One of my gardening goals has been to provide more of our own protein and iron, so this year I tried growing lentils. I haven’t heard of anyone in Portland growing them but they like cool, wet weather so I wanted to give them a try. Plus they improve the soil by fixing nitrogen and providing good compost material.
I ordered the seeds from Bountiful Gardens and planted them in three locations with varying amounts of sun and irrigation. The 3 foot row that did best was watered the most often, 2-3 times per week during warm weather, and produced about a cup of lentils. They were a little fussy to thresh but perhaps there is an easier method than picking the lentils off the dried vines.
I saved seed to plant next year and the rest will be part of our Solstice feast in a few weeks.
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- Lentil plants in bloom
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- Lentil flower
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- The harvest
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- Lentils
