We grew holstein peas for the first time last summer. Debbie at Bryson Farm Supply shared the seed with us. I was enamored with their color—they truly do bring to mind a holstein cow.
Over the winter we enjoyed eating a few messes of the peas and decided to plant more this year. The taste is very similar to black-eyed peas which I never liked as a child but really enjoy today.
A few days ago we picked all the holstein peas and cleaned out the bed. I decided to see if I could find out any information about the peas by searching online.
I first searched for black and white pea. I found a few peas that looked like the ones we grew and they were labeled as cow peas. Next I searched around for cow peas but found more peas that didn’t look like the holsteins than ones that did.
Finally I searched for what I should have searched for in the first place: holstein pea.
A lot of information came up with photos of peas that looked just like ours. Even better than that I found information that connected right back to Debbie.
Alabama Holstein Peas
The Story: I received these old-time fieldpeas aka “cowpeas” from the fine folks at Bryson Farm Supply in Sylva, NC. Every year owner Randy and Kevin would go down to Alabama to go deer hunting. Over the years they got to know a family down there that had been growing this particular fieldpea for over a hundred years. Kevin shared a few with me, and I’ve grown them out over the past two seasons. It’s just a stellar tasting fieldpea, and like other old-time fieldpeas it puts out ample runners. I planted mine at the base of a ten foot trellis and it climbed all the way to the top. If there’s a cowpea out there that is more cow-like, I’d like to see it! I sometimes refer to the seeds as cow-eggs.
Species: Vigna unguiculata
Growing Notes: This is a “Pole-Habit” variety, field peas do not twine in the same way that beans do. They’ll wrap themselves around a fence or string, but they won’t make the little ringlets that grasp our like beans. I often come along later with a horizontal string to support plants that begin to hang away from the trellis. Also, Field Peas aren’t very happy about wet feet, their wild ancestors in Africa evolved for an arid climate, so do not over-water them. For harder clay soil I like to plant two seeds per hole, about 6 inches or more apart. I also prefer hills, which lets the soil drain.
Seed-saving: Vigna unguiculata has a perfect flower, so it is self-fertile, however it’s best to separate it from other cowpeas or yardlong beans by 10-20 feet. Pull the pods as they turn tan, and let them finish drying completely in the pod before shelling them out.
It looks like the holstein pea seeds are sold out on SONGTOSEED, but a quick internet search will turn up a couple of other places that sell them if you’re interested.
Last night’s video: The Thread That Runs So True 20.
Tipper
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Sounds like they are a hearty little pea. And they are kind of pretty.
Really enjoyed last night’s video.