This is our Growing Doomsday Bean Seeds Lima section. On this page, I give you facts about lima beans such as how many lima beans one would need to grow in an emergency situation. Do you like lima beans? Some people do while others find them dry. Interestingly, they are nicknamed butterbeans. How can they be buttery and dry at the same time?
Shown is the Fordhook Lima bean. There is not an off color one but the versatility of this bean makes it a good choice for doomsday preparations.
Fordhook Lima Bean is an All American Selections winner more than 60 years ago and still the standard for lima beans. 3 to 5 large beans per pod, 4 inch long pods. Early bearing and delicious, this is the best large-seeded variety. Open pollinated. Harvest in about 90 days. Germination rate 70% or better.
Heavy yields from mid-season to frost. Prolific even during drought and heat, making it perfect for growing in the South. Well adapted for Northern and Coastal climates as well. Can be canned or fresh. The beans can be dried and reconstituted later for eating.
Self pollinating so they do not need bees to produce beans.
Direct sow about 3 inches apart, 1 inch deep after soil is at least 75°F. And after the danger of frost. Beans do not like cold or even cool weather.
Doomsday Lima Bean seeds require more heat than regular bush beans, and will
bear poorly in a cool growing season. Optimal soil temperature for
germination is around 85°F and the optimal ambient temperature
for growing plants is 70–80°F. Choose a warm, well-drained
location -- no standing water.
There are about 212 calories in a cup of lima beans. Lima beans, like many other vegetables and fruits, have more benefits that just calories, but we are focused on the calories alone for the benefit our our study.
Based on a 1200 calorie diet, one would need just six cups of Lima beans per day to survive while eating just lima beans alone. Now I hate lima beans. Hopefully there will be something else I can eat.
Sometimes called "butter beans" because of their starchy yet buttery texture, lima beans have a delicate flavor that complements a wide variety of dishes. Although fresh lima beans are often difficult to find, they are worth looking for in the summer and fall when they are in season. Dried and canned lima beans are available throughout the year.
The pod of the lima bean is flat, oblong and slightly curved, averaging about three inches in length. Within the pod are the two to four flat kidney-shaped seeds that we call lima beans. The seeds are generally cream or green in color.
One plant will produce about one cup of beans. So we would need 2,190 plants per year for just one person to survive on, provided that person had absolutely nothing else to eat, no meat, and no other vegetables or grains. One plant would produce about 100 seeds so we would need an additional 300 plants for seed production and another 300 plants for an emergency supply of seeds.
Let's figure about 3,000 plants per year for lima beans, for one person. We would need four raised beds, eight feet by four feet, to grow our doomsday lima beans.
Lima beans are a warm weather crop. Spring and fall are the best times for growing doomsday lima beans in your garden.
For saving bean seeds, let them completely dry on the vine. The outer shell will turn nice and crisp which will make it easy for harvesting and winnowing.
Store seeds in a jar if possible. Paper bag will work as well. Hide your seeds so that scavengers cannot find them. I would hide some that would be easy to find and then hide some that will be hard to find.
Easy to find so that they find them and hopefully will move on and leave you alone. If they do not find any and you are looking like you are not starving, then they will keep searching until they do find some.
If they threaten you or your loved ones, then show them where the easy to find ones are at.
Extra seeds can be used to barter with. You may even be able to barter for protection from other scavengers. As time goes on, there will be fewer and fewer scavengers.
For today, practice growing. Don't wait until the crap hits the fan and then start trying to learn how to grow stuff.
Learn what plants to plant to help keep insects and animals away. A pepper spray made from Reaper or Ghost peppers will do wonders to keep these away. It can also be used to defend yourself against bad people. But once you spray them, you will have to take them out or they will return.
Start today. Have something growing at all times. Be prepared.
White Icicle radishes and French Marigolds help keep insects away.Make sure it is the French Marigold. It puts out a fragrance that insects do not like.
Visit our store page on Lima Beans and Marigolds to order today.
You can survive but it requires some planning.
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