Pigeon Peas-a prolific and versatile food crop!! and like Moringa, will be vital in the near future!

This is a fantastic plant that could feed many people. Plant it along with your Moringa.

Thread: MORINGA- THE MIRACLE PLANT. THIS IS A SURVIVAL PLANT AND WILL BE VITAL IN NEAR FUTURE!!! BANANAS!!!

A perfect pair for your families survival!

Thanks, I actually ordered some moringa seeds because of that thread, I'm very glad I did. I will look into these also.

Wow - 8 months to get a harvest? That's a long time for peas.

Well, it's definitely too late to give them a try this year, here in zone 7. If I can remember, I'll try to start some inside next Feb - that is if the world hasn't gone up in flames by then and if I still have a house/yard to plant in.

It grows quickly and has uses before 8 mos. Zone 9 here. Two plants have provided one gallon of shelled dry peas. The plants produce continually so there are lots of pods still on the trees.

They grow back from the roots if the ground does not freeze. Or readily reseed themselves.

Excellent! You are wise. I got mine after reading that too.
Thank you Luisport!

Thank you so much!

PIGEON PEA BEAN (Cajanus Indicus), also known as Congo Pea, is an ancient cultivar found in Egyptian tombs of the 12th dynasty. It is considered an African heirloom that migrated to the Caribbean and then made its home in the American South. It is unusual in that it is a 3-year perennial bush than can reach 15' high in the proper climate and in fact has naturalized in its native environs, so you can have fun bringing this one inside in a large pot after it is established. The pods are long, fuzzy and oddly shaped. It is a bean, not a pea, and it has a rounded shape like a garbanzo bean, with pretty light brown/dark brown speckled coloration. The most wonderful thing about the Pigeon Pea is its incredible flavor, texture and versatility -- you can eat young as a sprout (which may be the most digestible form), green vegetable (combines well with rice), dried for soups and stews (awesome cooked with coconut milk and chili), or ground for flour. It has a nutty earthy flavor (some say it tastes like bacon) that has been well-received in various tasting competitions. It is also healthy - with 25% protein and is under study for many other potential health benefits. Bush habit, 90-120 days. 50 seeds.

MEDICINAL: The leaves and roots have traditionally been used for coughs, digestive disorders, to reduce swelling of liver, gum disease and as a poultice for sores.

GROWING TIP: Pigeon Pea is a tropical, and so has a longer growing period than most legumes. Although it does not tolerate frost, it will grow in temperatures to just above frost level. The long stalks do not require support and are often grown as a windbreak for other crops. If growing as an annual, allow 90-120 days, and starting seed indoors in gutter flats will give you a good head start. When each section has gotten strong enough, and been acclimated (or hardened off), simply push the soil from one end of the flat into your previously prepared row. However, Pigeon Pea is a tender perennial and given the proper growing conditions can be maintained for 5-12 years and as such, might be a good candidate for container or greenhouse production. All beans and peas are legumes and benefit from "inoculating" with rhizobacteria. These bacteria do the work of taking gaseous nitrogen from the air and "fixing" or concentrating it in pink root nodules which then slough off, adding nitrogen to the soil in a form other plants can take up as a nutrient. Inoculating your beans and peas will increase germination, and the health of your plants, helping them growing large roots and thus healthier plants. Growing pole beans with corn provides an extra shot of nitrogen to the corn, a wonderful natural symbiotic relationship that the Native Americans understood very well. You will see a big difference in overall results. Healthy legumes should also be turned under the soil when production ends as they are excellent green manure for your next crops. HERE IS A TIP FROM ONE HAPPY CUSTOMER WHO REPORTS "Starting the pigeon peas in a damp, heated, sealed container works great - I transfer them to soil with bottom heat when the roots show, then to a cold frame when the sprout sprouts. After the first leaves are established I mix a little innoculant with molasses & milk & water & pour it on."

[link to www.cherrygal.com]

Pigeon peas are both a food crop (dried peas, flour, or green vegetable peas) and a forage/cover crop. In combination with cereals, pigeon peas make a well-balanced human food. The dried peas may be sprouted briefly, then cooked, for a flavor different from the green or dried peas. Sprouting also enhances the digestibility of dried pigeon peas via the reduction of indigestible sugars that would otherwise remain in the cooked dried peas.[4]

In India, split pigeon peas (toor dal) also called Togari bele in Kannada and Tuvaram paruppu in Tamil are one of the most popular pulses, being an important source of protein in a mostly vegetarian diet. In regions where it grows, fresh young pods are eaten as a vegetable in dishes such as sambar. In Ethiopia, not only the pods, but also the young shoots and leaves are cooked and eaten.[5]

Kenyans shelling pigeon peas
In some places, such as the Dominican Republic, Panama and Hawaii, pigeon peas are grown for canning and consumption. A dish made of rice and green pigeon peas (called moro de guandules) is a traditional food in the Dominican Republic. Pigeon peas are also made as a stew, with plantain balls. In Puerto Rico arroz con gandules is made with rice and pigeon peas and is a typical dish. Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada have their own variant, called pelau, which includes either beef or chicken, and occasionally pumpkin and pieces of cured pig tail.

In Thailand, pigeon peas are grown as a host for scale insects which produce lac.

Pigeon peas are in some areas an important crop for green manure, providing up to 90 kg nitrogen per hectare (Adu-Gyamfi et al., 2007) . The woody stems of pigeon peas can also be used as firewood, fencing and thatch.
[link to en.wikipedia.org]

pigeon pea poster: [link to www.docstoc.com]

Excellent info Luisport!

People, please get seeds for your family. A couple of plants could give you some food security and improve your soil at the same time.

They can be planted inconspicuously in the landscape. Most people would walk right by one and not realize you are growing food. Great for those who live in subdivisions where food plots are frowned upon.

Pigeon peas, the Guerrilla gardening star!
Throw seeds everywhere. Pass them out to all your friends!
Grow food not lawns.

Bless You!

keep in mind this is only true until montsatan gets ahold of it and destroys it.

Excellent videos.

Poor man's meat.

When crops fail, pigeon peas yield.

Malnutrition could be a thing of the past.

Very kind. Thank you

Plant climbing vegetables next to your pigeon peas. The pigeon peas act as a trellis while feeding your crop.

no, thank you. this is the kind of thing people really need to know