I’m going to try this with some pinto beans and some lentils. The leaves of regular beans are edible, both raw and as a pot herb. You can also just sprout them like regular mung bean sprouts.
Today I planted some Cherokee Wax Beans, but it will be June before harvest time. But what if I wanted something fresh now? Well in just a week or two you can get sprouts or microgreens.
Until now it always seemed like a waste of seeds to me. But with 10 lbs of lentils, 25 lbs of pintos, and more…
So I’m going to give it a try.
This first approach is interesting. I wonder about the “”pressing seeds into the soil” step, but it looks like he does this professionally, so, maybe.
But I’m probably going to skip the drilling and use a simple covered tub like this next one. I don’t have cocoa mat, so I’ll try either potting soil or perlite.
This one shows how I start my garden seeds. Paper towel in plastic tub. I use the regular plastic lid to keep them moist. So I’m thinking I’ll start with some lentils done this way.
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For further reading:
Musings from the Chiefio 
Violet leaves make a good salad. Here in NH the violets I transplanted to the garden years ago will be ready for initial harvest in a week or two. Violets in your area may already be blooming in your yard or edges of the woods making them easy to spot. The flowers are edible, too. Other edible weeds like dandelions or plantains may be making an appearance in your area. Why plant microgreens at this time of year if you don’t have to?
Some folks live in urban concrete jungles. You don’t know what has been sprayed on things. Going out to forage is prohibited in many places. Old folks might wish to avoid risk of exposure to other folks. Many folks can’t identify plant types, but can read “lentils” on the bag. Bending over and plucking plants gets harder with age, very hard from a wheel chair. And many more…
I have foraged (the hills here are covered in wild mustard), but it is easier to dump some seeds on a wet paper towel and wait. Plus our present allowed outdoor activities do not include foraging, so a police explainer might not be pleasant… in better times, I’m all for foraging and have eaten yard dandelions. Now that yard is graced with pooch potty runs… so not clean and has potential for various diseases. But I do look longingly at the dandelions, still. :-)
Dandelions – Yes!
Grow your own indoors with the seeds from the wild ones. Basically you can grow them as microgreen as in the videos above, or you can re-pot out a few to be blanched grow i.e. with low light levels, for paler leaves that are less bitter taste. However watch out as dandelion also is a natural diuretic, so if you have kidney issues probably don’t take use it.
Somewhere in my seed freezer is a packet of “special, selected” Italian dandelion seeds.
Supposedly of superior flavor and production qualities. Perhaps if is time to thaw them out for trial…
Dandelion seeds!?!
Good thing you’re planning to move, because in a year or two, the whole neighborhood is going to be at your door with pitchforks and torches.
And people thought the Chinese Virus could be contained. Dandelions are worse.
Interesting use of “trash” juice bottles to grow greens. No dialog, just background music. Like the idea, though.
@H.R.:
I already have wild dandelions in the lawn. These seeds were bought because:
I’d never seen such a thing before.
It might at least improve the wild type.
IFF there ever were a real SHTF EOTWAWKI event, I would appreciate a crop that literally “grows like a weed”.
Some I’m just trying to decide if this is then…
Well, this is the closest thread for this topic.
My asparagus is popping up. I had 5 spears showing yesterday and will probably have 6 today. The tallest is about 9″ (225mm).
My grandparents used asparagus as a privacy hedge at the back of their long narrow lot (platted in the 1890s). Back when an alley always ran between the lots on opposite sides of a block so the trashmen could empty the burn barrels and deliveries could be made to the back.
Growing up, we had a 10’x10′ patch (~3m x 3m).
If anyone is staying put, you might want to consider an asparagus bed square, round, or long and narrow as a privacy hedge.
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Mom used to grow bean sprouts in the early, early Spring when nothing fresh was going to grow and she was pining for some fresh veggies. I’m sort of surprised that we kids liked crunching on them, but they do have a bit of sweetness to them and a satisfying crunch, nowhere near as brutal as a carrot.
If you want good crops the look after the soil …
Gabe Brown on Regenerative Solutions to Modern Problems – Ice Age Farmer Podcast at (http://www.iceagefarmer.com/2020/04/16/gabe-brown-on-regenerative-solutions-to-modern-problems-ice-age-farmer-podcast/ )