Fast Lady Northern Southern Pea and Lofthouse Landrace Cowpea

[William Schlegel]

This year I am growing cow peas for the first time. Just now blooming. I see one tiny pod. Growing a mix of Carol's and Joseph's. They look healthy I guess. Not sure if I've watered them enough. Watering them again now.

[reed]

I started growing cowpeas I think it was four years ago. Wonderfully productive in my climate and very drought and heat tolerant. Also, as of yet I've seen no disease or insect problems. I have Carol's first lady and a whole bunch of others but have not seen any evidence of crossing. The flowers are closed up tight and I haven't noticed a lot of interest in them by the bees. I hoped the bumblebees might rip and chew their way in like I see them do with common beans but so far, no go on that.

[William Schlegel]

I got plenty of cowpea seed back. Mostly light tan ones and speckly grey ones. I looked at pictures just now of Joseph's and Carol's. Honestly, I am not sure. Based on abundance alone I would think Carol's are amongst the light tan ones. Based on some photos maybe Carol's are some of the rare white ones. Though looks like Joseph's include both light tan ones and white ones. Also, it looks like I don't have the full diversity found in Josephs at times. That is one of the problems with seed packets and mixes- you end up with a sub sample. However, amongst this sub sample I have certainly gotten a good baggie of seed for next year or next time I grow it. I might let it skip a few years. Enough to trade but not enough to sell or eat. Hmm. Enough though to grow a patch large enough to have enough to sell or eat. So in some ways ideally enough to trade for a wider variety of cowpeas. Curious about the cross-pollination angle on them and if anyone has had more luck than Reed. I haven't resorted to manually cross pollinating anything but tomatoes yet.

[reed]

I'd say Carol's are nearly white, also smaller and a bit less spherical than most. They look a bit like a big fat grain of rice. I have lots of kinds and many of them looked a lot alike from the start. If a new one did show up it would have to be very, very different, or I wouldn't even notice. Pretty much all of them seem to be well adapted and nicely productive in my garden.

[William Schlegel]

Ok, I got maybe two pods of that back then.