Common names: chick pea, gram, garbanzo

Botanical name: Cicerarietinum

Origin: southern Europe and India

Varieties

Few varieties are available; grow the variety available in your area.

Description

Chick peas or garbanzos are regarded as beans, but their botanical place is somewhere between the bean and the pea. They're tender annuals and grow on a bushy plant,  rather like snap beans but they have a longer growing season. Chick peas have puffy little pods that contain one or two seeds each. In some areas they're grown as a field crop as a food for horses, but they're good food for people, too.

Where and when to grow

Chick peas are tender plants and can't tolerate much cold - a hard frost will damage the immature beans. You can grow them anywhere in the United States that has 90 to 100 frost-free days. Plant chick peas from seed on the average date of last frost for your area.

How to plant

Choose a bed in full sunlight; chick peas tolerate partial shade, but partial shade tends to mean a partial yield. Prepare the soil by mixing in a pound of 5-10-10 fertilizer - don't use a highnitrogen fertilizer, because too much nitrogen will promote growth of foliage but not of the pods. Work the fertilizer into the soil at the rate of one pound per 100 square feet or 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet. The seeds may crack and germinate poorly when the moisture content of the soil is too high. Don't soak the seeds before planting, and don't overwater immediately afterward. Plant seeds an inch deep and two inches apart in rows at least 18 to 24 inches apart. When the seedlings are growing well, thin the plants to four to six inches apart. Cut the seedlings with scissors at ground level; be careful not to disturb the others. They don't mind being a little crowded; in fact, they'll use each other for support.

Fertilizing and watering

Chick peas set up a mutual exchange with soil microorganisms called nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which help them produce their own fertilizer. Some gardeners recommend that if you haven't grown beans in the plot the previous season, you should treat the seeds before planting with a nitrogen-fixing bacteria inoculant to help them convert organic nitrogen compounds into usable organic compounds. This is a perfectly acceptable practice but it isn't really necessary; the bacteria in the soil will multiply quickly enough once they've got a growing plant to work with. Fertilize before planting and again at midseason, at the same rate as the rest of the garden. Keep the soil moist until the chick peas have pushed through the ground. Water regularly if there's no rain, but remember that water on the flowers can cause the flowers and small pods to fall off. When the soil temperature reaches 60°F you can mulch to conserve moisture.

Special handling

Don't bother the plants when they're wet or covered with heavy dew; handling or brushing against them when they're wet spreads fungus spores. Cultivate thoroughly but with care, so that you don't disturb the bean plants' shallow root systems.

Pests

Chick peas may be attacked by aphids, bean beetles, flea beetles, leafhoppers, and mites. Aphids, leafhoppers, and mites can be controlled chemically by spraying with Malathion or Diazinon. Bean beetles and flea beetles can be controlled chemically by spraying with carbaryl. Chick peas are almost always attacked by large numbers of pests that cannot be controlled by organic methods. This doesn't mean the organic gardener can't grow them, but yields may be lower if only organic controls are used.

Diseases

Chick peas are susceptible to blight, mosaic, and anthracnose. You can cut down on the

incidence of disease by planting disease-resistant varieties when they're available, maintaining the general health of your garden, and avoiding handling the plants when they're wet. If a plant does become infected, remove and destroy it so it cannot spread disease to healthy plants.

When and how to harvest

If you want to eat them raw, pick chick peas in the green shell or immature stage. For drying, harvest the chick peas when the plants have matured and the leaves have turned completely brown. At this time the seeds should be dry and hard - bite a couple of seeds; if you can hardly dent them they're properly dry and ready to harvest.

Storing and preserving

Unshelled chick peas can be kept up to one week in the refrigerator. You can freeze, can, or dry the shelled chick peas, and they can also be sprouted. Dried shelled chick peas can be stored in a cool, dry place for 10 to 12 months.

Serving suggestions