Ingredient
Cowpea
Vigna unguiculata
Also known as: southern pea, black-eyed pea, Vigna unguiculata, iron-and-clay pea
Heat-tolerant summer-annual leguminous cover crop — the right ingredient when summer N fixation is needed and crimson clover or vetch can't survive the heat. Tolerates 95°F+ and short-term drought, fixes 60–120 lb N/acre in 8–10 weeks, produces moderate biomass, and dies cleanly at first frost. Sea Island Red Pea (the heritage Sea Islands cowpea variety) is one specific cultivar; iron-and-clay is the standard cover-crop type. Closely related to other Vigna species (yardlong bean, mung bean) but with the deepest root system in the genus.
Inputs / outputs
- Seeding: 30–60 lb/acre, drilled or broadcast; June through early August
- Heat tolerance: thrives at 85–95°F; performance peak summer cover crop
- Time to bloom: ~6–8 weeks
- Termination: frost-kill or mow + light tillage at [[full-bloom|full bloom]]
- N fixed: 60–120 lb/acre at [[full-bloom|full bloom]]
- Drought tolerance: moderate; better than clover or vetch, less than [[sorghum|sorghum]]-sudangrass
Solves / unlocks
- Summer N fixation in heat-stressed regions
- Heritage-variety preservation (cowpea cultivars carry deep cultural and culinary significance, especially in the U.S. South and West Africa)
- Forage / hay crop alongside cover function
- Edible cover (immature pods and dry beans are food)
- Pollinator resource (extra-floral nectaries attract beneficials)
Constraints
- Slow start in cool soil — wait for soil temps >65°F before seeding.
- Inoculate in fields without prior cowpea history.
- Frost-tender — no winter cover function.
- Some cultivars are more cover-oriented (iron-and-clay), others more food-grain-oriented (Sea Island Red, [[berkeley|California]] Black-eye) — pick by purpose.
Source
- USDA Plant Guide: https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/VIUN
- SARE Cover Crops handbook
- [[slow-food-ark-of-taste|Slow Food Ark of Taste]] (Sea Island Red Pea entry)
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Parallels: [[sea-island-red-peas]]
- Member of: [[ingredient]]
- Combines with: [[buckwheat]] · [[rhizobia-inoculant]]
What links here, and how
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Scientific
combines with
- Buckwheat summer biculture: buckwheat for fast canopy and pollinator support, cowpea for N fixation; the summer counterpart to fall rye+vetch
- Rhizobia inoculant Bradyrhizobium — cowpea/peanut group
contains
- Ecosystem toolkit cover crop / heat-tolerant legume N-fixer
3 inbound links · 4 outbound