Garbanzo beans with sweet, little seed pods!

My beloved garbanzo beans have grown fuzzy, adorable seed pods.

This isanother first time crop for me, soI’m anxiously tending to them and gently trying to coax them intomaturity (mostly by talking to them and reading up on growing conditions).

I’m trying to figure out when they’re ready and am getting a bit confused. The horticulture department at Purdue (high up in a google search) says they are ready between 3 and 7 months. How helpful! The same site lists the traditional medicinal uses as, “aphrodisiac, bronchitis,catarrh, cutamenia, cholera, constipation, diarrhea, dyspepsia,flatulence, snakebite, sunstroke, and warts.” Impressive — I don’t even know what a few of those conditions are!On second thought, the 4 month range might have something to to do with the fact that you can eat them fresh when they immature, or wait until the plant browns and eat them as dry beans. I like these instructions: Chickpeasfor fresh eating can be picked when pods are still immature and green;they can be eaten like snap beans. For dried chickpeas, harvest theentire plant when the leaves have withered and turned brown; place theplant on a flat, warm surface and allow the pods to dry. Collect theseed as the pods split. Seeds that will barely dent when bitten aresufficiently dry.

I will graciously accept any advice from you, dear reader. Do I cut the water in order to get them to brown? Dried versus fresh? It’s my gut to eat them fresh since that seems to be a major perk of growing them.

Side note: I found an empty garbanzo bean pod on the ground after Celebration Weekend and nearly cried. Garden etiquette, people! I had one man PLUCK more than a few leaves of my tarragon to ask me for a plant ID. Now I know none of you would ever do that, right? Especially in the test garden, where everything has the intention of being photographed for the magazine.