[Summer 2018 – Columbus, OH]
This is our first try to grow mung beans, and surprisingly it’s a super success. It is easy to grow, needs zero maintenance, and we even didn’t use any fertilizer. It is mainly cultivated in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Roughly it takes 3 to 4 months to give the dried mung bean harvest.
Mung bean is a good nitrogen fixer, so we grew them in our corn bed. Corn helps mung bean vines to climb and mung bean vines provide nitrogen to corn. Traditional farming techniques like growing companion plants together is an efficient way to manage our limited land in a super productive way.
GARDEN-TO-TABLE
Mung bean is a very common ingredient in Asian cuisines. Steamed mung beans are used as a filling or mixed with rice to make ‘Mung Kiribath’ in Sri Lanka. Mung bean curries and mung kavum (traditional Sri Lankan sweet) are some other tasty popular recipes among Asians.
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Kity Gardener 