Lady Cream Pea is an heirloom, open-pollinated southern pea variety that dates back to the 1800s. Also known as “Lady Finger Pea,” this is a smaller field pea with an excellent creamy flavor. The plants are bushy and produce runners that will sprawl, but trellising is not necessary. Just be sure to give them plenty of room to sprawl.
Lady Cream Pea is a heat-tolerant variety that performs well in drier growing conditions. When planted in spring, it will continue to flower and set new pods into the summer months. It also can be grown as a fall crop when planted in late summer or early fall. The pods are set high on the plant so they’re easy to find for quick harvesting.
Lady Cream Pea produces pods that are initially green and turn yellow once pods are ready to be harvested and shelled. Pods average 7-8″ long with 14 peas per pod. These are delicious when prepared fresh, but also hold exceptionally-well when blanched and frozen or canned.
We recommend planting field peas using a walk-behind planter like our Hoss Garden Seeder. Use a #5 seed plate, but always check the hole size and modify if necessary. Field peas or cowpeas do very well when planted on double rows. Plant two rows about 6″ apart, then skip over 3-4′ and plant another double row. This will allow you to maximize garden space and produce more vegetables per square foot of garden. Peas should be harvested when pods are full and shelling is easy. If the pods do not shell easily, they likely need to stay on the plant longer.
Lady Cream Pea Planting Information
Planting Method: direct seed
When to Plant:Â after last frost
Planting Depth: 1″
Seed Spacing: 3-4″
Row Spacing:Â 3-4′
Days to Maturity: 60
Disease Resistance: None
Mars F Davis (verified owner) –
Broadcast seeds in Zone 7B 7/26/2021 raised bed and plants are doing well. It is too early to tell as far as what the crop will be like.
McKinley Smith, Jr. (verified owner) –
I planted my peas and they are growing well about 2 weeks now
Victor Blackful (verified owner) –
Just planted them but they came up very quick. Look forward to seeing how they do
E Sullivan –
So grateful that Hoss Tools carries these! My grandparents used to always buy a ton of these in the summers, some to eat pretty much daily and some to “put up” for the rest of the year. I had been looking everywhere for them, didn’t even know what they were called, and so I bought several packs of the smaller type field peas and tried them all. I had two grow bags of each type, and tested the peas once we harvested. White Acre is close, but these are the clear winner! They taste just like what I remember and had been looking for. The plants all grew and produced well, even in grow bags. And I’ve got a whole raised bed full of Lady Cream peas planted this year. Can’t wait to harvest and enjoy.
Bart Sexton –
Are these peas when cooked have a gray looking soup or juice and the peas turn gray also . Years ago a fella gave me some dried pods and told me to plant them . So I did , the best pea I every eat . But the big mistake I made was I plant field peas also and when they where dried it was hard to tell witch was the pea I got from the guy . So now I have saved seeds and sometimes I will get a pot with the gray juice and peas but most are like the old field pea brown juice and brown peas . I ask the guy what was the name and he said cow peas . Well when I looked them up there was many so called crow peas .