[Rangerkris]

What are highest in protein ?

[galen]

Without looking anything up has to be one of the legume family, not sure which though - Soya possibly ?

[peapod]

Eggs!

(get some chooks   )

EDIT - would have been more helpful if I'd actually read the first word 

[grenhouse]

I would also say soyabeans, however all beans tend to have a high protein content compared to other veg.

Steve

[Ice]

I think you may be right galen, soy beans are extremely high in protein even compared to other beans.

[compostqueen]

There's quinoa and even spinach 

One cup of cooked soybeans (29 gms of protein), lentils (18 gms of protein), black beans (15 gms of protein), kidney beans (13 gms of protein), chickpeas (12 gms of protein), veggie baked beans (12 gms of protein), pinto beans (12 gms of protein), black-eyed peas (11 gms of protein), peas (9 gms of protein), spinach (5 gms of protein) and broccoli (4 gms of protein)

[prakash_mib]

There's quinoa and even spinach 

One cup of cooked soybeans (29 gms of protein), lentils (18 gms of protein), black beans (15 gms of protein), kidney beans (13 gms of protein), chickpeas (12 gms of protein), veggie baked beans (12 gms of protein), pinto beans (12 gms of protein), black-eyed peas (11 gms of protein), peas (9 gms of protein), spinach (5 gms of protein) and broccoli (4 gms of protein)

thats a fantastic stats CQ. I thought it must be lentils leading the way ahead of soyabean.

[Trillium]

For grains, quinoa leads the way. This from Calorie Count:

Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain; an average of 16.2 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for rice, 9.9 percent for millet, and 14 percent for wheat. Some varieties of quinoa are more than 20 percent protein. Quinoa's protein is of an unusually high quality. It is a complete protein, with an essential amino acid balance close to the ideal. It is also lower carb than most grains and scores a 35 on the glycemic scale, making it ideal for diabetics. (It is also gluten free)

I boil mine in chicken broth for flavour and freeze leftovers for quick meals. Yummm.

[Rangerkris]

Does anyone grow soy beans in the UK i might try and get hold of some and try some.

[Swing Swang]

Agree with Trillium with respect to quinoa, but of course if you're growing things it's not just a case of how much protein the veg contains, but also the yield that your bit of land is capable of producing - It might be better to have 2kg per square m of 10% protein than 1kg per square m of 16% protein for example.

And also how many crops you can get off that piece of land in any one year should be considered too. For example an autumn sowing of broad beans followed by a late sowing of runner beans (brought on in pots and planted out late June) might be a better bet than a single crop of soya, and the soil will have a high nitrogen content for the following crop.

A crop grown purely for the protein content it will probably ripen all at once so there might be a storage issue.

Agri-business will have done all of the calculations and breeding so I guess that you'll have to use an F1 named variety, and of course it may need to pass a 'taste test'.

My 'gut feeling' is that a climbing variety of bean is going to give the most useful protein return in the UK, but broad beans (or even field beans - which are suited to human as well as animal consumption) must be worth considering too.

Just some thoughts,

SS

[compostqueen]

The beans will dry - as will the grains I suppose.  I've dried loads of beans just on kitchen paper on my mantelpiece (not ideal I grant you but I couldn't stretch to a drier)  I grew red kidney beans and cannellino just for starters and was amazed at how easy they were to grow.  You know when they're ready for pulling as they go brown and manky looking so you take up the whole plant and hang it up in  a dry shed but a collector underneath for all those beans. They naturally open and the beans drop out and I collected them up and finished them off in the house. Mice love them so make sure you make your shed mouse proof 

Going to do loads of cannellino and borlotti this year and have started some off as plants but am going to do some direct as well.  Not read up on the quinois yet but I think they're big   

[chimaera]

I had a go at growing soya last year to pick green as edemame (sp?) Not a great success; it said on the packet to keep covered till they germinate, but most rotted off. The survivors did OK, but I picked them too late and they had gone a bit hard; the pods are smaller than the ones in restaurants.
I saved the seeds and am trying again; put some in modules in a greenhouse 10 days ago and most are up . As they all seemed to ripen at once and I want them green, I an going to try a 2 m row of 12 plants every 2 weeks and see how it goes.
I am also trying chick peas, which you can apparently eat green as well as dried. A lady on the plot gave me a handful of soaked chick peas from the shop and I forgot about them for a few days and they all chitted. I have them all in modules about to go out. I am assuming that they are small bushy plants but have no idea.

Charlie

[compostqueen]

I like chick peas very much, and if you eat them regularly out of a tin, it's got to be worth the effort in trying to grow a crop

Good luck with it 

[prakash_mib]

I am also trying chick peas, which you can apparently eat green as well as dried. A lady on the plot gave me a handful of soaked chick peas from the shop and I forgot about them for a few days and they all chitted. I have them all in modules about to go out. I am assuming that they are small bushy plants but have no idea.

Charlie

Charlie,
I have sown chickpeas (green variety). They are small bushy plants with leaves like arc containing 10-12 leaves sort of. we are growing it for the leaves (yes the leaves are edible) and the produce of chickpeas are very limited. you get 1 or probably 2 per pod and would have maximum of 10-12 pods per plant. They are worth eating fresh plucked direct.

[chimaera]

Thanks for that; if they work I'll know to do them again. And as they seem to grow well from shop bought peas, the seeds are very cheap.

Charlie