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Anyone have any experience with growing chickpeas?

Sergio Santoro

Posts: 259

Location: Nicoya, Costa Rica

posted 13 years ago

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Or can point me to some good material?

Thanks.

Writing from Madhuvan, a yoga retreat/organic farm on the West Coast of Costa Rica.

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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i grow them, they do pretty good. i can tell you the seedlings are frost hardy, even light snow hardy. once established they are pretty drought tolerant. they seem to like growing with my white clover, and love hugelkultur beds.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

Rob Seagrist

Posts: 717

Location: NC-Zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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I agree. Ive been growing mine for a few years as tests. I just throw them on the mulch and they seem to do rather well, but its a lower germination rate that way. I had them in the driest clay part of my garden and they did good without irrigation. Id like to try more broadscale next year, and plant in better soil. Ive yet to find a good way of hand harvesting them that doesnt take a while.

permaculture wiki: www.permies.com/permaculture

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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rob wait until the plants are done and dry, toss all of them on a big tarp or in a big pillow case/trashbag. step on it or smash it with a stick. then simply winnow the chaff in a big basket.

you can tell when they are ready when you shake the plant, it sounds like a rattle.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

Rob Seagrist

Posts: 717

Location: NC-Zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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Do you just pull the plants out whole? Ive been leaving them in tact so the roots can rot in place. How many pounds do you harvest each year? And do you plant in early spring only?

permaculture wiki: www.permies.com/permaculture

Sergio Santoro

Posts: 259

Location: Nicoya, Costa Rica

posted 13 years ago

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Interesting feedback. Last time I read about it I was of the impression that I needed to make a special patch with the sandiest soil for drainage. My Indian friend told me that in Rajasthan they wait for the monsoon to be over, they plant, and forget about them.

I live in Costa Rica; we have a good 3 months of rain still, and the heaviest is just about to begin. October is just rain, drizzle, mist, overcast, mist, drizzle, rain, storm, rain...

So, for sure I'll wait until at least November, but I'm relieved to hear they grow well in clay, which is what we have. I do have a hugelkultur, too. Or kind of, it's all shrunk down.

Writing from Madhuvan, a yoga retreat/organic farm on the West Coast of Costa Rica.

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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i cut the plants a few inches above the soil. i do not pull the roots.

ive only grown them for a couple years, the first was just to see if i could grow them at all and if it was worth it. this year i grew and harvested about 5 lbs. next year i will plant a lot more.

i have only planted them in the spring. but this year i tossed a bunch out that are still in the pods as if they fell like natural. well see how well those do next year.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

Rob Seagrist

Posts: 717

Location: NC-Zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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Do you use garden shears or weedwacker or something? Your process is very similar to mine for oats and mustard seed. I found something interesting the other day...I did the same experiment with kidney beans, and as I was harvesting I found some sprouting beans still inside the dry stalk. I wonder if all beans do that?

permaculture wiki: www.permies.com/permaculture

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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they are hand cut, no way id use a weed whacker. i hate those things. i cut a hundred or so plants in 10-15 minutes so its not that hard. took me another 30 minutes to winnow it. luckily chickpeas are very very easy to winnow as the seeds are so heavy. i know i can still increase my yield as some plants only gave me like 10 chickpeas while others were well in the 60's,70s, and some much higher. so pretty much im still in the experimental stage but still doing pretty good.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

John Polk

steward

Posts: 7926

Location: Currently in Lake Stevens, WA. Home in Spokane

350

posted 13 years ago

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I have seen (frozen) green chickpeas lately. They had recipes for a (TM) "Garbonzole" (Guacamole with chickpeas instead of avocado), and other things.

Perhaps they were using them as an N fixing cover crop, and had to pull them for the cash crop, and just started experimenting. Perhaps worth remembering if you have some that aren't quite ready when Jack Frost comes knocking @ the door.

Rob Seagrist

Posts: 717

Location: NC-Zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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hubert cumberdale wrote:
they are hand cut, no way id use a weed whacker. i hate those things. i cut a hundred or so plants in 10-15 minutes so its not that hard. took me another 30 minutes to winnow it. luckily chickpeas are very very easy to winnow as the seeds are so heavy. i know i can still increase my yield as some plants only gave me like 10 chickpeas while others were well in the 60's,70s, and some much higher. so pretty much im still in the experimental stage but still doing pretty good.

Wow thats a great yield. Looks like I have alot to look forward to. I typically get less than 10 on my plants, and my plants only get 2 feet tall at the most. I think I planted them too late, so they go to seed and dont grow too big. I didn't know until recently that they did well in cooler weather.

permaculture wiki: www.permies.com/permaculture

Joe Skeletor

Posts: 113

Location: Blue Island, Illinois - Zone 6a - (Lake Effect) - surrounded by zone 5b

posted 13 years ago

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John Polk,

About the green garbanzo's....I've actually seen them sold fresh green in produce sections in the Indian part of town (far north side of Chicago). There was a huge pile of them and lots of people buying. So I'm pretty sure that people eat them fresh like shelling peas, and also dried, of course. I've never had them green. I'm imagining something like edamame, perhaps?

Joe

Sergio Santoro

Posts: 259

Location: Nicoya, Costa Rica

posted 13 years ago

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Green chickpeas are delicious, or that's what I remember from trying one that I had just shelled 10 years ago from a plant I had there just for trial.

Wow 5lb over how big a surface?

Writing from Madhuvan, a yoga retreat/organic farm on the West Coast of Costa Rica.

Jordan Lowery

pollinator

Posts: 1528

Location: zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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Wow 5lb over how big a surface?

they were scattered about, i dont grow anything in rows or beds where i have my permaculture garden. so the area they came from is a lot bigger than if it was all just chickpeas. the thing is i got 20+ other crops along with the chickpeas.

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings. - Masanobu Fukuoka

Rob Seagrist

Posts: 717

Location: NC-Zone 7

posted 13 years ago

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Yeah, green ones are good. I like the idea of harvesting cold.....season extension with a twist!

permaculture wiki: www.permies.com/permaculture

Kay Bee

Posts: 471

Location: Jackson County, OR (Zone 7)

posted 13 years ago

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I planted about 50 seed of Carol Deppe's chickpea variety this year and they have done pretty well. This is my first year growing chickpeas and I didn't know much of what to expect.

They are pretty care-free plants in the hugel beds... no fertilizer, just a bit of water every couple weeks. I'll probably just amplify my seed from this year and replant ~90% of the harvest. Probably broadcast some this year and replant the rest next March.

They are tasty in the green stage. I have to keep my wife and the kids from eating too many.

"Limitation is the mother of good management", Michael Evanari

Location: Southwestern Oregon (Jackson County), Zone 7

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