This is a report on the cowpeas & other genus Vigna that I grew in 2012. All but one were repeats:

Yardlong beans and cowpeas

* "Bush Sitao Var. BS-3" - snap/dry, from SSE, developed in the Philippines. Semi-bush cowpea with 6-8" pods, bred to be eaten as snaps. The pods are light green, have a firm cooked texture & semi-sweet flavor. These did incredibly well this year; two large pickings of pods, then let the rest go for seed. Kidney-shaped tan & white seeds, the pods let go produced over 4# of dry seed from a 20 foot row.

Bush Sitao Var. BS-3

* "Fagiolino Dolico Veneto" - dry, from SSE member. This is a semi-bush black eyed pea. The seeds are a little smaller than commercial varieties, but the yield is very high. Did really well, over 5# of dry seed from 20' of row. For some reason, this was much more attractive to wasps than my other cowpeas. They were swarming on this patch in large numbers; but the nectar appears to make the wasps docile, I was never stung while harvesting as long as I moved slowly.
* "MN 157" - dry, from SSE member. This is a true bush, purple hulled, calico pea... very unusual. It was bred in Minnesota for short-season areas (hence the designation) and usually does well here. This year, however, it was heavily stunted early, and did not bear as well as in years past. I was able to coax the plants into producing a second set, but this was heavily attacked by box elder bugs (!!!) which destroyed most of the seed. Only got 2.5# of dry seed from 36 feet of row, about half of what I expected... which is a shame, because it is my favorite for flavor.
* "Yardlong, Galante" - pole, commercial variety from the Philippines. Light green, sweet, very firm pods 24-28" long. This one bore consistently all summer long; we ate them, froze them, gave them away. The seed is dark reddish brown, with a small cream patch on one end. Curiously, when temperatures finally began to cool into the 70's, the white patch on the seed grew larger; seed that matured during hot weather was almost completely brown. The pods in the photo below are old & not typical of the variety, but it was all I had at the time.
* "Yardlong, Sierra Madre" - pole, another commercial variety from the Philippines. Deep green pods just shorter than Galante, but wider. Slower to develop fiber than any yardlong I've grown; even the dry pods are papery. In diameter, flavor, and texture, this is the closest yardlong I've found to snap beans... snapped & frozen, you can hardly tell them apart. A good yield, but still less than Galante and Chinese Red Noodle. Dry seed is tan & cream.
* "Yardlong, Three Feet Plus" - pole, GW seed swap several years ago, originally from Evergreen. Was sent to me as "Yard & 1/2" (as shown in the photo below) but corrected to match the listing by Evergreen Y.H. This was a new trial. Very light green pods, almost white, 24-30" long, with a firm texture & nutty flavor. This bore surprisingly well on a plot of low fertility, where other yardlongs have done poorly... makes me wonder what it would do in good soil. When dry, the pods have an unusual greenish tinge, especially under florescent light. The dry seed is mostly an off-white, with reddish-brown in spots & around the hilum.
* "Yardlong, Yancheng Bush" - bush, GW swap, originally from Yancheng, China. Light brown seeds. Possibly similar/identical to Stickless Wonder, but in my one attempt to compare the two, the Stickless Wonder sent to me was not true-to-type (it had vines) so couldn't make an evaluation. Vigorous, heavily-branched bush. This bears very early (50 days here) and seems much more cool tolerant than pole varieties. Light green, very firm pods 8-12" long. The yield was continuous except for a brief period, then resumed heavily until killed by frost. This is the only yardlong I grow every year; pole varieties are grown in a rotation.

2012 Yardlongs

Adzuki and Mung
* Buff - from SSE member. True bush habit, racemes of yellow flowers. Skinny 3-4" pods borne in large numbers. As the name implies, the seed is buff colored, as opposed to red. This is a little later, and has a heavier yield, than the variety below... and IMO, the seed is more tender when cooked. The first flush was complete after about 110 days, but there was a second smaller flush, which had only partially ripening when killed by frost. Planted in pairs 18" apart, 20 pairs produced over 4# of dry seed (1.6 oz./plant). The pairs at wider spacing were an experiment, because it allowed me to start more transplants in fewer pots. The paired plants worked well, but I could still narrow the spacing by a few inches.
* Takara Early - from SSE member. True bush habit, yellow flowers. The earliest variety I grow, about 10 days earlier than Buff. Small red seeds. This bore over 1 ounce per plant when I last grew it, but really languished this year. It was grown on the plot with poorest fertility, and even with inoculation, seemed very sensitive to something in the soil. With the same number of plants as Buff, the dry seed yield was only 4 ounces!!! This is partially due to several plants being destroyed due to disease, but I am left wondering if this variety is more heat sensitive than Buff.
* Mung, Black Kali Gram - from SSE member. No runners, but a sprawling prostrate bush 2-3' wide. Pale yellow flowers, followed by clusters of narrow 2" black pods. There appears to be two races in this cultivar, one earlier w/smooth pods, the other later w/hairy pods. The dry pods are able to take a fair amount of rain without allowing seed damage... which is good, because they can be hard to find in the foliage. The tiny dull black seeds are slightly smaller than green gram. This is supposedly a popular variety in India, but I have yet to find a way to prepare them properly... my one effort at making a soup from them was unpalatable.

By the way, did anyone else notice the "edit post" button which now appears under the My Clippings link?

DarJones

Dar, yes I did noticed the edit button....Hip, Hip, Hurray!!!

Annette

We are having a Christmas potluck lunch next week and I'm taking a big pot full @ their request!

Annette, "Chinese Red Noodle" is about mid-range in DTM for yardlongs; and in my observations, seems to require more heat than some. The black-seeded pole varieties are earlier, and more cool tolerant. The dark green podded variety given to me by a friend (I think it is "Asparagus bean") is the earliest pole yardlong that I grow, and also the most productive. "Taiwan Black" is just slightly later, and only a little less productive, with very long (over 24") light green pods. Both are extremely vigorous, and might perform a little better than CRN in cooler climates. I'd be happy to send you seed for "Asparagus", but my seed for "Taiwan Black" is old & in need of renewal.

Wertack, you've just reminded me to break down & buy a sheller. I think that will be my Christmas present to myself this year. ;-)

There is one on ebay right now.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261134683781

DarJones

Annette

• My surprise bush cowpea(Biwa Sitter), from the regional Meskwaki tribe did very well this year. I thought this would be a dry bush bean when planted. It is a smaller white seeded cowpea and is used traditionally in soups.
• My bush cowpea(Purple Hull) did good again, this has always has been a great cowpea here in Iowa for me.

I plan on growing both again next season and think I will grow the bush yardlong Yancheng(from Zeedman) again along with a few other dry bush cowpeas I have in stock(Colilma Mayo, Holstein or Fagiolina de Transimeno). I also want to try my luck again with a pole yardlong, either Chinese Red Noodle(have seed) or order an interesting one from SSE Yearbook.

Dean

That is one of the reasons, besides the great taste, that I grow them. When I lost my seed and couldn't find them for years I almost bought a sheller for the other peas that I was trying. White Acre was the hardest I ever dealt with.