I want to grow food in a field.

[tuk50]

Pardner, you really need to start working in composted manure every time you plant something. It (cheaply) provides a lot of good things your (farmed for gererations) soil needs.
Potatoes need a low ph soil (pine needles) if available and red types seem to do better here in Tucson than others. Sweetpotatoes are great like lurley said. Many years ago my grandpa rotated onions one year and sweetpotatoes the next in eastern Okla. where our soil was a good sandy loam with no irrigation. Cowpeas (your blackeye peas) are something that should produce great in what you describe. This is a good article from Clemson University and can give you an idea what will grow with less fertilizer and what vegetables need more. Hope this helps some. http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgi.../hgic1254.html

I about forgot to mention that if there is a cattle pond around, the mud or dirt around the edge where the poop washes into the tank when it rains is very rich in nitrogen and will make a great fertilizer applied at only about 1/2 in to 1 in before working up your seed beds. Another great fertilizer I use here is from the feed store. Both cottonseed meal and/or alfalfa pellets (you can google them for nutrient value) are about 15dollars per bag here. I use about 25 lbs per 1000sq ft at beginning and as side dressing again when plants start blooming.