veggies: Black-Eyed Peas and such

The veggie garden is moving forward into the hot hot hot part of summer. Summer squash plants somehow have evaded squash vine borers this year (though the squirrels and snails had a ball), but I think it's getting too hot for them to set fruit now.

Here's a small harvest from last night: basil, banana peppers and black-eyed peas.

The banana peppers and sweet and tangy - really good - but not spicy like the ones you get pickled at the store. I wonder if that is another variety or they add a spicy pepper into the pickling mix?

This is my first crop of black-eyed peas, and they are really good fresh off the plant. We haven't yet gotten enough to cook up, but I just shelled these and ate them raw on salad.

How nouveau-Southern of me, right? Plus I'm trying to learn what they should look like when time to harvest - the thin pods are definitely not ready for shelling.