, less heat tolerant vines have stopped producing. Grows double pods. Shows tolerance in extreme heat or cold.

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Little Marvel Peas
(Matures 62 Days, Vines 12-17″ high)

FEATURES: Pisum sativum – Early producing peas are dark green, plump, straight and tightly packed pods with 6-8 tender sweet juicy peas. A great home garden variety for fresh eating and good for freezing.

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California Blackeye Cowpea
(55-65 days, low bushy, 18-24″ tall)

FEATURES: Vigna unguiculata – The seeds are not crowded in the pods. They are white, with dark black eyes. It has green pods, about 8 inches long, easy to shell. Plant southern peas after the soil is warm (62 F or greater) in late spring or early summer. This vegetable is very tolerant to hot weather and can be planted throughout the summer with good results. For fall planting, plant about 65 to 75 days prior to the average frost date to be sure of production. Normally, a light fertilizer application is applied at or prior to planting. Southern peas fix nitrogen from the air, thus excess nitrogen fertilizer may encourage vine growth at the expense of production. If prolonged periods of dry weather occur, irrigation during flowering and pod fill will be very beneficial for maximum production. Generally, plant southern peas at a rate of 5-7 seeds per foot and 1′ deep.

Zipper Cream Peas
(66 days, low bushy plant)

FEATURES: Vigna unguiculata – Pale seeds, crowded in the pods. Zipper Cream is a large, easy shelling cream pea with high yields and a delicious flavor. Great fresh or processed. The pods are medium green with large white, creamy peas. The pod turns a straw color when dry. They give a clear colored broth. The name Zipper came from the ease of unzipping the pea pod to expose the seed. “Crowder” peas are seeds that grow right up against each other and grow so close together that they are actually crowd themselves within the pods.