I said yesterday that I would show some pictures of how I grow "cow peas". Probably the most popular cow pea in Texas is black eye peas. I grow Top Pick Pink Eye Purple Hull peas. The Top Pick part of the name indicates that most of the peas grow above the plant so are easier to pick. I find that is not always true but the peas are productive and I really like them.
Here's the peas just starting to grow. You can see I have four rows in the 4' X 24 ' raised bed. Sometimes I will plant 5 rows. It usually takes about 60 days to first harvest.
Peas Started.jpg
Here you can see the peas just before blooming. I use a 6" X 6" plastic netting to keep the peas inside the raised bed.
Purple hull peas growing 1.jpg
Here are the peas blooming and that means peas will be ready to pick in about 2 weeks.
Purple hull peas blooming.jpg
Here's the first harvest. I usually harvest about 3 times and then pull the plants to plant more peas or something else.
Purple hull peas on table.jpg