Cowpea is an annual herbaceous legume grown in India. It is used in several dishes in South Indian cuisine. It is high in protein and used both in soups and in vegetables.
Two varieties which are regularly used are the white and the red varieties.
It is one of the easiest to grow and a pleasure to see it shooting around. Its leaves are also edible. A pod can contain from 6 to 12 seeds and each of them are kidney shaped. They thrive in dry conditions, though my observation is that if the air is too dry, it is attacked by pests. It is also used as one of the key crops for fixing the nitrogen in the soil.
Ideal temperature is 30°C. The seeds can be harvested after about 100 days and the leaves can be picked from 4 weeks after planting.
After reading this and having consumed this all my life, I wanted to try growing this plant. I took the seeds which I had bought from the store for consumption and soaked two of them. The next day, they had sprouted. I promptly put them in a pot of red soil. Within few days, I noticed that the leaves had started formed and then the plant started putting out thin hook like structures. It was time to give it a trellis. Once that was done, there was no stopping this plant. It just started shooting through the trellis and it was all over the place. All it asked for is plenty of sunshine and water. No fertilisers and no pesticides. It is pretty dense in foliage and a lovely plant to look at.
As stated above, we can start picking the leaves now. I am waiting for the pods.
Leave a comment