Mavis' Purple Hulls

Barbara Horn of Waupaca, Wisconsin, has been stewarding this purple hull cowpea variety since 1973 from seed she got from her mother, Mavis M. (Trawick) Chapman (1918-2009) of Quitman, Arkansas. It is unclear to Barbara who her mother got the seeds from, but she has vivid memories of eating them as far back as she can recall. “The purple hull peas were my absolute favorite when I was growing up on the farm,” says Barbara. “My mother would pick them by the bushel from her enormous garden and shelled them on the front porch while zipping iced tea to beat the heat.” Barbara feared she would die, and no one would grow these cowpeas she had saved for so many years. She donated this variety to SSE in 2023.