Rachel Reed

Gorilla Garbanzos: from Pea to Plant

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One day I was innocently sprouting lentils and decided to add a few chickpeas. Chick, peas. Look what happened:

Bag of garbonzo beans

Day 1: Bag of La Macarena brand garbanzo beans, from local “super maya” in Cobano. In a bowl, cover 1/4 cup beans with 2+ inches of water and soak in refrigerator for about two days. Cover bowl with a plate so freaky refrigerator juices don’t leak in.

Small glass bowl with about a dozen sprouted chickpeas       Day 3:
Drain beans and rinse.  Return beans to jar and secure top with breathable fabric (toilet paper, cheese cloth, etc.) using rubber band.  Set jar at a steep angle, top face down, so water slowly drains out. Rinse in strainer or colander each morning and night, and repeat. Pictured above-right: my sprouts after about 5 days

Several bags of chickpea plants, about 4 inches tall, about 3 per bag
Day 8: Plant sprouts 1-2 inches deep; 3-4 beans per bag. Lots of sun and water. Pictured left: the babies (“Day 13”) in temporarily plastic bag-pots after about six days in soil.

 

Day 15: Transplant
Provide about 1 foot diameter around each plant. Apologize to plants if/when roots break off while transplanting. Here they are after about two days in the ground (Day 17).

(Image of garden coming soon — pictured right)
We expect that each plant will grow to the size of a small bush.  After 90-120 days they should be ready for harvest, which you can do by pulling out the entire plant letting is dry out itself, or harvest individual beans while roots are still intact. Then, make falafelShanti shanti shanti. Peace peace peace.