My guess is that Black Crowder would do nicely for you. I haven't grown them now in about 10 years. But they had similar growth habits to Penny Rile, which I grew last year and plan on growing this year. I believe Black Crowder will grow like a half runner, twining if given a chance. But it doesn't have to have support.

George

Thanks for the info, George. :) Penny Rile was another I was considering after reading your post about them.

Last year was my first attempt to garden through the summer. Boy was that ever a learning experience. At the end of it, I resolved in the future to grow only heat-loving things like cowpeas, okra, and sweet potatoes through the worst of the summer.

Mississippi Silver Crowder also a good one - great taste and easy to pick on a compact bush.

Fliptx, I grew a cowpea last year that had a true compact bush habit, erect, with no runners. It was "MN 157", a purple-podded pea with brown & tan seeds. There were 10-16 peas per pod, fairly large, and they ripened exceptionally early.

If you are interested, email me through my member page & I'll get them out to you.

"Mississippi Silver Crowder also a good one "

Thanks! You know, before I came to GW I never realized how many different cowpeas there are.

And Zeedman, thanks for the offer. Those sound like just the thing I'm looking for. A mail is on its way to you.

Live and learn. I had assumed Black Crowder was a vining type; it was one of the parents of Rouge et Noir, and that one climbs like there's no tomorrow.

The original Whippoorwill is a bush type, with short runners. Doesn't need any support. I don't know about the other Whippoorwills (theres an improved, a white, and a purple hull that I know of). Far as I know, I'm the only source of the original; my line dates back at least to 1820.

California #5 Black Eyed Pea is a pure bush type. Best bet is to just buy a bag of black eyed peas at the supermarket. That's what's in them.

Texas Cream 40 is a bush variety. You should be able to find it locally.

There are at least 240 known cowpeas and crowders. So there are plenty of choices to go around.

I planted Zeedman's MN 157 peas on April 21 and am now getting flowers. Yay!

I am happy with planting Stickless Wonder.No runners at all.

fliptx...If you have good luck will you save a few seed to share? I am always looking for new peas...

Looks like it's my week to update old posts!

As I mentioned above, I planted the MN157 on April 21. I harvested fresh peas 58 days later. (I should have harvested a couple days sooner, as some of the peas were starting to get past fresh-shell stage.) Dried seed for saving came a little after that.

I forgot some pods on the plants, they opened and reseeded. Those plants grew, I harvested some more fresh peas, forgot a few pods, and they reseeded again. I now have third generation plants about to start flowering. They'd probably be flowering by now if the garden had more sun this time of year. When Zeedman sent me the seeds, he said I might be able to get two plantings in my climate so I'm pleased.

Ruthie--I saved you some seed. Drop me a line if you still want them.

Flip,

I'd sure like to try them if you have enough to spare. I have some clemson okra or red ripper peas to trade you with.

FlipTx, since MN157 was bred for the North, I wasn't sure it could take your hot summers. Glad to hear that it did well for you, apparently even better than I expected. What did you think of the flavor? Did it develop any runners?

Zeedman-- Some of the first planting made short runners and the "volunteers" after that were runnerless. The foliage was a very dark almost blue-tinted green. Very attractive and healthy-looking.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well they did in our heat and rain, especially the heat.

As to the flavor--I'll have to let you know in January. Since the garden is small and I wasn't able to plant many seeds, I obsessively hoarded every mature pea to blanch and freeze, with plans to cook them instead of traditional black-eye peas for New Year's dinner.

I took a pic this morning of one of the third generation plants:

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Plants from the original sowing and first volunteer generation were bigger and had more flowers. With the waning sun, especially in this part of the garden, everything is a bit more sluggish.

Is that as big as the MN157 plant gets? I've never seen a pea plant that small with blooms on it.

gardenlad, do you have a picture of your original Whippoorwill pea? I would really like to see it.
As my user name implies, I'm really interested in the old pea/heirloom varieties.

"Is that as big as the MN157 plant gets?"

As I mention in the post, the plants from the original planting were bigger. I think this one (a volunteer plant and the "great-grandchild" of the first planting) is just small from lack of sunlight.

The first planting and first volunteers after that produced plants about 14 inches tall and wide. The one above is more like 8"X8".

"Is that as big as the MN157 plant gets?"

MN157 gets slightly larger than most bush beans, and for me, had a true bush habit. As FlipTx stated, the leaves are a very deep green & attractive. The pods are dark purple, and 7-8" long, with 10-16 peas per pod. It doesn't get the highest yield per plant... but because you can space the rows more closely & get multiple plantings, the total yield per area is quite large.

Considering that the plant in the photo is the 3rd generation in one year, I find it remarkable that it even survives, much less blooms.

I got so excited with that picture that I missed the paragragh under it. Pardon me.
Yes, a third generation plant with blooms, in one year ,is amazing.

I ate my MN 157 peas yesterday (and today)!

Zeedman, to answer your question about flavor, I liked it quite a bit. The peas were mild-tasting, but certainly not flavorless, nutty and firm but smooth in texture.

I think they're a good pea for someone who thinks they don't like black-eyed peas (like me) because they're sort of reminiscent of P. vulgaris beans in flavor. It's a good "gateway" pea.

I saved some seeds so I'll be planting more of them next spring. Since I won't be planting sweet potatoes this time, I'll have more room for the peas and can grow more.

As a dedicated seed saver, it's always good to hear when something does well for others; "MN157" is more likely to survive if people grow it because they _enjoy_ it. Quite honestly, it has proven to be more adaptable than I expected... from Minnesota to Texas is quite a range in climate. FlipTx, I hope it continues to do well for you, and that it is widely shared.

So are you ready to try another one? ;-)

This variety is from the Philippines. "Sitao" is the Filipino word for yardlong beans. It was bred for its immature pods, which are 8" long, and borne 2-4 at a time. They are very crunchy & sweet, and taste like some of the longer pole varieties. The vines produce a few short runners, but are for the most part a sprawling 3-foot-wide bush. If kept picked, they will yield heavily. But unlike pole yardlongs, if they are _not_ picked, they will produce a decent crop of fairly good dry peas.

I think that this is also a "gateway" variety, because of its dual use as both an edible pod, and a dried pea.

I'd love to try the Sitao. I'm always looking for something I can keep growing in the garden during the summer.

And yes, the MN 157 really does seem to be adaptable. I was expecting it to do well with my April planting, but I didn't expect it to keep reseeding and producing healthy plants for two subsequent generations. The high heat and humidity didn't seem to faze them at all. The only thing that stunted the third generation was the lack of sunlight.

I've already started sharing the MN 157 with others, who'll be planting it this spring. One person is in Kansas and another is in... I forget where. These Minnesota babies ought to be well-travelled!

Fliptx
At LOWES here in the PNW I saw Cowpeas and thought of your Post. I will check Tomorrow to see if the're the Bush type. If so I'll be happy to get you some if you haven't found any.

Jim

Heya Jim,
Thanks so much for thinking of my cowpea post. I think I've found my ideal cowpea in "MN 157", although I might plant a few Zipper Cream peas I just realized I had in my stash.

Do you grow any cowpeas or yardlong beans?

Flip
Yardlong beans?
No but I will be growing yardlong cucumbers called Uminami. I"ll have a few extra seeds if interested. You can check them out at Full Circle Seeds (fullcircleseeds.com).

The only beans I grow is the Wang Kong.

Jim

Zeedman-
I was organizing my stash this morning and I noticed that my "MN 157" seeds (saved from my plants last summer) are about half the size of yours. I'll grow them side by side next spring, but I thought it was interesting.

Are you guys talking about black-eyed peas? I thought that black-eyed peas was the more common name for cowpeas. If indeed they are one and the same, the only varity I can find is the California Black eyed pea.

Frank, black-eyed peas are just one type of cowpea, or as they are also called, Southern peas. There are many others, with not only different colors, but different textures & flavors. Unfortunately, the black-eyed almost completely dominates both commercially & in the seed trade, at least outside the South.

Some are pole varieties, some are sprawling with short runners, and a few are true bush. There are many different seed colors; black, white, brown, tan, red, gray among them... with some that are bi-colored, or speckled. There is some variation in size, although not as much as in common beans - but many are larger than the black-eyed. There are also sub-types, such as crowders & cream peas.

In the South, "peas" are often eaten in the green shell stage... in the North, that is almost unknown, to our great loss. Black-eyes are not the best for that purpose IMO, several good ones have already been discussed above.

In the Seed Savers Exchange's annual Yearbook, members list over 6 pages of cowpeas. The USDA carries over 8000 in their collection! Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds carries probably the best selection of cowpeas available commercially, you can read about them (and see a few photos) here.

My one remaining MN 157 plant from my spring sowing is doing something weird. In a matter of a few days, it's grown a runner that's over three feet long. It was compact and bushy all spring and summer, and now suddenly it's wandering into a neighboring bed.

Oddly enough, my MN 157 plants did something similar this year. Each plant grew one runner 2-3 feet long. There were also a lot of unfilled pods initially, but the later pods were normal. Still got a really good harvest, about 4-5 pounds of dry seed.

Since I am growing both MN 157 and Bush Sitao Var. BS-3 again this year, I thought I would revisit this thread.

So far, every year I've grown MN 157, it has performed a little differently... but always done well. With all of the extra heat, cowpeas have been growing rapidly. Like most of my beans this year, MN 157 started out looking stunted; but they recovered as soon as I applied mulch & immediately went into bloom. It was planted 6/1, and I harvested the majority of the dry pods by 8/3. That's just over 60 days, dry seed to dry seed! Probably not a performance I can expect every year, but remarkable nonetheless. Still plenty of time left in the season, so I am fertilizing them now, hoping to stimulate a second flush.

The name of the "Bush Sitao" is somewhat deceptive. It is 'bush' only in comparison to pole yardlongs, which it resembles in pod quality. It is described in more detail above. The plants are loaded now, I'll try to post a new photo of this year's crop.

zeedman, The bush sitao that you planted is that the same as paayap?This paayap is very popular in the Philippines.I grow them here in NY.

"zeedman, The bush sitao that you planted is that the same as paayap?"

I do not believe the "Bush Sitao" I grow is the same as "Paayap", although it is possible. I grow another Filipino cowpea with that name, "CES-18-6 (Paayap)", and they are very different.

The original source of my "Bush Sitao Var. BS-3" was the Bureau of Plant Industry, Philippines, via SSE. The seed is bi-colored cream & tan, and kidney shaped. The pods are light green, and in taste & texture are nearly identical to some of the yardlongs I grow. I just ate some today, mixed with two yardlongs that also came from the Philippines.

The "CES-18-6 (Paayap)" came from the Institute of Breeding, University of Los Banos, Philippines (again via SSE). It has buff to light tan seeds that resemble black eyed peas in size & shape. I do not recall testing the green pods for flavor, so I can't testify to its suitability for that purpose. They are not growing this year, but I plan to test the pods when I grow them again in 2013.

Both have moderately running vines, which have proven to be longer in hot years (like this one). The Bush Sitao has some runners this year that are 4-5 feet long, but it does not need support.

Jamesandfely, do either of the descriptions above match your Paayap?

The description you described for CES-18-6 (paayap) is what I got .