Chickpeas are one of my favourite ingredients to cook with, and I love them in all their forms, whether eaten whole, dried and ground into gram flour, or made into some sublime homemade houmous.
Chickpea Growing Notes
| Variety | Sown | Germination | Harvested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principe | Feb (wk1) ’24 | Feb (wk2) ’24 (100%) |
Chickpea Diary
February, Week 1
One of my garden projects this year is to try and grow enough chickpeas to make myself some ‘homegrown’ houmous.
I’m growing the variety ‘Principe’, which seems to be the standard variety and most readily available seed, bought from Chiltern Seeds.
I have chosen to start the chickpeas by sprouting them, just as if I were sprouting grains. I’ve soaked them in a jar for 24hrs, and for the next few days I will rinse and drain them twice a day, keeping them in the same jar with an old sock over the jar mouth, laying it on its side in the airing cupboard for warmth.
February, Week 2
After one day soaking and two days being rinsed with clean water twice daily, the chickpeas sprouted roots 1-3cm long in the airing cupboard jar.
of the 33 seeds that I soaked to sprout, all 33 have sprouted a root, which is very promising.
I have put the seeds in their compost onto a heat mat set to 17℃ just to take the chill out of the draught window ledge where they are sat in the stairwell.
Four days after putting the chickpeas into compost the first one had started to show above the soil. I turned the heat mat up to 21℃ as I think 17℃ may have been cooler than ideal, and two hours later a load more had popped their heads up.
February, Week 3
The chickpea plants are growing phenomenally fast; so much so that I am slightly concerned as to how big they will be by the time I can safely put the plants outside. They are all 10-12cm tall, with a number of branching stems with small serrated leaves. I am growing them on in the craft room windowsill with an occasional grow lamp to offset rainy days. The roots are looking strong and are soon to be ready to be potted on.
