They are in the center of the row and you can tell that they are petering out. The leaves are turning yellow, all pods have been harvested, and after a busy summer of producing many meals for us, they are tired and their life cycle is complete. Good financial stewards leave a legacy to their offspring, often of money, land and gifts, but also advice, wisdom, and memories.
Some plants, amazingly, leave a legacy, too! I'm talking about nitrogen fixation. Cowpeas (Purple Hull peas, Ozark Razorback peas, and Black-eyed peas) are legumes that we plant that are excellent fixers of nitrogen. Here's how it works: I wasn't very good at chemistry, but I've read about the process. See 80% of our surrounding atmosphere is comprised of nitrogen (N2), but it is unusable by plants. Plants use ammonia (NH3), a form of nitrogen though. Cowpeas have the God-given ability to convert N2 to NH3!
Bacteria in the soil works in conjunction with the plant to do this job. The bacteria live in little nodules on the roots of the plants. I'm sure you've seen them if you've ever pulled the roots up on legumes like cowpeas or soybeans. The bacteria is working in these nodules to produce NH3 which is absorbed by the plant. Some, however, is absorbed in the soil when the roots decompose and helps enrich the soil for crops planted later. (Hence the legacy!)
The photo below shows the "After" shot that followed the photo above. I took out my weedeater and chopped down the cowpeas, leaving the roots intact. I didn't want to pull the roots, but letting them stay to provide food for the next crop - in this case cabbage seedlings that I'll plant amongst the chopped down cowpeas.
Long after our meal of purple hull peas over rice with tasso is long gone, the purple hulls will still be providing food - but no longer for us - this time for the cabbage crop in the form of nitrogen.
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