Mung beans

[Jorieke123]

In the winter-time, we grow a LOT of vitamines in the windowsill. Like cress, alfalfa, fenegreek, sunflower shoots, and mung beans.
But buying all those seeds, cost a lot of money. So I am going to sow the seeds in the garden, and harvest even more seeds! Last year I allready harvested soms cress seeds, musterd seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.

Now my question: Does anyone here know how to grow mung beans? Is it possible in our climate? Is it worth it? (lot of seeds?)
And the same for Fenegreek....
Please help! :)

[Berti]

wow. thats quite a question but never heard yet of anyone growing them in our country....

[Jorieke123]

I will be the first then... :D

[Berti]

definitely think so!!! :) you're unique..........but you knew that, already...

[Jorieke123]

Isn't everybody? :)

[Odsox]

Yes of course you can, done it myself many times.
You sprout them exactly the same as for alfalfa and other sprouted seeds, although you need a bigger jar.
Keep them in the dark though, otherwise the roots get very tough and the stems don't grow so long.
Takes about 5 days in an airing cupboard.

[Green Aura]

If you're planning on growing them to collect the seeds then I guess you'd grow them like any other pulse. If you're growing them for beansprouts then as Odsox says, but you won't get them like stupormarket ones - they're grown under specially pressurised conditions to get them so chubby

As for fenugreek - we grew them and collected the seeds when we lived in Manchester so I'm sure you'll have no problems.

[Odsox]

Sorry, I jumped to conclusions and though we were talking about bean sprouts.

[Jorieke123]

Yes, we sprout the mung beans a lot, so this year I want to sow them in the ground and collect the seeds.
I will try, the alfalfa and cress plants are no problem to grow. So we should have some seeds this winter ;)

[scrap]

I'm currently trying to grow some fenegreek.
The seeds came from a chinese supermarket where they come in pretty large pots (50 grams) for about 90 eurocents.
If you're in town,it's the big windowless building on the Nieuwmarkt,at the end of the Zeedijk.
Plenty of other interesting stuff for cheap,like mustardseeds,coriander,anise etc.
Although the seeds are well past their sell-by date they still germinate like crazy.

[Jorieke123]

Ok! We have to drive too long to go to Amsterdam for a few items :) But last year we took a city trip and bought big bags of mung beans in a Chinese supermarket. It was on the Zeedijk, but not yet on the Nieuwmarkt... And there were windows ;)
So next time we will walk furter!

[scrap]

Oh,let me guess...long narrow corner shop,with a basement stuffed to the ceiling with everything you could ever imagine if you wanted to open a Chinese take-away?
Including Peking duck smoking ovens,pans big enough to boil up two adult humans and cheesy red lanterns in every size.
Love that shop too,but stay well clear of their Chinese kitchen choppers...mine was Stainless Steel,
until the varnish wore off in the dishwasher.

[Jorieke123]

Hehehe Yes, that's the shop!