Zeedman
Garden Master
2021 miscellaneous legumes, cont.
"Black Kali Gram" (Urd), from the late SSE member Anpetu Oihankesni in 2005, who obtained it from the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Sprawling bushes, yellow flowers mostly hidden under foliage. Short 2" pods in clusters of 4-6, turning black when dry. Some pods are very hairy (as in the photo), some pods are smooth; but plants & seeds are otherwise identical. The black seeds have a powdered appearance that persists even after cleaning, and are highly resistant to moisture while in the pod. 16 ounces of seed produced. Somewhat of a pain to harvest, since the tiny pods are concealed by the lush foliage; but very easy to shell. Highly glutinous when cooked, but the skins were too tough for my liking; so probably best used for sprouts. I'll test that with the old stock - which still germinates - this winter.
Hyacinth bean "India Bush", sent to me by late SSE member Martin Longseth in 2013. He stated that it was given to him by a neighbor from India, who had moved & never given him the name; this may be the "Valor Bean Lakshmi" sold by Seeds of India. Unlike most hyacinth beans, it is not daylength sensitive - and flowers 30 days after planting! Pretty crazy, seeing a bean with only 3-4 leaves already flowering. True bush habit, but all pods are borne above the plant, which may topple under their weight. The pods are meant to be cooked immature, when they resemble snow peas... should not be eaten raw, and the mature seeds should not be eaten at all. The papery dry pods shrink down over the seeds, and are surprisingly hard to shell. While the plants themselves are exceptionally tolerant of heavy rains, the dry seeds are not, and I had to sort through them for sprouting & spoilage. This would be a pretty plant in the flower garden, it flowers almost continuously & remains upright if the pods are kept picked off.
While pulling out my old stock of these beans, I had a pleasant surprise:
These are the garbanzo beans that only produced about 25 seeds this year! I had thought I planted my entire stock, but apparently I accidentally split the last grow out into 2 bags. This one was buried under all of the mung & adzuki. I've never before been so happy to make a mistake.
So I not only have enough to make several more attempts, there is enough to share with 1-2 others! If anyone is interested, just send me a PM, I'd like to see this one grown by a few more hands.
"Black Kali Gram" (Urd), from the late SSE member Anpetu Oihankesni in 2005, who obtained it from the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Sprawling bushes, yellow flowers mostly hidden under foliage. Short 2" pods in clusters of 4-6, turning black when dry. Some pods are very hairy (as in the photo), some pods are smooth; but plants & seeds are otherwise identical. The black seeds have a powdered appearance that persists even after cleaning, and are highly resistant to moisture while in the pod. 16 ounces of seed produced. Somewhat of a pain to harvest, since the tiny pods are concealed by the lush foliage; but very easy to shell. Highly glutinous when cooked, but the skins were too tough for my liking; so probably best used for sprouts. I'll test that with the old stock - which still germinates - this winter.
Hyacinth bean "India Bush", sent to me by late SSE member Martin Longseth in 2013. He stated that it was given to him by a neighbor from India, who had moved & never given him the name; this may be the "Valor Bean Lakshmi" sold by Seeds of India. Unlike most hyacinth beans, it is not daylength sensitive - and flowers 30 days after planting! Pretty crazy, seeing a bean with only 3-4 leaves already flowering. True bush habit, but all pods are borne above the plant, which may topple under their weight. The pods are meant to be cooked immature, when they resemble snow peas... should not be eaten raw, and the mature seeds should not be eaten at all. The papery dry pods shrink down over the seeds, and are surprisingly hard to shell. While the plants themselves are exceptionally tolerant of heavy rains, the dry seeds are not, and I had to sort through them for sprouting & spoilage. This would be a pretty plant in the flower garden, it flowers almost continuously & remains upright if the pods are kept picked off.
While pulling out my old stock of these beans, I had a pleasant surprise:
These are the garbanzo beans that only produced about 25 seeds this year! I had thought I planted my entire stock, but apparently I accidentally split the last grow out into 2 bags. This one was buried under all of the mung & adzuki. I've never before been so happy to make a mistake.
So I not only have enough to make several more attempts, there is enough to share with 1-2 others! If anyone is interested, just send me a PM, I'd like to see this one grown by a few more hands.
).
