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Little River Cooperative

Pigeon Pea (cajanus cajan) 30 seeds

Regular price $6.00 USD
Regular price Sale price $6.00 USD
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Pigeon Pea, aka Gandules, is a popular perennial legume originating in India, made popular centuries ago in Africa and now being grown and eaten throughout the Caribbean as a staple protein crop. Gandules beans can be harvested and eaten green (shelled, not whole with the pod), or can be allowed to dry on the plant and cooked as a dry bean. In India they are used in popular Dhaal dishes, and in the Caribbean they are cooked with rice for the popular dish "arroz con gandules". 

The plant is popular in permaculture gardens as it is quite drought resistant, tolerant to poor sandy soils, and has many uses. As a perennial legume, pigeon pea can be used to fix nitrogen in a garden with poor quality soil, produces protein rich food, can be used as a forage crop for animals, and also has edible flowers. The tropical woody plant can grow to be up to 4 meters tall, so its best planted in the ground as part of your edible landscaping or perennial plant guild, and not in an annual vegetable bed. If growing outside of the tropics we recommend treating this plant as an annual, perhaps using it to fix nitrogen while creating biomass for composting and bean pods for eating before it succumbs to cold weather. 

Planting and growing tips: its quite common for legumes to be direct seeded (the seed goes in the ground where it will be permanently growing) however we have had good luck with transplanting pigeon pea from pots to their final growing spot. 
Plant seeds 1/4 inch deep in premoistened potting mix in a small pot or seedling tray. Keep cells moist in partial shade until germination, when they can be moved to full sun exposure. Plant seedlings out at about 3 - 4 weeks old. Pigeon Pea is a shrub/ small bushy fast growing annual tree so make sure to give it plenty of space and sun. Harvest pea pods when they have dried on the plant. 

All seeds were harvested from our organic urban farm and plant nursery in 2019. Seed packages are hand silkscreened by Gold Teeth Brooklyn, a handmade stationery company based in Los Angeles. 

Seeds have been tested for reliable germination in our nursery at 80 degree daytime temperatures. We recommend using them within 1 year of date of purchase.

Please note: because we are a working farm we only ship seed orders once weekly so please be patient with your package. If you need a rush shipment please email us and we will do our best to accommodate. 

 

 

 

Materials

All of our plants are produced using OMRI certified organic materials (potting mix, fertilizer & pesticides) however our nursery is not certified organic. Plants are shipped in compostable peat moss pots and we use heirloom & organic seeds whenever possible.

Shipping & Returns

We ship plant orders every Monday. Due to the nature of shipping plants we only offer expedited shipping for our live plant orders. Our returns & exchanges policy is also quite strict since its hard to control the quality of a plant once it leaves our facility, however we do our very best to make sure that each and every customer is satisfied with their plants. Read more about our policies here. 

Size

All of our plants are potted in 4" pots and their foliage size varies based on how large the plant is naturally when its root ball is the correct size for the pot. If a plant is too tall for our shipping box we may prune it to fit (bonus: many plants do better after being pruned since they make bushier growth). We do our very best to ship all of our plants in the "sweet spot" of maturity however so long as the roots have colonized the pot we will consider a plant mature enough to ship.

Care Instructions

When you receive your plant its critical to get it out of its box and into the light the day it arrives. It will also want to be removed from its compostable plastic wrapping and given fresh water to drink. Keep in mind, this plant was grown in the tropical humid climate of South Florida, so if it's terribly cold or dry where you are it'll need to be hardened off before planting outdoors. Visit our care instructions page for more thorough info about caring for your new plant friend.

  • What Our Customers Have to Say:

    This is a great, local organization with really knowledgeable & friendly staff. They make gardening easy and accessible, and I've purchased many high quality plants and equipment from them.
    -Kate Black (5 star google review)

  • And Another One:

    How lucky we are to have a resource like Little River Cooperative here in Miami, not only for the access they offer to a great selection of plants and produce, but also for the knowledge they provide and the sense of community they foster!
    -Nick Vagnoni (5 star google review)