Putting Up Peas

[Fodderwing]

Peas on the cooker.

 

[stephenPE]

End of June, peas (and butter beans) are coming in. Time to put up some for the months ahead. This year we are putting up three hampers of Top Pick (white peas), one hamper of Pink Eyes (black eyes), and one hamper of white butter beans. Don’t grow them anymore, so we buy from a local produce outfit. Nice and clean, not old, not buggy.

Step 1 is to rinse and pick out any stems or bad peas…
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Step 2 is to bring to a boil, blanching the peas, and scooping off the scum that rises…
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Step 3 rinse with cold water and spread out for a final going through and to finish cooling…
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Step 4 is to bag them up (we do 2 cups per) and then into the freezer…
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We get about 10 bags to the hamper. Glad to have them, especially good round the holidays, but any meal is good!

That was our house, sink and bags yesterday. She bought a bushel (shelled ) and did the same process you did. What you call white Ive always called field peas. My first MIL damn near cooked them for every Sunday meal. She must have put up dozens of qt bags. Her husband would grow about 2 rows in the feed corn so that had TONS of it. THANK GOD the finally bought a sheller. We now have 10 qt bags in our freezer today.

 

[stephenPE]

Have you ever tried freezer strawberry jam? It's a no cook jam , taste really fresh.

The first time I tried that (in the late 70s in North Carolina) I was amazed. I wondered where it had been all my life.......

 

[grengadgy]

The first time I tried that (in the late 70s in North Carolina) I was amazed. I wondered where it had been all my life.......

Me too. Have you tried freezer peach jam? It might be even better than freezer strawberry jam.

 

[MidwestChomp]

Ya'll need to try the Red Ripper Cowpeas or Field Pea or whatever you call them.

 

[soflagator]

That was our house, sink and bags yesterday. She bought a bushel (shelled ) and did the same process you did. What you call white Ive always called field peas. My first MIL damn near cooked them for every Sunday meal. She must have put up dozens of qt bags. Her husband would grow about 2 rows in the feed corn so that had TONS of it. THANK GOD the finally bought a sheller. We now have 10 qt bags in our freezer today.

I had those also growing up. I can remember my mother calling them field peas. Not a fan of most peas outside of English, but I liked those.

 

[CDGator]

Finally had to stop playing around and get back home to @Seedy and the garden. He can water and till the soil well but when it comes to harvesting, that’s my area. One time I asked him to go pick some okra and he asked if he needed a shovel.

This was my bounty this morning. Looks like I’ll be canning beans next week.

 

[cover2]

The missus and I went to the produce shed a week or so ago and they had just picked peas. Although we’d already put up 3 hampers of peas, they had 3 buckets of Cream 8’s, that I haven’t seen lately, so I bought them. Only catch was they weren’t shelled and weren’t going to be. So, I went back in time and shelled them. Although the wife told me she didn’t sign up for this, she did shell a couple of pans and helped put them up. They were about the cleanest peas I’ve seen and we got 11 packages.

Looking forward to a pot with a few pods of okra added. I’ll be thinking about you @Gator By Marriage and wish we were all close enough to share. Also have gotten plenty of tomatoes this season and have put up 7 quarts (bring to a boil until the skin splits, remove the skin, chop up, bag, and freeze). Also did a making of Aunt Snook’s Chilli Sauce (a condiment used with peas, butter beans, and other vegetables. Grind ~2 doz tomatoes, 5 jalapeños, sugar, brown sugar, vinegar, S&P, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg then bring to a boil and simmer 2-3 hours before jarring and sealing. Especially good with dark peas and butter beans. Sweet, hot tomato-y good and can really perk up the peas or beans!

 

[Fodderwing]

Although we’d already put up 3 hampers of peas, they had 3 buckets of Cream 8’s, t Also did a making of Aunt Snook’s Chilli Sauce (a condiment used with peas, butter beans, and other vegetables. Grind ~2 doz tomatoes, 5 jalapeños, sugar, brown sugar, vinegar, S&P, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg then bring to a boil and simmer 2-3 hours before jarring and sealing. Especially good with dark peas and butter beans. Sweet, hot tomato-y good and can really perk up the peas or beans!

Folks in north LA call that chow chow, it is pretty good.

 

[CDGator]

Waiting on the jalapeños to come on so we can make poppers. Found a great recipe last year and hope to find it again.

 

[Seedy]

Waiting on the jalapeños to come on so we can make poppers. Found a great recipe last year and hope to find it again.

Does involve the use of a propane torch and bacon?

 

[CDGator]

Does involve the use of a propane torch and bacon?

And beer…

 

[cover2]

No pics @CDGator and @Gator By Marriage , but we had a pot of those Cream 8’s we put up and they were as good as I recalled! Recall that we bought those 2 buckets late in the season and had to shell them ourselves, but it was well worth it! Hope I can find them again next year.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

No pics @CDGator and @Gator By Marriage , but we had a pot of those Cream 8’s we put up and they were as good as I recalled! Recall that we bought those 2 buckets late in the season and had to shell them ourselves, but it was well worth it! Hope I can find them again next year.

Cream 8’s are the best unknown veggie of all time.

 

[soflagator]

Waiting on the jalapeños to come on so we can make poppers. Found a great recipe last year and hope to find it again.

Looks like somebody was wrong.

 

[CDGator]

Looks like somebody was wrong.

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Ha, @Seedy I told you I did!

 

[CDGator]

No pics @CDGator and @Gator By Marriage , but we had a pot of those Cream 8’s we put up and they were as good as I recalled! Recall that we bought those 2 buckets late in the season and had to shell them ourselves, but it was well worth it! Hope I can find them again next year.

I’m going to need a picture.

Do these go by other names too? I would love to plant them next year if they grow here.
At the farmers market in Tallahassee they called some beans dandy’s and zippers but I never heard cream 8’s. When I asked at our stand in KY they said they could get snow peas. Otherwise it’s half runners and and other beans here.

 

[Seedy]

Ha, @Seedy I told you I did!

No, I suggested you have your son write you a database with a web front-end so you can catalog all recipes and be able to search for whatever you want. Instead you have this wooden box with folded 8.5"X11" full sheets in it...you already print the internet. The real question is, "Why not this recipe?"

 

[CDGator]

No, I suggested you have your son write you a database with a web front-end so you can catalog all recipes and be able to search for whatever you want. Instead you have this wooden box with folded 8.5"X11" full sheets in it...you already print the internet. The real question is, "Why not this recipe?"

You make it sound like I have all the time in the world to do this frivolous stuff and organize my recipes.
These posts aren't going to post themselves on this message board, you know.

 

[cover2]

I’m going to need a picture.

Do these go by other names too? I would love to plant them next year if they grow here.
At the farmers market in Tallahassee they called some beans dandy’s and zippers but I never heard cream 8’s. When I asked at our stand in KY they said they could get snow peas. Otherwise it’s half runners and and other beans here.

Sedandy is a popular pea and what we’ve put up the last few years. They are really good, but the Cream 8’s stand tall. I don’t know about availability. Seems like everything is upside down these days. Also not sure about how they’d grow that far north. Your local extension agent should be able to help.