Category Archives: growing Fava beans

Eggplant Tincture?

eggplant, growing Fava beans

Question:

I was talking to Robert Rodgers this week and just learned about this.  It’s too late in the season to grow my own but I can certainly purchase organic fava beans and try to sprout them..  wow!

Once upon a time RR interviewed someone who drank a lot of eggplant juice for the nicotine.  Have you ever tried tincturing eggplant? 

Many thanks

Betsy

Reply

I never tried juicing egg plant, but I grow it and enjoy making humus from baked , pureed egg plant. Have also made it into vegie burgers , egg plant jerky , and Parmesan , and soup.
The person you heard speak about juicing was Glen Pettibone. He has done blog talk radio for Robert a few times. I do juice lightly steamed fava pods and use this to make dried l-dopa chips….very portable.
Depending where you are located, you may be able to grow a fall crop, starting the 1st  of July and the beans will start October 1 and go until you get below 26 degrees. I had a good fall crop here one time. (usually it gets too hot and dry for them in August and the weather turns cold for just a few days the end of October and kills them) So it is iffy at best. End of February or 1st of March is best time to plant them in east TN. May God Bless and  guide you.
Aunt Bean

 

Fava Beans Growing Season

growing Fava beans

I’m Belgian and I live in Romania for more than 25 years. Got PK 3 years ago,I refuse to use chemicals and until now just take mucuna pruirens powder for L-dopa. Seems that the fava beans are much better! My question is : where can I find seeds for that wonderful remedy? In order to begin also my self a little farm for that. Can we imagine to grow that all year long in covered solar construction? I’m new in gardening… Thank you for your answer,god bless you!

Answer from Aunt Bean
I don’t know the weather conditions in Romania. Fava bean plants like cool weather. Here in Tennessee, I plant in First of March and begin to harvest plant tops the first of May. Usually harvest the first beans the first of June. By the time July comes, the weather is too hot for them and they quit producing and need to be thrown in a compost pile. Sometimes they can be planted as a fall crop, but it is iffy….sometimes you get nothing for your effort in the fall if the cold weather comes too soon.
I don’t know if you are able to order seeds from America or not. There are several places to order organic Fava bean seeds here. There is a place called International Gourmet that ships canned beans and juice. It would be one way to see if the Fava beans help you before going to the effort of trying to grow them. They work for some people, but for others they don’t. So, I would try to answer these questions and then make a decision on the basis of how well they help you. Then consider your growing season. Hope this helps for now. Any questions are welcome.
God bless and guide you,
Aunt Bean 

Growing Fava Beans in a Pot

growing Fava beans

Can you give pointers for planting fava beans in a gallon container?

Reply: Plant a bean that has already begun to sprout 2 inches under soil level (with a short tail … point the tail down slightly. It will become the root and a second shoot will come out right beside it & head upward and get leaves . Leave room at the top of the pot to fill more soil in around it for support and cooler root temperature, and room for some mulch I would leave maybe 6 inch at top of pot empty for now. You also have to have room for water so that it doesn’t run over the top when it rains  and wash a lot of your soil away….

LOTS TO CONSIDER WHEN PLANTING FAVA BEANS IN A POT.

Also make sure it has drainage holes in the bottom if using a bucket…drill large holes in it for drainage. Hope that helps.

Have a blessed day.

Aunt Bean

Fava Beans Q&A

fava bean tincture, growing Fava beans

Below are Aunt Bean’s answers to Edward’s questions about growing fava beans.

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Parkinsons Recovery

1. How much l-dopa in sprouted fava beans?

Answer:  Approximately 2 mg l-dopa.

2. Frozen sprouted fava beans: How to eat?

Answer: They will thaw in your mouth. I steam them 6 to 8 minutes to make them chewable before freezing. Put out on a plate. They would thaw quickly if you don’t want to suck on a frozen one.  We eat fava sprout balls directly from the freezer and just let them thaw in our mouths…yummy!

3. Can I grow sprouts of fava beans in a large flower pot.?

Answer: “Large” can mean many things  (gallon/ 2 gallon/tree size?)  A gallon pot would be fine for 1 plant..they need sun and mulch to keep their roots cool. They are a cool weather plant and can stand temperatures to 26 degrees in ground. In pots you may have to bring them inside if it is below 30 degrees.

4. How many leaves from a plant of fava beans does it take to make the tincture?

Answer: That depends how big or small your glass jar is in which you are going to shake the tops and brandy in for a month. I don’t generally just use leaves, but prefer the unopened leaves and flowers that form after a while at the top of the plant. Right now I am experimenting with a whole plant tincture and will report on this as soon as possible. I am still looking for a chemist that will test things for me around  here. Then will post on blog.

5. How long does the tincture last after you have made it?

Answer: I have had it up to a year before using it.

Hope this helps…off to the garden………

Blessings,     

Aunt Bean

Growing Fava Beans with Security Backups

growing Fava beans

Through trial and error, Aunt Bean has discovered that a single day security guard is not sufficient to protect her precious fava beans that growing in her Tennessee garden. She thus implemented a backup plan which by all accounts is working beautifully.

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Pioneers of Recovery
http://www.pioneersofrecovery.com

[flashvideo filename=videos/favascarecrow2.flv image=videos/favascarecrow2.jpg /]

Greenhouse Means Fresh Fava Beans and Mucuna All Year Long

growing Fava beans, mucuna beans

A neighbor has given us an 80 ft long tall hoop greenhouse!   We have to move it to our land/ dig a water line and one for electricity for it, which will be a lot of work, but what a blessing. This way , we can grow fresh food year round and even grow papaya trees….which I’ve been studying for PD nutritional support also.

God is good!

Blessings……

Aunt Bean

I Would Never Guess He Had PD

growing Fava beans, harvesting fava beans

Hi Robert….just wanted to fill you in on the farm.   Things are going well…couldn’t do it without Dad, who just turned 85.  He brush-hogged for me this week.

A young man with PD drove over from Knoxville area and helped in the garden last Tuesday and then came to our support group meeting.  He was a real encouragement to me. He is the only person I’ve met with PD that excercizes like I do.  He rides long distances on his bicycle, sometimes with his airforce buddies. He is in great shape and I would never guess that he had PD.  It helped me alot to know that people out there do care about what I am trying to do on the farm.  Plus he helped me make a long raised bed to hoop frame & cover for winter favas.  I think we might be able to grow them year round here if they have a cover.

Still picking green beans, greens , beets, carrots, tomatoes and hopefully corn on Saturday.  God is Good.  Have several small batches of tincture made, and saw my first couple of fall fava beans on the plants yesterday.

Blessings to all

Aunt Bean

Why Not Grow Your Own Fava Beans?

fava bean tincture, G6pd blood test, growing Fava beans, MAOI Medications

Well, dad is doing ok, but taking it easy the last few days. This morning I finished “banking or hilling” the rows of fava beans and found some of them are starting to make tops already, the part I use for medicine. It is always exciting to start seeing the tops form.

I hope more people will start growing their own favas to replace l-dopa.  Especiallly people who have not yet started on pharmaceuticals.  Always get a G6pd blood test first and make sure you are not taking MAOI meds.

The farm is looking good.  The chickens are happy. LIFE IS GOOD.

Blessings from Aunt Bean

Fall Planting of Fava Beans

growing Fava beans

Latest report on the farm:  Aug 2nd…a few of the fall planting of favas are starting to put on blooms.  The chickens are doing well and we are getting 2 eggs a day. The local feed store finally got in barley for me…I like to use barley for a cover crop in the winter.

Dad had trouble with the tractor this week. He finally got it started and brush hogged the fields, plowed some for me and then the tractor quit again. He is busy trying to figure out why it’s not starting  again.  Always something to do, we don’t get bored.

I have started putting down cardboard boxes (broken down of course) in the pathways and laying cut grass on top of them. I’ve dug the grass out so many times and it comes back so quick…hard to get anything else done. Soil is getting dry again and we are hoping for rain again this weekend. Started harvesting a few cushaw pumpkins…they make the best pies!

Blessings to all.

Favas Survived the Rainstorm

growing Fava beans
Well, we survivied the last rainstorm and the last favas I planted are coming up now. The asparagus grown from seed this year is growing wonderfully. We have just given 5 hens/a rooster/ and two young chickens. Dad and I built a chicken tractor (a mobile housing coup,  with a run enclosed so predators can’t get to the chickens…. We have lots of foxes  around our area.   So, this has been our newest adventure on the farm.  Sure sounds like a farm now!

Blessings to all!