The best varieties of cowpea

Vigna vegetable is a unique representative of leguminous crops, tasty and healing, very similar in appearance to beans. It is characterized by a high stem, reaching 3-4 meters, and very long (about one meter), serpentine pods hanging down in a gorgeous green waterfall. The leaves of the plant are trifoliate; flowers are pale yellow, purple and white, located on long stalks. Vigna vegetable is grown only in culture; not found in the wild.

Vegetable cowpea varieties

The plant is subdivided into bush and climbing varieties. Bush forms are inherent in early varieties such as Mash, Katyang, Koreyskaya, Azuki. The size of young pods is 6-12 cm.

In semi-bush varieties (Macaretti, Darla), the length of green beans varies from 30 to 40 cm.

Late varieties are mainly curly, look very elegant and rich, are optimal for vertical gardening of fences, terraces, gazebos and balconies. They need a stable support. Prominent representatives are cowpea vegetable Countess, Chinese, Japanese, Long-fruited black. The length of the thin pods varies from 60 to 100 cm.

One plant of cowpea, otherwise called "cowpea" and "asparagus lobia", can produce about 3 kilograms of high quality juicy beans. Seeds are medium-sized, from light coffee to black shades.

Description of some varieties

• Vigna vegetable Macaretti is characterized by an average ripening period (about 65 days after the mass emergence of seedlings). Climbing beans, the length of the main stem is about 3 meters. Ripe beans are curved and green in color. The taste is very juicy and tender. From 1 sq. m you can collect about 2 kg of graceful pods, the average length of which is 30 cm, width - 1 cm. The seeds of the plant have a rich brown color, kidney-shaped. 1000 pieces weigh about 150 grams.
• Vigna vegetable Countess. Growing this early high-yielding variety is within the power of even a beginner in the gardening business. The main thing is to plant correctly, feed on time, water several times and have time to harvest, provided that the use of cowpea is planned at the stage of milk maturity. The first beans, the yield of which from 1 sq. m is 2.5 kg, can be removed 55-60 days after the appearance of young shoots. The plant curls intensively. Height - from 2.5 to 3 meters. Ripe seeds are even and smooth. The pods are about 50 cm long and 1 cm wide. The weight of 1000 pieces is 200 grams. Vigna vegetable Countess, the cultivation of which does not cause any difficulties, is very tasty and useful in soups and salads.

A small historical background

West Africa is the birthplace of cowpea, cultivated 6 thousand years ago along with African millet and sorghum on the territory of this country. Then the plant spread to China, India, the Middle East; widely grown in Brazil, USA, Nigeria, Australia and Haiti. The warm and light-loving cowpea, previously cultivated in hot countries, is now successfully cultivated in mid-latitudes.

Growing cowpea vegetable is a process that does not cause any global troubles, but rather brings aesthetic joy and hope for a high yield. The best predecessors for such a garden crop are tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes, cucumbers.

Features of planting cowpea vegetable

For planting cowpea in the fall, you need to prepare a site. The location of the garden crop should be well lit, without drafts. The soil needs to be dug deeply (about 25 cm deep) and 2-3 kg of humus, 20 grams of potash fertilizers, 30 grams of superphosphate are added for each square meter. In the spring, the prepared area should be fed with urea at the rate of 10-20 grams of the drug per square meter.

It is advisable to sow asparagus beans in the last decade of April, when the air warms up to + 15-20 ° C, and the soil - up to + 10 ° C. Before planting, it is recommended to water the wells well; in order to preserve moisture, you can cover them with mulch on top. Before sowing, it is recommended to soak the seeds in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, after which it is imperative to rinse with water.

The most optimal way of sowing vegetable cowpea is a three-line ribbon. The distance between the plants should be 8-10 cm, between the lines - about 25 cm, between the ribbons - about half a meter.

Vigna vegetable is a thermophilic crop and is very sensitive to frost. Therefore, at first, before the arrival of real warm days, it is recommended to cover the seedlings with plastic wrap. Stronger bushes can be obtained by planting vegetable seedlings for a period of 30-35 days. The optimum air temperature for planting is not lower than 17 ° C. Lower rates threaten the plant with death.

Vigna vegetable Countess: cultivation, reviews

The cowpea variety Countess is drought-resistant and does not require careful maintenance. It is important to feed the plant in a timely manner, water it during the dry period and loosen the soil during the fruiting period.

According to the reviews of experienced gardeners, in the process of growing cowpea, the green mass is actively growing. Therefore, the garden culture must be provided with a good, stable support. The carrier wire should be approximately 3 meters high. You should also take into account the high windage of asparagus beans and plant them on the leeward side.

Vigna on the garden plot

Vigna vegetable Countess, reviews of the taste and commercial qualities of which encourage you to acquire such a variety on your site, is characterized by tremendous activity in growth. In the open field, it develops before the first frost, increasing the green mass and forming new fruits. In addition to the main shoot, there are many lateral shoots on the cowpea, which also bear fruit intensively. Climbing varieties are grown in crops with corn, which is an excellent support for them.

When to Harvest?

Vigna vegetable is a self-pollinating plant capable of cross-pollination. Therefore, it is better to plant different varieties from each other separately. The approximate growing season is 150 days, while the shoulder blades can be used in a variety of dishes as early as 60 days. Seed ripening takes about 90 days. They are harvested from the most developed, productive plants, on which the beans are left until fully ripe. Storage is similar to storing beans.

Harvesting of asparagus beans begins a week after the ovaries appear and the seeds reach the size of a wheat grain. During this period, the beans are incredibly tasty, fleshy and very juicy. The more young pods are collected from the asparagus plant, the more active the vegetable cowpea (see the photo in the article) will acquire new fruits.

The use of cowpea in traditional medicine

Vigna is characterized by a rich chemical composition and is successfully used in folk medicine. A decoction of the seeds and leaves of the plant has a diuretic effect, it is recommended to take it in case of diabetes mellitus.This is due to the high content of arginine, a substance whose action is identical to insulin and maintains blood sugar levels.

The flower broth helps in the formation of kidney stones and in the treatment of bladder diseases.

Vigna vegetable is an indispensable product of the dietary diet for rheumatism, gout and kidney inflammation. For gastritis, puree cooked from the seeds of the plant is effective. Such beans are useful for anemia, diseases of the stomach, liver, gall bladder and pancreas. The harmonious content of sodium and potassium in the pods makes it possible to use this product for edema: the beans help to remove excess fluid from the body. Also, vigna is used to restore and normalize the work of the cardiovascular system and get rid of extra pounds.

The magnesium contained in the composition of the product ensures the resistance of the nervous system to stress and irritation. Therefore, cowpea is recommended for people with severe nervous activity. Poultices based on cowpea flour effectively help in the treatment of boils.

Vigna in cooking

Vigna is a very popular product in the cuisines of many countries of the world and is included in the recipe for various dishes. Young beans of milk maturity (no larger than a wheat grain), together with the pods, can be boiled, stewed, frozen, canned, salted, dried. By the way, cowpea pods are more valuable than fish in terms of the content of useful microelements. Salads, stews, side dishes, casseroles, soups are very tasty - dishes in which one of the components is vegetable veigna.

Ripe beans contain a large amount of vitamins, mineral salts of calcium, proteins, iron. They boil well. They are characterized by a pleasant aroma. They are an important ingredient in soups and snacks.

Vigna vegetable: recipes

Vegetable salad with cowpea

Young pods should be cut into small cubes, boiled in salted water until soft. Combine with pre-boiled and chopped eggs, potatoes and carrots. The amount of cowpea in a salad should be at least half of its total volume. You can use vegetable oil, sour cream or mayonnaise as a dressing.

Light soup with cowpea

Chop 300 grams of vegetable cowpea pods. Fry the parsley root and onion separately, combined with a little flour. Boil the ingredients in salted water until the asparagus beans soften, adding 200 grams of tomatoes and fresh herbs.

Vegetable vigna with eggs

It is required to boil the chopped vegetable cowpea pods, put in a frying pan, add eggs beaten with sour cream there. Bake in the oven.

Georgian lobio with cowpea

Boil for five minutes vegetable cowpea, pre-cut into small pieces. Fry. Remove the skin from the tomatoes previously treated with boiling water. Combine with onions, beans and the liquid in which the latter was boiled. Extinguish. During cooking add onion, garlic, pepper, salt to taste. Lobio can be used both as a side dish for meat, and as an independent dish.

Chinese vegetable vigna

Cut 300 grams of asparagus beans into small cubes, boil in salted water for about five minutes. Strain, dry, fry in vegetable oil, adding a clove of chopped garlic, a tablespoon of sour cream and a teaspoon of flour diluted in 100 ml of water. Simmer for 5-7 minutes under the lid. The dish is ready.

Interesting facts about vegetable cowpea:

1. Among the available two hundred varieties of cowpea, there are varieties with the aroma of mushrooms: Ad Rem, Akito. They are so unpretentious in care that even with the most unfavorable seasons for the harvest, they actively bear fruit.
2. Studies have determined that people in the UK eat cowpeas as much as people in other countries combined. Maybe that's why the British are so restrained, because asparagus beans perfectly calm the nervous system.
3. From the Greek language, the name of the bean sounds like "phaseolus", which means a long narrow boat, to which a healthy vegetable is very similar.

A plant with long, narrow and light beans - vegetable cowpea - belongs to the legume family. Its homeland is Central Africa, but today asparagus beans are very popular in many countries of Southeast Asia. More recently, the plant began to grow in the gardens of our country. The cowpea is unpretentious to care, therefore, in regions with a warm climate, it is willingly grown in the open field.

Description and useful properties

The culture can grow in the form of a semi-shrub or shrub, but most varieties of vegetable cowpea Are loaches with long fruits. The beans can be up to one meter long. Delicious and delicate fiber-free blades are formed in them.

Asparagus beans are distinguished by large leaves, straight lower petals and long peduncles, on which there are up to eight white or purple flowers.

Meaty beans are good for food, in which the space between the young shoulder blades is occupied by juicy pulp. You can use both young beans and cowpea seeds for food. The plant is not only dietary, but also medicinal, since it contains many substances useful for the body - starch, protein, iron, various mineral salts, calcium, vitamins C, B, A, etc.

Asparagus beans are good for those who have problems with digestion, gallbladder, liver and urinary tract. Bean decoction recommended for people suffering from gout, diabetes and rheumatism.

Varieties of cowpea

Climbing plants look very elegant and are suitable for vertical gardening of gazebos, terraces, fences, balconies. They have thin pods length from sixty centimeters to one meter. From each bush, you can get up to three kilograms of juicy beans, in which, depending on the variety, medium-sized seeds of a light coffee, brown or black shade will be formed.

Asparagus beans are thermophilic, therefore, for growing them in the open field of the middle lane, it is best to choose domestic varieties. The best ones are:

1. "Countess" is a climbing plant up to three meters high, distinguished by fruits one centimeter wide and about fifty centimeters long. Very healthy and tasty beans ripen within sixty days after germination. The high-yielding variety is unpretentious to care for, and its milk ripeness fruits can be used for making salads, soups and vegetable side dishes.
2. "Macaretti" - tender and juicy green fruits of a curved shape grow on climbing beans up to three meters high. Each pod is one centimeter wide and up to thirty centimeters long. Up to two kilograms of fruit can be harvested from one plant. The variety is distinguished by brown kidney-shaped seeds.
3. "Fakir" is a mid-season variety with green fruits up to half a meter long. The plant has a good yield and high resistance to various diseases. In the open field, you can grow in warm regions, and in the middle lane, the bushes must be planted under a film.
4. "Spaghetti" is a high-yielding variety, on the bushes of which, sixty days after germination, green pods ripen, which do not have the taste of beans. Delicious and juicy beans grow up to half a meter in length.

Planting cowpea vegetable

Since the plant is thermophilic, in many regions of Russia it must be grown in seedlings. The seeds are pre-soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate, after which they are washed and planted in seedling boxes filled with earth to a depth of one and a half to two centimeters. In order not to damage the fragile sprout and its roots during transplantation, it is recommended to sow each seed in a peat or disposable cup.

The first shoots should appear in about a week, and you can plant seedlings in open ground in a month. In the northern regions, cowpea should be grown in greenhouses.To prevent condensation from forming on the beans and leaves of the plant, greenhouses and greenhouses should be regularly ventilated. Otherwise, gray rot may appear on them..

Planting and leaving

The site for planting cowpea should be chosen well-lit or with light partial shade. The soil must be prepared in the fall. It is recommended to apply fertilizers to it. For each square meter you will need:

• from two to three kilograms of organic matter;
• a little superphosphate;
• in the spring - about twenty grams of urea.

Beans can grow in any soileven if it is alkaline or acidic. The best predecessors for her are cabbage and potatoes. After legumes, cowpea cannot be planted.

Vegetable cowpea are planted in open ground after the last frosts have passed. Basic landing rules:

1. The landing is carried out in the ground, which should warm up to a depth of twelve centimeters.
2. The depth of the holes for bushes depends on their size and can be from four to seven centimeters.
3. Before planting, the soil is well watered.
4. Between rows should be about eighty centimeters, and between plants - from sixty to sixty-five.
5. The beds can be mulched with peat or humus so that the soil does not dry out and weeds do not grow.

Vigna is a thermophilic plant, therefore, until the average daily air temperature becomes more than +15 degrees, the bushes should be covered with a film, fixing it on arcs. When the temperature drops, you can put sackcloth on top of the film.

Soil care

When the plants reach a length of seven centimeters, after watering, you should not loosen the soil very deeply around them. If the seeds were planted immediately in open ground, then the seedlings are thinned out, leaving a distance of forty centimeters between them.

The rest of the maintenance of the soil around the plantings consists in weeding and regular loosening after watering.

Watering and feeding

Before the first four leaves appear on the loach, it is necessary to carefully monitor the soil moisture and water it regularly. After that, the frequency of watering is reduced, since the asparagus beans do not like waterlogging of the soil and can respond to abundant and frequent watering by dropping the buds.

During the budding period, the bushes should be fed, dissolving in ten liters of water:

• ash - 100 grams;
• superphosphate - 15 grams;
• potassium chloride - 5 grams.

The solution is poured into grooves five centimeters deep, which are made between the rows of plantings. After feeding, they are covered with soil..

A tall, powerful plant requires good nutrition, so you can additionally use mineral fertilizers with the following trace elements:

• manganese - for nitrogen assimilation;
• cobalt will help fix atmospheric nitrogen;
• boron promotes the formation of fruits and seeds;
• molybdenum prevents the disruption of the synthesis of protein substances.

In no case should any legumes be fed with aggressive compost and manure, which are rich in nitrogen. This is explained by the fact that in these plant species nitrogen is formed independently on the root branches.

When to harvest beans?

When the shoulder blades reach milky ripeness, they can be collected and used for cooking. Fruits usually ripen ten days after the formation of ovaries. The beans should be harvested on time so that they don't overripe and that new pods grow actively on the plant. At the peak of fruiting, harvesting of fruits should occur at least once every three days. You can harvest until the very frost, getting from one plant up to four to five kilograms of beans.

To get seeds it is necessary to wait until the leaves, pods and stems turn yellowish and dry out a little. The planting material is husked from the beans, and then dried well. Cowpea seeds should be stored in linen bags. To prevent the bean weevil arcs from starting up in them, which can ruin the harvest, it is recommended to put a dry bay leaf in the seeds.In this case, the germination of the cowpea planting material will remain for five years.

You can use vegetable cowpea for making salads, vegetable side dishes, soups, casseroles and even for canning.

Vigna vegetable

Reviews

I used to grow different types of asparagus beans on my site, but the cowpea was my favorite. Now I plant only her, choosing for myself the variety "Macaretti" and simply "Vigna". Despite the fact that in spring it is not hot at all in our region, I do not grow beans through seedlings. It's just that in the middle or at the end of May I sow the soaked seeds immediately on a garden bed with open ground and cover the plantings with dry grass. After about a week, sprouts appear, which I dig up and plant in rows.

I start shooting in August. The pods grow up to sixty centimeters long. They turn out to be fat and not at all rude. I chose the sunniest place for the loach, and so that the roots did not burn out, the soil around the bushes was mulched with hay. The disadvantage in my planting is that I could not tie up the plants in time, so they just lie on the ground and everything is mixed.

Elena, Russia

Last year, she grew cowpea in a greenhouse along with cucumbers. First, I grew seedlings at home, which I planted in a greenhouse at the end of May. Vigna is a thermophilic plant, so in our region it must be protected from cold weather. I put several bushes of seedlings for hardening on the balcony, where it was +4 degrees, and they died for me. The remaining plants grew rapidly in the greenhouse and yielded crops throughout the season.

Natalia, Russia

I have been growing cowpea on my site for a long time. I don't remember the names of the varieties, but there are both with short fruits and long-stemmed ones. Mushroom or short-string beans pleases with a large harvest. It is distinguished by tall bushes and tasty fleshy shoulder blades. You can pick the pods before the beans have formed. Green fruits are very healthy and I love the taste. But the long-stemmed cowpea yields a small crop, as it is more thermophilic and after planting in open ground it takes a long time to take root.

Nina, Russia

After reading on many dacha forums about tasty and healthy green beans - vigna, I decided to plant it in my garden. Moreover, many write about the unpretentiousness of the plant to the ground, and I have a sandy poor land on my site. Common beans in our country give few fruits and the plant itself does not grow large.

The seeds I bought in the store, they turned out to be small, smooth and black. It was planted in a non-seedling way directly into open ground in the second decade of May. First, I dug up the garden bed and fertilized it with superphosphate. She planted corn between the bushes. All summer I fed my plantings with green fertilizer.

Our spring was rainy and cold, and summer was hot and dry. Everything did not grow very well, because I planted the plants in an open, sunny area. The ground quickly dried up, although I watered abundantly three times a week. At first, the cowpea's leaves turned yellow and the buds fell off, but after several top dressing with superphosphate, it began to yield a crop. From each bush, I collected four to five pods about sixty centimeters long and about a pencil wide.

In the summer, we added the fruits to soups, and those collected closer to autumn were frozen. You need to remove not dried, overripe, but bright green pods, which are soft and easy to cut. As you can see, the cowpea turned out to be unpretentious to care for and even in hot conditions on poor soil gave a crop.

Alina, Russia

Despite the fact that I grew cowpea in a greenhouse, the harvest was small. In addition, it is completely incomprehensible when the pods can be plucked. As soon as they appear, it is still early, and after a while the fruits become already rough. I wanted to leave the overripe pods for seeds, but they began to rot. Even in the refrigerator, the cowl is not stored for a long time. Literally after a few days, black spots appear on it. I decided that I would no longer take up space in the greenhouse with this crop.

Elena, Russia

A couple of years ago, I did not know what a vigna was. Therefore, for me, the cowpea asparagus was a real discovery after visiting my uncle's garden. I visited him. Knowing that I was interested in everything related to the garden and vegetable garden, he began to tell me about a novelty on his site - the wigne, which struck his whole family with such a bountiful harvest that it overshadowed all other varieties of beans that he had grown before.

↑ back to contents ↑ Vigna, what kind of plant is this

Vigna is a separate type of asparagus beans, with a large number of varieties. It is distinguished by very powerful shoots, reaching 4-5 m in length, and incredibly long pods.

When my uncle planted this plant for the first time, not only he, but all the neighbors were amazed at the outlandish shoulder blades: some of them reached a length of 1 m. He planted only a few beans. So I collected at least 3 kg of fruits from each bush, so the harvest was more than enough not only for his family, but for numerous relatives, including me.

Tender cowpea shoulder blades are sweeter and tastier than ordinary asparagus beans. There are no coarse fibers and an inner parchment layer in them, and the entire space between the beans is filled with juicy pulp inside the pod. You just need to prevent the pods from becoming coarse.

Often, those who only grow cowpea for the first year, not knowing when to start collecting the pods, pluck the already overripe blades. Hence, many disappointed reviews from beginners to grow cowpea.

This summer I tried to grow Chinese cowpea. She planted seeds for seedlings at the end of May in peat pots, then at the beginning of June she planted 3 pieces in a greenhouse. I must admit right away that the cowpea did not grow well for me, it “swayed” for too long, “thought”, in general, it slowed down. 🙂 But by the end of summer I got to the roof of the greenhouse and even formed pods, like in the picture! In general, the harvest was small and not very tasty ...

n-a-tka

Last year I tried to plant a cowpea. I planted it along the fence, like ordinary curly beans, around the end of the 1st decade of May. The seeds were small, black in color. The shoulder blades were 30-40 cm, and quickly became coarse. Even the seeds are ripe. Honestly, asparagus beans are much tastier. Or maybe I just don't know how to cook it?

ANTONOVKA

I planted cowpea for a long time, in the OG, it was later, but it grew normally, in large pods. I didn’t like it at all. Now there are a lot of varieties of ordinary green beans and they are much tastier than this one, but this one turns out to be wide, long, there are more "shag" on it than on ordinary beans and tastes rougher. In general, I did not like it.

Varvara Plyushkina

The good news is that this dietary product contains a large amount of nutrients. The pods of this crop are usually eaten whole at the stage of milky ripeness, but if you wish, you can leave them on the bush for longer, wait until they are fully ripe, and collect the beans. After thoroughly drying, they are used in cooking, like regular beans, or used for sowing.

Cowpea and Bean Pods

By the way, cowpea beans cook much faster than beans from other related crops.

I also wanted to plant a cowpea. I love beans, and having such an unusual one in my garden is doubly interesting. Caring for this plant is not difficult. She is unpretentious. After the appearance of the pods, two or three days later, my uncle was shooting with such a bunch.

But you can wait for the shoulder pods to grow longer. These are usually plucked for freezing. This is more convenient, anyway, to freeze it, you need to cut it into pieces of 8-10 cm.

There are a lot of varieties of cowpea now. In addition, new varieties are increasingly appearing in stores, which allows experimenting in each season.

Of all the varieties that he planted, Liliana and Brown Sid liked the most, amazed with their productivity and ability to produce crops up to frost.

Liliana is a mid-season variety, and the pods can be harvested as early as 75-85 days after germination.Scourges of this variety grow up to 2-3 m in length and form a huge number of green narrow shoulder blades 60-80 cm long.

Vigna Liliana

Brown Seed bushes are more powerful and have incredible long pods of light green color, reaching 1 m. The blades of this variety can be plucked as early as 55 days after germination with a collection frequency of 5-7 days.

Wigna Brown Seed ↑ to contents ↑ Raising cowpea

For the formation of a bountiful harvest, this crop requires a large amount of nutrients during the growing season, therefore, the soil for planting must be prepared in the fall. My uncle adds nothing to the soil except organic matter.

But in the advice of experienced gardeners I read: to dig a bed on a shovel bayonet with the addition of 1.5 buckets of humus, 25-30 g of superphosphate and 15-20 g of potassium sulfate per 1 m2. In the spring, before planting, add 15-20 g of carbamide per 1 m2.

The cowpea is planted when stable warm weather with a temperature of 14-16 ° C is established without the threat of recurrent frosts.

The beans are embedded in the soil to a depth of 4-5 cm, maintaining a distance of 35-40 cm between them, and they are certainly planted next to some solid support, for example, on the south side of the gazebo or fence, or a separate trellis is built for the cowpea.

Vigna on the trellis

During the season, the bushes are watered 1-2 times a week, weeds are removed and the soil under them is loosened. In general, nothing out of the ordinary.

Another tip: at the very beginning of growth, aphids can attack the cowpea. Therefore, be sure to inspect the whips at the beginning of the growing season. Try to prevent pests from multiplying. If this happens, spray the shoots with any sucking insect repellent, such as Confidor. But when the pods already appear with chemicals, it is better not to process them. You can use an infusion of celandine or garlic.

It is advisable to make 2-3 dressings per season. I think that the "green fertilizer" that I prepare myself for vegetable crops is also suitable for cowpea.

Vigna responds well to spraying on the leaves with a solution of any complex fertilizer, which includes a variety of trace elements.

The lashes are first tied to the lower tiers of the support, and then only guided - they grow very quickly and in a short time braid it densely. These asparagus beans do not cause any more trouble - all that remains is to manage to harvest a generous harvest.

Vigna blooms ↑ to content ↑ Reviews of gardeners about vigna

I plant cowpea beans over grapes. She can give whips up to 4-6 meters. After planting, I enclose the place with a cylinder from PET bottles, this is both a beacon and protection from a bear. The cowpea does not have nitrogen-fixing bacteria, so manure, as a fertilizer, is very desirable for her.

Lucky

In our climate (the author of the post lives in Rostov-on-Don), it is not necessary to grow cowpea with seedlings. Itself and so will grow. But I myself planted seedlings, since the bear eats the grain in the ground completely. True, it is not very convenient to plant seedlings, the root grows long, it creeps down immediately, and the seedlings themselves are very fast growing. Vigna grows well without shading at all. In partial shade, the yield was noticeably smaller.

Lana158

I have been planting cowpea of ​​the Countess variety for two years. I planted it directly in the ground with the seeds that had sprouted. She pulled the string along the fence and grabbed the cowpea by it. Then she herself grew, crawled and curled. The beans were declared 60 cm, but I got up to 1 m. I cut it all into pieces and freezed it. I like the fact that it is very thin and delicate.

Grandma Spring

In Thailand, cowpea is eaten simply raw. I don't know, really, what kind, Japanese or Chinese. They just take these long green "macaroni" dipped in their sauces and gobble up on both cheeks. I also tried it, there is absolutely no specific taste of beans, I would not refuse to crunch at home. I'm going to try to grow everything in my country house, but somehow it doesn't work out.

Azalea

We are growing the cowpea for the second year. The initiator is the wife, it seems like legumes are very useful for the female body. I, of course, think that meat with lard is better.But he watched, watched as she and her daughter devoured this cowpea and began to eat himself. Delicious! At our site, the tree has dried up, it is necessary to cut it down, but I have no time for it, so my wife planted a cowpea under it. I will tell you, it turned out such a fabulous miracle tree!

Qom

Last year I planted bush green beans and Vigna. I was tortured to collect bush - the back falls off, while among the trunks of the bush you will find pods. Vigna - here it is all in front of you, and the size of Vigna's pods is amazing. We had pods 96 cm long.

columb

Vigna has been grown in Asian countries for more than one century and is highly valued for its high yield and excellent taste. In our country, despite the wide variety of varieties that can perfectly bear fruit even in the northern regions, this culture can be found extremely rarely on personal plots.

Therefore, having a positive experience in growing cowpea, I advise all gardeners to plant it in the new summer season. I am sure that having learned what a cowpea is, you will definitely plant it at home, and in the future you will never give up growing this amazing legume.

Light breakfast with cowpea

Every year more and more crops appear for cultivation on personal plots. Plants of southern countries, through the efforts of biologists, acquire a new homeland. Vigna vegetable is a pleasant novelty for amateur gardeners in Russia. With proper care, cultivation in the open field is possible in the Urals and in the Moscow region.

Description of vegetable cowpea

Resembles asparagus beans, but does not belong to this species. Does not interbreed with beans. Herbaceous annual plant, can be a shrub, short or tall, or climbing. Very beautiful during flowering.

Creepers grow stalks up to 3-4 meters, the brushes have shoulder blades, about a meter long, as thick as a pencil. Yield up to 3 kg of beans per bush.

This vine, at the time of reaching its maximum yield, is quite heavy. Requires solid support. Beautiful, entwined with a plant, a terrace, a balcony, a gazebo.

Fruiting from July to October. The beans are slightly larger than a wheat grain, light coffee shade or black.

Vigna is a liana reaching a length of about 3-4 meters

The main characteristics of the culture

Several species of cowpea are known. These are Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese. The Chinese made the culture popular at home, bred asparagus varieties with long blades, tender without hard veins. Then it spread throughout the world.

Vigna vegetable was cultivated in the southern regions, it thermophilic... Thanks to the work of breeders, the growing area has expanded. In the central and western regions of Russia, early varieties are grown by seedlings or in greenhouses in the vicinity of cucumbers.

By eating beans in food, we enrich the body with the necessary microelements, as well as vitamins B, C, D... Arginine contained in fruits normalizes hemoglobin in the blood, treats diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure. The presence of potassium and sodium promotes the elimination of excess fluid, reduces edema. The pods can be dried and made into a healthy tea.

Popular varieties

Most interesting for gardeners asparagus varieties, the beans do not have a hard fiber, with a delicate flavor.

• Macaretti - a variety of medium ripening. Already 80 days after germination, the mass collection of beans begins. Scourges up to three meters long. Curved pods, 30 cm long, green, tender. The seeds are brown. Productivity up to 2 kg per bush.
• Countess - an early fruitful variety. The first fruits can be harvested 65 days after the start of mass shoots. Liana twists up to 3 m, beans 50 cm long. Delicate pods do not contain fibers. The seeds are black. Up to 2.5 kg of grain is harvested from a square meter of a garden bed.
• Korean - early bush variety. Beans 10-12 cm long. Compact shrub, does not require much space for growing.

Planting and growing outdoors

Planting includes the preparation of beds and seed material.

Garden bed preparation

The origin of cowpea determines the conditions for its cultivation. The plant requires bright, sheltered from the wind... Does not tolerate acidic and moist soils.

Predecessors: cucumbers, cabbage, tomato, potatoes, eggplant.

To grow cowpea, you need a bright, wind-protected place

In the fall, the garden bed is dug up, humus and compost are added, superphosphate is added. In the spring, re-loosening is performed, complex fertilizer is added. The plant impoverishes the soil, it is planted in the same place 3 years later.

Seed preparation and sowing

Seeds soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes, then washed. You can preheat the grains in warm water. A good result is obtained by soaking in a solution "Phytocid", "Fitosporin".

They are planted in a pot in moist, heated ground three seeds each... The depth of the planting is 1 cm. For the first time, I cover the pot with glass to preserve moisture, and put it on the south window. Seeds germinate at a temperature not lower than 15 degrees.

Water the ground regularly until the first four leaves appear... Then cut. In the first month of growth, the plants are not fed. Planting is carried out 35 days before planting seedlings in the ground. Usually, seedlings are planted in the end of April.

Vegetable cowpea seedlings

Transplanting

Seedlings are planted in the ground after reaching stable heat and no return of frost. The soil should warm up to a depth of 10 cm.

Garden bed moisturize well... Plants are planted in rows at a distance 65 cm... The spacing is done 80 cm.

The bed is mulched and covered with foil on the established arcs. After reaching an average temperature of +15 degrees, the shelter is removed.

You can plant cowpea straight into the ground... Seeds are sown from May 20 in holes to a depth of 5 cm, three seeds each. When receiving seedlings, one plant is left. At an early stage, the culture is covered.

Plant care during the growing season

As usual, this is watering, feeding, loosening, weeding. Vigna - plant drought tolerant... Necessarily needed to water when buds appear, loosen after the seedlings reach a height of 7 cm.

For climbing varieties, the installation of supports is required

Top dressing combined with watering. 5 g of potassium chloride, 15 g of superphosphate are added to a bucket of water, 100 g of ash is suitable instead of potassium. Along the row, a furrow is made 5 cm deep, spilled with a fertilizer solution, then mulched with earth and loosened.

For climbing varieties of cowpea set supports... For this purpose, you can use a cucumber net stretched over the frame. When the vine grows to 2.5 m, you need to pinch it. This will speed up the ripening of the fruit.

Harvesting and storage of crops

Harvesting cowpea beans on the shoulder begin 10 days after their formation... They reach milky ripeness, become juicy and fleshy. Collecting fruits contributes to the growth of new ones. During massive growth, the crop is harvested every three days.

Green cowpea shoulder blades cannot be stored for a long time, they turn yellow and wither. For long-term storage, the pods are frozen. In winter, you will receive a healthy vitamin product.

Cowpea pods are harvested 10 days after their formation

If the plant is grown for grain, the beans must be ripe and the pods must dry. The grains are husked, dried and stored in a cool dry place.

Seed germination is maintained up to 5 years.

Vigna in cooking

Cowpea seeds boil well, they are used in salads, soups and sauces. After defrosting, delicate shoulder blades make delicious side dishes. Product contains more protein than fish and meat... Like all vegetables, it is low in calories and contains a lot of fiber. Sprouted grains are used for dietary nutrition.

Vigna is a relatively new vegetable crop for Russia. But its popularity is growing. The development of regionalized varieties has made it a less exotic and problematic crop for our climate. Considering the beneficial properties, it is worth trying to grow this vegetable in your garden.