Popping Chickpeas

[12540dumont]

I have Carol Deppe's Hanan Pop Beans in the ground. We've just had a rain (very unusual) and there's a million things coming up there. It's a new field and most of these are weeds I haven't seen.

This field has been fallow for about 2 seasons. Skads of wildflowers and Asian veges coming up.

I'm about to weed. I have seen cicers full grown but never in it's infant form. Anyone? Do these look like little ferns? I've never grown these before.

[blueadzuki]

Not a lot. They have feathery leaves but the resemblence between them and ferns sort of ends there. they have the sort of upright growth habit of a bush type legume, not the leaves from a base growth of a fern. To me, at least, they look a lot more like something like salad burnet than a fern but with a somewhat thicker stalk.

[12540dumont]

Ahh, Then these must be them. Terrific, I'm off to weed the corn/beans/poppers. Thanks Blue!

Attachments:

[mnjrutherford]

I grew a few for the first time last year. That's what mine looked like. Pretty aren't they? I hope you have good luck with them!

[blueadzuki]

One other thing. Depending on how good your soild is for chickpeas they may or may not get much bigger than they are now. The bit about the innoculant is correct, but the innoculent is more along the lines of an enhancer than a decider. That is, if you don't have the right bacteria, the chickpeas will still come up, but the ultimate plants will be stunted (and not all that fertile). I've had chickpeas on my land (which is not well innoculated) flower at only about 4 inches tall, but you usually only get 1 flower and the pod rarely reaches maturity. What I'm trying to get at is, don't pull up the short plants unless you have to, they may be the best you can do, and still may produce something.)

[grunt]

I tried growing chickpeas (supermarket bulk) as a green manure crop late last summer. Tey got to about 3' tall, and were the last thing still alive in the garden in the fall.

[blueadzuki]

May 24, 2011 0:17:29 GMT -5 grunt said:

I tried growing chickpeas (supermarket bulk) as a green manure crop late last summer. Tey got to about 3' tall, and were the last thing still alive in the garden in the fall.

I didn't say "will" I said "may", It depends on your soil. My soil, as I pointed out, is currently innoculant poor, yours may not be. Also I was planting desi type. If you were getting the chickpeas from the bulk bin at the supermarket they were probably kabuli type (unless the supermarket in question was an organic with bins full of black kabouli's or one spechilizing in Indian produce. those are generally bigger, in both seed and plant.

[wildseed57]

I use a lot of chick peas and other legumes, I always thought that the Nuna beans that are used for popping were Lupins and you needed to be at a high elevation to get them to pop right, but looking at the photo's they don't look like Lupins, so I guess I'm wrong on that point. I have had little luck growing Fava beans because the weather gets to hot and dry, here in Missouri and the ants and aphids have a field day. I guess I should just stick with beans that will grow well for me which would exclude Fava's and Chick peas. I like big meaty and highly Flavorful beans that have a lot of color mainly because I use a lot of them in salads and soups. I will just have to buy my Chick peas, I ran across a site that sells all kinds of beans and peas. Do popped chick peas have a good flavor? I know that biting into a hard chick pea will definitely make you check the next time to be sure that they are all completely cooked. I'm not big on Lima beans although I grow some every year just to add to soups.
George W.

[12540dumont]

George,
Do you grow runner beans; they are great for good and meaty? The ones from Sand Hill Preservation Seeds (Insuks Wang Kong) might do great for you.

This is my first year with garbanzos. I also have never done tepary beans. I just didn't want to hoe them out, thinking they were some exotic weed. With so much rain all kinds of things are popping out in the field. Bok Choy, zinnias, cosmos, tomatillos and tomatoes everywhere. The poppers are one of my only crops not on irrigation. When I can't see the irrigation lines, I start thinking weeds.

2 years ago I started limas. I never liked them. Then I grew Christmas Lima's and dried them. Now I'm hooked. I'm putting in Violets Beans. My xmas Limas are already up...but only 1 inch tall.

The favas are here now and I'll sure miss them when they are gone. Have you tried any of the favas from Southern Exposure? Theirs come late and are the last harvested here.

Well, back to making compost. Break time is over.

Never met a bean I didn't like...just think only 25,000 more to try.

[mnjrutherford]

Ah GEORGE! You're back with us! I've been hoping and praying to see you sooner rather than later! I hope you and yours made it through intact!

[wildseed57]

Thanks Mnj. Things really rocked and rolled around here, but as I set in a unique Topographical area most of the really bad stuff misses or fizzles out just as it gets here.
I've grown a few of the runners, I had one that I really liked, If I remember right it was called Indian painted bear claws, or Painted Indian Woman, but the mice found them and ate every one of the beans along with a Black Lima I had from Mexico, my other seeds including a very old Indian
Pumpkin I liked that I got from a friend on the Wisconsin reservation was lost also, so now every thing goes into the freezer. I've been looking for a tepary bean like the one I ran across while visiting Northern Mexico, but haven't found it. I may have to go on a seed hunt and try to find it again, I found it growing up and around a Honey Mesquite tree that was full of pods by a old pueblo. I would love to grow a honey Mesquite here, but the one I had seeds of, could not stand the cold wet and freezing weather here, so I ended up eating the beans from it. I've got some Christmas Lima's that I'm growing now that I like in soups.
This year where I had planted My Giant Purple pole snap reseeded and I decided that they were just fine were they were at. I planted three types of yard long Beans along with some yellow pole beans, I hate having to been over to pick beans, My sister will freak when she sees all the melons I snuck in the Okra patch, but I just can't resist a big ripe melon. I seen a bean awhile back that was nearly the size of a quarter and wasn't a Lima, I seen it at the USDA Grin Seed bank I'll have to look for it again and then try to find it at Sand Hill or or at that one Bean place .
George W.

[12540dumont]

Wildseed

PM me your address and I'll send you some tepary beans that I bought from Tierra Farms.

I don't plant them here. I don't have bean mosaic virus and don't want it. So, someone ought to make use of them. Also Carol Deppe has a very interesting wide bean cross with a tepary. (I don't have that one). I don't think she's filling orders at this time of year.

[wildseed57]

Thanks Dumont, I will do that, we have bean mosaic, but not as bad as some. I started to use more legumes especially chick peas, over the last few years as they can add extra protein to meals, I wish I could grow favas but they just don't do well here, I might try mung beans, but you have to really grow a lot of the smaller beans, so I leave them to those that can grow a lot. I might try Garbanzo's again at some point and just grow some of the harder to find varieties I just heard from a person in Italy, so I'm hoping to get something from him in the way of heirloom beans,Tomato and Melons that is if I can get them with out the USDA Seed Police getting them first.
George W.

[12540dumont]

Hanaan Pop Beans, I would have never guessed they'd be so pretty.

Attachments:

[caledonian]

The flowers are really quite lovely, so much more colorful than the plants that come from the large, supermarket-style seeds. Rather like peas in that way - the white-flowered varieties are widespread, but the older types have all of the interesting colors.