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[Robert Walton <waltonrp AT gmail.com>]

I ate a few last year. They are good. Iron and Clay is probably from the
color of the peas. I bought 50# last year, but whit the drought, opted not
to plant other than a few in the garden.

I just finished planting summer covers last week. I left two strips of the
same field with one 20 foot strip to iron and clay peas and another to red
beans. Idea is to let them mature and pick for dry beans/peas.

Cowpeas are supposed to have a good long taproot to break up hard soil. I
can say that every year in the garden, they stay going when it gets dry,
much longer than beans.

The rest of the peas, I interplanted with the sudan grass in one field,
interplanted buckwheat in the field that had the clover. One part of the
field was planted a month ago. With good rain, it's about 3 feet high. The
buckweat is in full bloom, stretching to keep ahead of the sudan. Lost
cause, I'm afraid, it will soon be smothered.

I'll cut the sudan when it's about 4 feet. According to my research, that
will cause it to react by sending out roots like crazy.

Rob - Va

On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 2:50 PM, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:

> I saw a bag of those in the feed store the other day.  They were like
> $49 for a 50# bag, I think.  I assumed they were a cover crop and
> feed.....good for human eating, too??  What do they look/taste like?
> I also assume that they are called iron clay because they do well on red
> clay to help loosen it?  I don't have red clay, but I do have a rocky,
> untillable pasture and it would be nice to overseed a legume and have a
> legumy green manure.  Would that be a waste of a good eating pea?
> B
>
> Robert Walton wrote:
>
> > I'm real later, but there is still enough time to plant some red
> > beans for dried peans, just going to plant a strip of them in the
> > field I am cover cropping. I'll also plant a strip of pure iron clay
> > peas there, too. I can use those for seeds and eating.
> >
> > Rob - Va
>
>
> --
> "Never expect magic from no where"  Baringo (Kenyan) working motto
> EarthNSky Farm, NW Georgia, USA
>
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