How can grocery store sell peas/beans so cheap?

[linzelu100]

So I have been growing 10 years now, my yields are higher than a beginner but lower than an expert. I get good yields from my peas, and pretty poor yields from my dried bean plants. I think it is just the nature of these plants- that you need a lot of space and a lot planted to make anything of it.

How is it I buy a # of frozen peas for a $1 at the grocery store and the same for dried beans? How can they even sell at those prices? Any commercial growers that can shed some light on this?

[joseph]

They are machine harvested...

My neighbor can harvest more dry beans in a minute with his combine than I can harvest in a day.

[linzelu100]

Well I knew that, but even still. How much land do they have to use to get that many? For me, it isn't harvesting...I've got all day. But I cannot grow a pound of dried beans easily. In my garden space they have more price value than a $1/#. If I had a huge area to devote to beans I think, I'd still only get a few pounds which wouldn't justify the cost- I could grow a lot more (expenisve) tomatoes there than a few pounds of beans.

It's the same with cabbage too. It's hard to grow for me, bug-wise, but I can buy it so cheap- it's not worth growing it myself. I just don't know how they can grow it that cheap. Space wise for the beans and time wise for the cabbage. I assume for the cabbage they use a ton of sprays and that keeps the bugs off- but for the beans/peas I just don't know.

[Stvrob]

I think you are looking at this wrong. There are places in the west that are ideal for growing dry beans. If you had 100 acres of your Virginia land to plant, and you expected to generate income growing dried beans, you would indeed find it difficult to compete with a farmer in North Dakota say, or Nebraska. On the other hand, you can grow things he cannot, possibly of higher value on a per acreage basis.

[ContainerTed]

I look at this way. When I sit down at the dinner table, I KNOW where my peas and green beans have come from. I KNOW what chemicals or other bad things I have prevented from contacting my food. I don't care that the grocery store can sell the same thing for less than I think mine are worth to me. I don't know where theirs has been and they can't or won't tell me if they knew.

It's all about looking at the plate and just thinking to myself, "I grew this". To me, it's the most satisfying part about vegetable gardening.

[joseph]

In my garden, the yield of my best producing dry bush bean is about 1 pound per 10 square feet. That's about 20% lower than commercial yields in good bean growing territory, but I'm happy as a lark with such high productivity.

I can't grow broccoli and have it taste good. I sure am glad that the maritime-climate growers in California do such a great job growing broccoli.

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

I think you are looking at this wrong. There are places in the west that are ideal for growing dry beans. If you had 100 acres of your Virginia land to plant, and you expected to generate income growing dried beans, you would indeed find it difficult to compete with a farmer in North Dakota say, or Nebraska. On the other hand, you can grow things he cannot, possibly of higher value on a per acreage basis.

Well this I never knew. I assumed growing beans out west would be worse. What is it about those conditions that benefit beans? I take it they don't have the mold problems I experience...anything else?

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by ContainerTed

I look at this way. When I sit down at the dinner table, I KNOW where my peas and green beans have come from. I KNOW what chemicals or other bad things I have prevented from contacting my food. I don't care that the grocery store can sell the same thing for less than I think mine are worth to me. I don't know where theirs has been and they can't or won't tell me if the knew.

It's all about looking at the plate and just thinking to myself, "I grew this". To me, it's the most satisfying part about vegetable gardening.

I agree totally! It gives me so much pride and also takes away the worry. My thought was if I could figure out how they do it cheaply and get so much yield, maybe I could alter my growing in that way and increase my yield. I especially eat a lot of dried beans and peas. I have since been eating the fancy heirloom dried beans from SSE, but prices have gone up even more- comes out to 8$ a pound! Yikes! And we go through a few # a week. I am having trouble going back to $1/# beans because the texture is so different to me now- hoping to figure out a way to increase my yields. I have 10 acres- I'll make room for them, but only if it makes sense. Sometimes I plant a pound of beans and get 2#. That isn't worth it to me for all the labor I put in!

[joseph]

Beans grow great in climates with arid fall weather. The entire plant can be dried in the field, and then harvested all at once. Lower humidity reduces damage by insects as well as micro-organisms.

[joseph]

I started my bean collection by planting "15 Bean Soup" from the grocery store. I sorted by colors and planted in short rows. Some rows produced 5 times as many beans as other rows... I suppose that technically, some rows didn't mature any beans for me... I'd recommend planting several varieties, and actually measuring how much space they take up and what they yield. There are big differences between varieties. My best yielding produce about 43 grams per square foot.

[drew51]

I only grow snap pole beans not dry beans. I grow a 12 foot row of them a year. Yield is crazy good! I never figured out yield. It's big enough I have to give a lot away. I can't possibly eat them all. Here is a harvest from 2 days. They pretty much produce like this in early summer. Slow down during July, then pick up again late summer. So I would get this size harvest 3 times a week, week after week, after week...


I canned jars and jars of them. i still have a bunch from last year.


They got a little top heavy, so I put in better conduit poles this year. I only grow them there every other year. Peppers and garlic will be there this year.
That's melons in front of them. All that from this little tiny planting. Your post surprised me as I think of beans as having crazy good harvests.

[joseph]

Drew51: Those are great looking beans. I wish I had the ambition to pick and bottle more green beans.

Take a green bean and throw away the pod keeping only the seeds. Then dehydrate that to remove 80% of it's weight and you are left with dry beans. That's why we whine about low yields of dry beans... Because they have been highly concentrated, and dehydrated.

[drew51]

Yeah looking into growing snap beans all tutorials mention if you leave them on the plant, production shuts down. So I can see with dry beans production being less. Some snap beans can be used as dry beans. I'm a newbie, and I have read some can be used as runner beans, What's that? I would try dry beans but my wife hates them. I love them! I like all beans! so many types out there too! Like thousands! Amazing!
Also when left on they swell and become bigger. And I do leave some on for seed. They do become light weight.
Well at least you guys can grow them! I try to grow things my wife likes as she complains about the space I'm taking up, and she also is envious of my love of the hobby, she never could get into anything as much as I do. She has tried, but she is just not a hobby type of person. I have always had hobbies, many of them. And I throw myself into them, and she wishes she could too. So I have to deal with that. I guess she feels she has to compete for my attention. Isn't love grand?

[linzelu100]

Originally Posted by drew51

I only grow snap pole beans not dry beans. I grow a 12 foot row of them a year. Yield is crazy good! I never figured out yield. It's big enough I have to give a lot away. I can't possibly eat them all. Here is a harvest from 2 days. They pretty much produce like this in early summer. Slow down during July, then pick up again late summer. So I would get this size harvest 3 times a week, week after week, after week...

That is great! I don't have any problems with green beans. They grow well here, especially pole beans and I also grow chinese long beans which we stirfry that I get 1# from each picking on only 6 plants. I have a lot more than 6 plants so we get tons of those...but I don't enjoy them as much as dried.

Also the green beans have few calories compared to dried beans; I am trying to grow more of my protein since I rely so heavily on the grocery store for that.

Joseph explained it better than me, but after you remove all those parts of the green bean, you aren't left with much mass. Not to mention, if you don't constantly pick the plant, production slows dramatically.

[Worth1]

Did I fall asleep for 20 years and wake up like Rumpelstiltskin.

I was at the store the other day and decided to stock up on beans .
To my horror a small bag of Lima beans was almost 4 dollars.
I think a small bag of large Lima beans was over 4 dollars.
The bean and pea choices we have here suck.

They dont sell grandmas cranberry beans anymore and the are my favorite bean.

Maybe I will try wallmart.

Worth