Yes, yard long beans are a type of cowpea. They are quite heat resistant and produce very well in hot climates. I generally grow a cattle panel of them to give us snaps when the regular beans shut down in late July.

I grow one called Georgia Long, which is quite similar to the most common yard long, having brick red seed. There are even varieties that don't need a trellis. Zeedman, who is often found on the Beans & Legumes forum, is the most knowledgeable person I know, when it comes to these beans. I'll include a link.

Be sure to start them fairly soon. I have started them late, as in the middle or end of June. They still produce. But the production is much less and seed production can be spotty.

George

Long Bean thread in Beans and Legumes forum

Awesome, exactly the info I was looking for. Those are some impressive beans Zeedman, that last picture looks just like string beans. I just happened to pick up a packet of pink eye purple hulled cowpeas thinking they were purple string beans. How would those be as a young pods?

I'll be using an earth box clone type of SWC and use a thick layer of wood mulch on top instead of the black plastic, I figure it keeps the soil cooler. I also surround the east\south side of the boxes w/ concerte border blocks, just a little more protection from the heat. I'll get some seeds in the ground this weekend and I guess we'll see how it goes! Again, this was exactly the info I was looking for so thanks for the excellent responses.

Not sure how Pink Eye Purple Hull would be as snaps. I've grown it for dry seed use (it was very productive, and had better flavor than store-bought black eyed peas) but I've never taste-tested the young pods. You would probably need to harvest the pods very young, before they begin to develop fiber.

Just a reminder. cowpeas/yardlongs has different flavor and texture than common beans when used as snaps. We old time southerners use the young cowpea pods as snaps. To us that means breaking young pods and adding them to a pot of green shellies. Purple hulls work fine for that purpose. None of us would like them as a pot of regular green beans.

Hey Farmerdill. So if I'm understanding you correctly, you're saying that I shouldn't expect cowpeas to be an exact replacement for string beans? Does that mean even as young pods, snaps, they should be cooked differently then snap beans? We usually boil our string beans with some onions and bacon or sauté them in some butter and soy sauce. Im just trying to clarify as Im reading the last part of your post as, you should prepare young pods with some mature peas because I might not like just the snaps. Literally never heard of a cowpea until 2 weeks ago, grew up in the NE, so I'm just trying to get myfacts straight. Thanks

Exactly. Yardlongs were developed for more fleshy pods than regular cowpeas, but taste and texture are the same. They are also called asparagus beans but they are not a direct substitute for asparagus either. Probably closer to asparagus than a common bean. They are good in many Oriental dishes, compared to the common bean they are easily overcooked. We like compeas ( creams ( black eye, purple hull, big boy etc) crowders, whites best when picked as green shellies with snaps, the small amount of snaps is basicly to add a bit more flavor. You can experiment with cooking them and look up some recipes for long beans. Properly prepared they are good, but no substitute for the regular green bean.