The Best Field Peas with Ham Recipe - Green Oklahoma (2024)

FAQs

What are the best field peas? ›

Many people are familiar with black-eyed peas—or at least the dry variety of them that's used for favorite recipes like Hoppin' John. But you can use almost any type of field pea for a big pot of peas. A few favorites include Crowder Peas, Lady Peas, and Zipper Peas.

Soaking dry field peas before cooking is not mandatory, but it can help reduce the cooking time and make the peas more tender. To soak them, place the peas in a bowl and cover them with water.

The black-eyed pea is the most commonly available variety of all field peas—and what many are likely most familiar with. It's also arguably the most humble variety of field peas: Though many favor it as a Southern staple or traditional holiday food, it doesn't have the most robust flavor of the bunch.

Field peas should be seeded in early spring, April to mid-May, so that flowering will occur during potentially cooler weather.

Phosphorus (P)

Although low rates of seed-placed starter sometimes may increase field pea yield when soil test P levels are low, it also consistently reduces field pea stand. A broadcast P application, and even a midrow band P application, will result in greater yield most of the time.

Addition of a nitrogen fertilizer may be required when field pea is planted on land with less than 30 pounds of available nitrate N in the top two feet of the soil profile.

How to cook peas. Boil (2-3 mins - use the minimum amount of water needed, and don't add salt, as they'll toughen up. A pinch of sugar will bring out their sweetness). Steam (1-2 mins).

Peas are a good source of vitamins C and E, zinc, and other antioxidants that strengthen your immune system. Other nutrients, such as vitamins A and B and coumestrol, help reduce inflammation and lower your risk of chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.

One unusual but common New Year's Day black-eyed peas tradition involves putting actual money in the dish. Some add to their “luck” by cooking their pot of peas with a penny or dime inside. Whoever gets the bowl with the coin in it, according to legend, has the best luck for the new year.

Field peas are technically beans, and not at all like the green garden pea most of us know.

Can you eat field peas raw? ›

The peas are edible at each stage. Snaps can be eaten raw, macerated in vinaigrette, or gently cooked, similar to haricots vert. Freshly shelled beans from mature pods should be cooked and can also be frozen for storage to good effect.

Regarding crop rotation, do not plant peas in the same place more than once every four years. Like those of other legumes, pea roots fix nitrogen in the soil, making it available for other plants.

1 to 2 inches. Seed should be sown to moisture. Seeding depth should be increased with soils with a low water-holding capacity. Seeding at a uniform depth should result in uniform emergence and maturity.

A problem with planting peas of any type is deer like them so much it's hard to raise the peas to maturity. Deer relish feeding on tender leaves of young plants. They like eating the pods, and they enjoy eating the peas themselves.

'Terrain' is an extremely high-yielding maincrop pea, bearing huge amounts of curved pods containing up to eight deliciously sweet peas over a long season.

Snow and snap peas are the two edible pod peas of choice. Snaps are crisp and plump and snow peas are more delicate and slender. Both are very sweet and can be eaten fresh or cooked.

Snap peas have fat, juicy and sweet edible pods. Some of these varieties are so sweet they're like candy! If you're looking for an addictive, healthy snack straight out of the garden, this is the type to grow.

The field- or stock-pea differs from the garden pea usually in its violet or purple rather than white flowers, its smaller and more uniformly smooth seeds, but chiefly in the less tenderness and sweetness and lower quality of the green seeds. History.