I really feel like sprouting is easier, takes less materials, takes up less space, and is probably about the same nutritionally as micro greens, but that’s just my opinion. 
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Ditto…somebody send me the link in private mode also.
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Has anyone brought up growing your own dried beans? They store well without canning. I have a lima bean that produced so much I got tired of picking them. The only problem is they need lots of space to get a decent crop, and you have to clean the seeds.
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I have been growing dry beans for several years, many different varieties all mixed together. I actually enjoy watching TV and shelling dry beans.
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I have grown them to fill in spaces where early crops failed in the garden. Dried beans are so cheap in the store, it is hardly worth the effort unless you want some particular variety of organic or have a spot to fill like I did. They do keep for years, though. I cooked up some when caring for my very elderly dad to learn they had been in the back of the cupboard for 20 or 30 years! A bit chewy, but edible. Not sure if any nutrition left in them.
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@clarkinks also started this thread about lentils last year. I’m bringing that up because if it came down to it and we really had to provide most of our food (or wait for our ration day), I’d choose lentils over beans due to the fact that they are easier to digest. I have actually done a bit of research on lentils too and have started collecting different types of lentil seeds. I didn’t get around to planting any lentils beyond a patch at the end of the season for a cover crop, but I am planning to sow some next spring.
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Removed a comment that was disrespectful to the admins group as I certainly have not leaned a certain direction or been disrespectful to anyone. Didn’t appreciate that comment. Once again I’m going to remind everyone to be respectful of each other. I’m not used to being talked to in that way. Growing more food is what this topic is about. I’m going to ask everyone again to leave these other things out of the topic.
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I would find a diet without a wide array of beans very boring and lentil burritos just don’t sound very attractive. I was raised in states bordering Mexico and love Mexican food, especially low meat high bean versions of it.
However, I don’t have time to grow and shell my own beans when a pound costs so little when produced through modern agriculture and processing. They even keep the dirt clods and small stones out of them nowadays.
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Hi @alan Yes, I know all about the information you posted. I know about the different ways to soak beans, length of time, etc. (and the whys). I still like lentils better. Even on a burrito. But thanks for the info. 
I also agree with the time it takes to shell beans (or lentils, which is even worse, imh). I will still be growing both beans and lentils though because we can’t see into the future to know what type of situation we will be in 4-6 months from any given period in time (the virus cemented that thought for me… better safe than sorry).
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On a forum, posts are for all readers, not just the person it’s addressed to, of course. I wasn’t aware of all the info myself. I didn’t know that a primary reason for soaking beans is the removal of sugars that otherwise require fermenting through bacterial digestion in ones lower gut. My son suggested to me that it is recommended to dispose of the soaking water, but didn’t explain why.
However, you should consider the use of flatulance as an off the grid energy source when the system collapses. Special balloon insertions can be used to capture the methane.
Meanwhile I will continue to cook beans in my high temp swiss pressure cooker without any noticeable increase in gas production on our guts from eating them, even without soaking and rinsing.
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Continuing that thought Alan, some people not only want to reduce cow populations, but humans too. (I guess it’s too hard to contain the methane for cooking!)
Here’s a thought: There are more dogs than cows…so that might be a better place to start than the Bovines?
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Come up with and inexpensive technology to collect it and you will be rich.
Collecting methane is pretty regularly done. There are landfills starting down that path Scrub Hub: Landfills try to convert methane emissions into energy . I’m not sure how they remove the smell. You can ferment anything for methane. This article is excellent AE-105
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I was actually speaking to farts, not composting manure. A tremendous amount of methane is released by dogs, cattle and pigs directly from their bodies as gas as I’m sure you know. .
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My greens mini hoop house thing is working nicely… may have a salid from that for dinner this eve.
On the left black seeded simpson lettuce… middle half spinach half bok choi… on the right a specialty leaf lettuce mix.
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Pretty much ran out of freezer room earlier this summer, due to massive amounts of blueberries. So… rather than freezing cowpeas & butterpeas, I just shelled 'em out, spread 'em on a towel on a table below a ceiling fan and dried them. Pulled the (bush-type) butterpea plants, just ahead of freeze last week, have them piled in the barn aisle, and I’m daily pulling filled pods off and shelling them of an evening while watching TV.
Also… last year, I bought a 2lb bag of ‘State’ half-runner green beans that were on clearance table at the local feed/seed store. We found them to be a pretty poor excuse for a green/snap bean, compared to any pole bean I’d grown in the past. Still had some seed in the freezer, and some vacant bean fence left, so I planted ‘State’ seeds and just let them go… picking them as pods turned yellow and started to dry; shelled them out and dried them. Have cooked one batch… they’re way better as a white bean than as a green bean.
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I shell beans , wheat, rye, and others about the same Mustard seed Harvest . The old timers piled the wheat straw in big piles in the barn and most think they beat the grain out of it. What I was told they actually did was drove wagons over it. There is a reason I have a front and back Door on my barn. They laid out the equivalent of a tarp underneath and on top. Then used a broom to sweep the wheat in piles. They would beat the straw repeatedly to get all the wheat once they drove over it a bunch. Like removing the husk of a walnut.
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Check out Sola bread, the loaves of bread have small slices but are tasty, they also make great hamburger buns and hot dog buns, Bagels as well.
There are even some dinner rolls that are supposed to come out for Thanksgiving
I have a Safeway here in town that carries it, otherwise I mail order from the website
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After you pick the tea leaves how do you process?
I’ve got both C. sansanqua and japonica but have not made tea.
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Camellia Sinensis is the species used commercially for tea leaf production.
India, China, Indonesia, are among places it is farmed for tea…S.E. Asia is the main area it’s produced.
It is grown in Crimea on the Black Sea…the “Sochi” cultivar might be the hardiest. Only commercial production of any size in the United States is near Charleston, SC.
Anyone growing citrus can grow tea…(here that means inside or a greenhouse)… it isn’t quite as hardy as c. sasanqua.
I have a few c. sasanqua I’ve planted for a paying customer over the years…most live if planted on N or NE side of a home in z6 and z7. In places like Charlotte NC or Columbia SC they’re a ‘no brainer’.
If you succeed growing c. Japonica, then you likely can grow c. sinensis.
I’ve not produced enough to answer your question on processing the leaves…either as green tea or dried…but if you’ve done homemade herbal teas, you can do c.sinensis tea.
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