Promiscuous African (Southern) Pea Breeding Mix
Vigna unguiculata
Seeds per pack ~ 40
Germination: 84% Dec 2023 (Packed for 2025)
From our friends at The Utopian Seed Project, here's another diverse breeding mix ready to be adapted to your farm or garden. This vegetable seems to have a different name in each section of the country. Southern peas are also called cowpeas, field peas, crowder peas, and black-eyed peas. Several varieties have historically been cultivated in Africa, and were transported to the Americas via the transatlantic slave trade, hence a new term, African Peas. By whatever name you call them, they’re an old favorite in the South
According to The Utopian Seed Project founder Chris Smith: "This is the beginnings of an African Pea Ultracross, created as part of a search for promiscuous peas! In most things related to seeds, I always first turn to Yanna Fishman, board member of The Utopian Seed Project and an incredible seed keeper. I told Yanna I was looking for African peas [A.K.A. southern peas, black-eyed peas, or cowpeas — though they are not just food for cows!] and when I arrived for a visit she had pulled out jars and jars of different African pea varieties.
They were diverse and beautiful, but there was one jar pushed to the corner labelled only 'Sports'. Yanna explained that she plants all of her peas pretty close to each other and hand shells everything. When she gets peas that don't look like their parents, she puts them off to one side and they all end up in the 'Sports' jar. It's quite likely the sports were actually crosses and this jar represented just the promiscuous peas I was looking for!
In 2023 we planted two 50 foot rows of Yanna's peas alongside one row of Joseph Lofthouse's landrace African peas. We also had plantings of 'Texas Green Emerald' (the green pea in the mix) and 'Rouge de Burkina Faso' (the red pea) planted in adjacent rows. This mix is a combination of all the seeds with high hopes of ongoing intercrossing."
GROWING TIPS: African peas may be prostrate and sprawl along the ground, or climbing and sprawl in every direction. We expect this population will have some forms of each, so it might be advantageous to have a trellis in the row or bed with these plants, just in case any of them really want to climb (and won't express their full potential without climbing). Direct sow seeds in warm soil some weeks after the last threat of frost has passed. Give plenty of room for plants to sprawl around.
Botanical Origins of Vigna unguiculata
Vigna unguiculata, commonly known as cowpea, black-eyed pea, or southern pea, is a species of legume that originated in sub-Saharan Africa. Its wild relatives are native to tropical regions of West Africa, where the plant evolved in dry savanna ecosystems characterized by seasonal rainfall and poor soils. Genetic and archaeological evidence points to the Sahel region—spanning modern-day Niger, Nigeria, and Burkina Faso—as the primary center of domestication. This region’s fluctuating climate favored plants that could tolerate drought, leading to the selection of early cowpea types adapted to marginal soils and variable moisture. The species’ genetic diversity is greatest in Africa, supporting its identification as the evolutionary cradle of the crop.
History of Domestication
Domestication of Vigna unguiculata likely began more than 3,000 years ago, when early African farmers began selecting plants with larger seeds, less pod shattering, and improved taste. These cultivated forms were closely associated with the rise of settled agriculture in West African communities that also grew millet and sorghum. Archaeobotanical finds from central Ghana and the Niger River basin confirm cowpea’s early presence in African farming systems. Its rapid domestication was driven by its multipurpose utility—as a source of protein-rich seeds, edible leaves, and soil-enriching green manure.
Spread and Diversification
From West Africa, domesticated cowpea spread along ancient trade routes both within Africa and beyond. It moved eastward into Ethiopia and down into southern Africa, where it diversified under local growing conditions and cultural preferences. Through trans-Saharan trade and contact with the Mediterranean world, Vigna unguiculata reached India by around 2,000 years ago, and later spread to Southeast Asia. The species was introduced to the Americas in the 16th–17th centuries via the transatlantic slave trade, where enslaved Africans carried seeds and culinary traditions that became embedded in Southern U.S. food culture. In the Americas, cowpea adapted to new environments and diversified into varieties such as the black-eyed pea, clay, cream, and crowder types. Today, it is a global crop cultivated across tropical and subtropical regions, valued for its resilience, nitrogen-fixing ability, and central role in food security.
