Help Pink Eye Purple Hull Peas

Hey Y'all!

This is my husband and my first year growing a "square foot" garden. We both grew up gardening the traditional row way, so we are a little confused about spacing. Have any of you had experience growing Pink Eye Purple Hull Peas? If so how many peas did you plant per 12 inch square?

Thanks in advance!

J

I first want to apologize for not seeing this post!!! How sad I missed it. I have not grown Pink Eye Purple Hull Peas myself. I will get some reading done tonight about them. I am getting ready to plant garden peas and they are 8 per square foot. Here is a link to a thread about field peas that might help you https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t10299-peas-vs-beans

Again I am so sorry for not seeing your note, I hope you are well and doing okay in your garden so far this year :-D
Ha-v-v

I've always grown purple hulls in rows too, we did put them in a raised bed last summer but without the mm. They did great, we spaced them about 1" apart and planted in topsoil only. I have them planted this year too and they are doing great, I did not use the mm though, I've always heard (from grandparents and uncles) that "if you fertalize peas you will raise vines...NOT peas"... So we just used the topsoil, vermiculite and a little peat and planted the bush variety (Texas pinkeye), 9 per sq ft.

Hope this helps!

Sounds like a crop to grow in a second year bed without replenishing the compost.

Kay

A second year bed might still be richer than you want. We've always planted peas in the sandiest, worst dirt there is in the garden. I had a bright idea one year to spray them with a little miracle grow.... they took over the whole garden!! They were huge and gorgeous, vines everywhere (even though they were bush peas).... we didn't even get a bushel of peas out of a half an acre. Needless to say, I don't fertalize peas anymore!

I did like adding the vermiculite and peat to the dirt though, it seem to lighten it up a little and keeps them from getting really muddy when we get rain.

This is an old link, but I am asking for some help.  How apropos.  
When are they ready to harvest? Here are 2 photos to help with the answer.  Thank you in advance.

I'm glad I could give you a trip down memory lane.

Yolos grows them and I thought she might reply.

OhioGardener wrote:I haven't seen those in years, since we lived in Georgia in a former life.  But, way back then, they were picked and cooked just before the pod turned completely purple, as in your first picture. Once the pod turned completely purple, the peas inside had started drying.  Boy, was that a long time ago....

I grow them most years.  This year I have a 4 x 8 with Pinkeye Purple Hull.  OG is correct.  Your bottom picture is just a little overmature if you are trying to get fresh peas (as opposed to dry peas).  Look at the attached video it is a very good description.   I grow Top Pick Pinkeye Purple Hull just like the dude in the following video because they do not vine and the pea pods are formed at the top of the plant and easy to harvest.  I am also growing a 4 x 8 bed of Lady cowpeas and White Acre cowpeas.

This is the best video ever showing when to pick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZuefnKOu9Y&ab_channel=webcajun

This is my 4 x 8 of PEPH peas planted this year.


This is a harvest of the PEPH peas a few years ago.  All different stages picked and used simultaneously.  Some are a little overripe and some are a little underripe but I harvest them whenever.


BEWARE - Chipmunks love to eat the peas just before they are ready to harvest.  I see the pods on the ground stripped of the actual peas inside the pods

Excellent video! Thank you.