Monkeytail cowpeas showing their first pods.

[hoodat]

The monkeytail cowpeas I got from Africa are beginning to show their first pods. I had to use soap spray a few times as the black aphids seem to love them and the natural predators weren't keeping them at bay.
They are a variety that is endangered so I hope to be able to share some seeds to help spread them. They're sprawlers and are used in Africa as both animal forage and food for humans. The vines are often dried as hay, pods and all since the raw beans are edible to farm animals.

 

[thistlebloom]

They sound interesting Hoodat. Do you use them as a dry bean? I see they are an early maturity bean.

 

[baymule]

You mean the peas don't have to be cooked first for animals to utilize them? That is real interesting, as most beans and peas have to be cooked first. I would be interested in seeds when you have some to spare.

 

[Collector]

Sounds like a worthwhile interesting endeavor. Do you use them the same as dried beans?

 

[hoodat]

They sound interesting Hoodat. Do you use them as a dry bean? I see they are an early maturity bean.

This is the first year I've grown them so I can't say what they taste like but most who have eaten them say they are like crowder peas.
In Africa the dried beans are fed uncooked to cattle, sheep and goats as high protein food. They don't have the same toxins that uncooked dry beans do.