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Learn more about Santa Fe College and the Florida Heritage Foods Project.
Vigna unguiculata
Cowpea, southern pea or field pea (English), 眉豆 (méi dòu, Mandarin), imbumba (Zulu), pois à vache (French), dinawa (Setswana)
Plant bush-type black-eyed peas directly into the garden after the last frost (April-September). Seeds are typically spaced two to three inches apart and one inch deep. Some fertilizer may be necessary, but the peas do well in poorer, sandy soils. Once established, the plants are drought-tolerant but may benefit from mulching. Avoid over-watering the plants, which may promote fungal growth on the leaves. Harvest months are July-November. Peas may be dried on the bush for seed-saving or culinary storage purposes. Peas prefer full sun (Iannotti). In addition to nitrogen-fixing green manure, cowpea plants can be used for livestock forage, either green or dried for future use (“Cow Peas”). To plant. To Plan, a heritage garden, download the ‘Planning a Florida Heritage Garden (PDF).’
This page is produced by Val Leitner, Sarah Cervone, Bhakti Gibson, and Gabriel Frank, with content contributed by Timothy Mack in HUM 2420: African Humanities
Learn more about Santa Fe College and the Florida Heritage Foods Project.
Funding for the Florida Heritage Foods Initiative: Connecting Local Food with Local Culture in Florida Farmers Markets was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant Agreement Number 21FMPPFL1026-00. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.