Frozen Purple Hull Peas

This summer has been one of the coolest summers I can ever remember. That is, with the exception of the day Andy went to go pick these purple hull peas. We had a family friend who offered to let us pick our own and Andy took him up on it and came home with two tightly packed 5 gallon buckets. The heat index was ridiculous that day and these were a little bit of a pain, but we've fixed them twice and they were worth the sweat and labor.
Even my Mother, who literally said she didn't like them (and had never eaten them in her life) ended up liking them, eating them and taking some home. I do need to say, after we hand-shelled these, a friend offered use of their electric sheller the next day. I can honestly say I'm glad we did what we did. We've all become so lax about how we get our food, it's good to experiment things "the old way."

Back when I was in high school I babysat the Vanzant kids. Linda would pick a bushel of beans in the evening and the next day me and the kids would have them shelled and ready for her to can when she came home. It was a good experience.

*Disclaimer: This style of freezing was recommended to us by a friend who has a degree in agriculture. This is the first time we have tried to store beans this way. If you are hesitant about this at all, do not do it, We are experimenting with this as an alternative way to store and use only what we need as needed.

 The hulls were loaded with peas! We didn't weigh them, but this will last us for quite some time.

 Pour the fresh peas into a clean pillow case.

 Well, let's see how this goes!

Twist and securely tie. Store in deep freezer. Click here to learn how easy it is to fix purple hull peas.