[danger]

I thought about posting this in the Farming, Gardening & Recipes area, but I'm hoping the content crosses enough lines that it is okay here.

I've been growing sprouts for a couple of years now, and have learned a lot through trial and error. One of the easiest sprouting seeds to grow is the mung bean. I grow mine in a wide mouth quart canning jar, usually two to three tablespoons at a time. After an overnight soak and one or two rinses for three to four days, the jar is full.

I normally eat the sprouts steamed or in stir fry, but they are also great on sandwiches, with cottage cheese, or in an omelet. I got a little tired of sprouts a while back, so I experimented with adding the beans to soups, and grinding them into flour to add to bread. Mung beans turned out to be very versatile!

This spring I had a little extra room in the garden, and I had been curious about harvesting seeds and saving them, so I decided to plant about a tablespoon worth of mung beans in two six foot rows. I didn't know exactly what to expect, and there were some surprises. After about ninety days I started to see some larger beans. I picked one and as I tried to open it to find the seeds, I discovered a sticky substance surrounding the seeds. It was a lot of effort to get the seeds out without crushing them, and then as they dried they shriveled up to almost nothing. I was pretty disappointed.

A few days later I noticed that some of the beans had turned black and were dried out. I pulled one off and it opened up in my hand and the seeds flew out. The hull was in a spiral shape. I picked up the beans and they were exactly like what I had planted. I picked a few more and set them on a table in the sun. As they dried a little more several snapped open on their own, which was pretty cool after my messy experience with the fresh beans.

I've already harvested ten times more than I planted, and there are a lot left. I'm sprouting some now for stir-fry-Friday and have saved out a bunch to plant again. I might try again this year to see if I can get anything before it cools off to much. I've read that mung beans do better in warmer weather.

I purchase mung beans in #10 cans. They are cheap, have a good shelf life, and are not only easy to use, but also offer good nutrition.

I've read a lot here about community and helping people out. Mung beans are a part of my plan to help others. It is a food item that can be utilized several ways over time, and if managed correctly, can replenish itself and is easy to harvest. It doesn't cover everything, but I hope you have some in your supplies.

Recipe links:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mung-bean-recipe.html
http://www.recipetips.com/glossary-term/t--33526/mung-bean.asp

 

[Sage0925]

I love mung bean sprouts...my problem is remembering to rinse them at least once a day...lol...I even have 3 seeds taped to the top of the cook stove to remind me. Daily brain fart.

Thanks for sharing though...I was thinking about planting some.

 

[MikeK]

Mung bean sprouts are my favorite sprout, with alfalfa running a close second. I bought a big bag of them. I plan to start growing them to replenish my supply one of these times. I appreciate the info you gave on that.

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

We use Mung Beans in Kung Fu training. We hit bags of them, for Iron hand conditioning as they are a perfectly sized movable medium that spreads the power of the blow, but also penetrates it into the hand for increasing bone density.

The powder created by the beans repeatedly crushing gets pushed into the skin and has a tonifying effect on it, making it stronger, less prone to cuts and tears, yet softer and more supple at the same time.

When your Iron hand skills are powerful enough, you can easily pound the bag to dust in a single session. At that point you move up to pea gravel, and when that gets easily crushed, steel shot.

 

[danger]

Quick update. I've gathered most of the beans, and the plants seem like they are nearly done. Only a couple have beans still growing.

I have now collected 39 tablespoons of mung bean seeds from the 1 tablespoon I planted. With what is left out there I will get over 40 tablespoons total. A 40 to 1 return was much more than I expected.

I sprouted 2 tablespoons in a mason jar and got 2 full cups of fresh sprouts.

 

[goldbug]

Sprouts are a key part of my preps. Via handypantry.com, I have several hundred pounds of nitrogen-packed sprouting seeds of all kinds for long-term storage. Via sproutpeople.com, I keep fifty-or-so pounds in constant rotation. They are easy to produce, can be grown anywhere you get a little sunlight (easy to hide), very nutritious, and provide both protein and nutrients depending on what you're sprouting. I could start from scratch today, and have quinoa sprouting in a day, and most other veg/beans sprounting in a few days. They are my go-to for fresh veg if something takes out the food distribution system and the grocery stores empty out. The only flaw that I can see is when "doing it by the book", it takes a lot of water. But since we live on a clean, freshwater lake, and have a couple of Katadyn filters, I don't worry about that too much.

 

[Para]

Sprouts are a key part of my preps. Via handypantry.com, I have several hundred pounds of nitrogen-packed sprouting seeds of all kinds for long-term storage. Via sproutpeople.com, I keep fifty-or-so pounds in constant rotation. They are easy to produce, can be grown anywhere you get a little sunlight (easy to hide), very nutritious, and provide both protein and nutrients depending on what you're sprouting. I could start from scratch today, and have quinoa sprouting in a day, and most other veg/beans sprounting in a few days. They are my go-to for fresh veg if something takes out the food distribution system and the grocery stores empty out. The only flaw that I can see is when "doing it by the book", it takes a lot of water. But since we live on a clean, freshwater lake, and have a couple of Katadyn filters, I don't worry about that too much.

I'm in total agreement with the above. Years ago I toyed with the idea of a greenhouse for greens during winter and spring but decided the effort just wasn't worth it when sprouting was so easy and yielded a better food to boot. The only seed I keep under nitrogen is broccoli as that's how it's packaged from handypantry. Other seeds like alfalfa,clover, the beans, whole green peas and chick peas retain great germination rates for 5-10 years. I tried others like onion, sunflower, radish, popcorn, wheat but didn't particularly care for them as sprouts. For overlall nutrition vs storage area needed it would be hard to beat sprouts.
Para.

 

[Raven]

We use Mung Beans in Kung Fu training. We hit bags of them, for Iron hand conditioning as they are a perfectly sized movable medium that spreads the power of the blow, but also penetrates it into the hand for increasing bone density.

The powder created by the beans repeatedly crushing gets pushed into the skin and has a tonifying effect on it, making it stronger, less prone to cuts and tears, yet softer and more supple at the same time.

When your Iron hand skills are powerful enough, you can easily pound the bag to dust in a single session. At that point you move up to pea gravel, and when that gets easily crushed, steel shot.

I would love to know more of this technique/discipline.