Hi, guys! The other day, I was watching this gardening YouTube video where someone went on about how perennial protein crops are really important, and listed a whole bunch of tree nut species as “must haves.”
Have I mentioned I’m allergic to tree nuts?
I’m totally fine with legumes, so beans / peas / peanuts / etc. are good protein sources for me. But those are all annuals. That got me wondering, “Are there any perennial protein crops I could grow and eat?”
What do you think?
I didn’t know there is a “whole bunch” of nut trees, unless maybe you include those that grow in varied climates all over the world. There are five or six, tops, that grow well in my climate and only two that consistently produce well. There are lots of YouTube garden advisors, but only a few I’ve seen that seem to know anything about gardening.
I can’t really think of any perennial protein crops except maybe those ground nuts, I don’t remember their actual name and I have never grown them myself. Oh, I just thought, there is a perennial bean that is supposed to be high in protein. I grow them but just for fun mostly, I don’t know how edible they really are. The beans are tiny and the pods shatter easily so it’s very hard to collect them in any useable quantity.
Siberian pea shrub
Jerusalem Artichokes
and don’t forget good 'ole asparagus
Maarten
Wait, Jerusalem artichokes have a high protein content? AWESOME! I’ve been wanting to grow lots of them as a winter staple crop, anyway. My body likes inulin, and sunflowers seem to grow really well here. (We have native wild ones everywhere.)
You could grow mesquite for the pods. I think it’s native to your area.
Northern-adapted pigeon pea as a short-lived perennial.
Sword bean, jack bean.
I heard about mesquite through the carbon farming solution. They have quite a few perennial crops in there, including protein crops.
If you can overwinter them
Vigna vexillata (zombi pea)
Runner beans
Chia
I’ve eaten plenty of redbud pods (another legume family tree) but I’m not really sure how much protein they have. They are much more pod than seed.
Hopniss is like a higher protein potato that also makes edible bean seeds. I’m surprised it’s not a bigger deal in permaculture circles (or maybe it is and I just don’t know).
Given how edible the mallows are, I’d be surprised if there isn’t a perennial crop grown for its protein-rich seeds. I’ve definitely eaten Rose of Sharon pods/seeds, though the pods are a little tough and a little small.
Basil has high protein content in the seeds, though like chia will have to overwinter and might be more fiddly than desired.
Finally if you want to get really bold and crazy and make your neighbors hate you, perennial ragweed. Seems ragweed may have been the crop maize replaced. Doesn’t taste great but supposedly very nutritious and protein rich. Come on, neighbors. Make a ragweed tincture and see your allergies improve like never before
More seriously, I found the carbon farming solution to be a good resource and I think Lowell grows a number of perennial legumes.
Those are a lot of very interesting species to look into. Thank you!
I didn’t realize Rose of Sharon pods and seeds are edible. I knew the flowers were. That’s very cool. I have a neighbor with a load of Rose of Sharon bushes, so I know they can grow well here.
Ha ha ha, I think I’ll avoid the ragweed, as everyone in my family (except for me) seems to have severe pollen allergies. Although, do ragweed tinctures help with hay fever? If so, maybe I would want to grow a little for that purpose. Local raw honey has been the best resource I’ve found for my husband and children. Having more than one remedy that works might be nice, especially if they can stack.
Sure! 
Let us know how you go
To the best of my fallible understanding every part of Rose of Sharon is edible. Down to the bark which I have chewed and found quite pleasant tasting - - not that I’m advocating we eat sticks, which seems like it could pose some health hazards. The family has a high degree of edibility and the seeds are often protein rich.
The seeds of desert globemallow, a relative I think native to your ecosystem, seem to have been widely consumed by indigenous peoples of the area.
http://www.eldoradowindyfarm.com/SFBG-ethnoglobemallow.html
On the allergy remedies front, my wife and I have had good success with goldenrod tincture she’s made. We haven’t tried ragweed yet, but some people swear by it. Pending more conclusive evidence, I tend towards thinking it is probably effective for many people.
Ragweed is sometimes deployed in phytoremediation contexts - - meaning it’s good at taking up pollutants from soil - - so that’s another consideration if you’re going to process it for consumption. Honestly, it’s such a vigorous and versatile plant - - I think many more people would grow it if it weren’t problematic for other reasons.
When I hear perennial protein I just think eggs and meat 
.
3 posts were split to a new topic: Chia
I continue my search for something to fill this specific niche.
Here’s what I want:
a) A perennial protein source
b) that is hardy to zone 7,
c) that creates a large harvest of protein-rich seeds that taste good,
d) that I’m not allergic to (this rules out all tree nuts),
e) that is highly drought tolerant,
f) that has no thorns.
I’ve been thinking that the legume family is very likely to work for this, but maybe I should be looking further afield at other plant families, as well.
Here’s what I’ve found so far.
Almost fits, but it’s not hardy to my zone:
Yeheb
Blackwood acacia
Pigeon pea
Almost fits, but it’s not drought tolerant enough to be a reliable staple here:
Runner beans
Hopniss
Almost fits, but it has thorns:
Mesquite
Siberian pea shrub
Almost fits, but the seeds aren’t really edible (well, technically they are, but they require a lot of work to process so they aren’t mildly poisonous, and even then, the seeds are not a good choice as a long-term protein staple because of the lathyrism risk):
Everlasting pea
Here are the perennial protein sources I have now. They’re good, and I’m glad to have them; I just don’t think they’re enough on their own to provide for our protein needs.
These are everything I want (including being literal weeds here!), but the seeds are small, so I don’t think they’re enough on their own:
Alfalfa
Common mallow
Hollyhocks
Delicious mycorrhizal fungi that make everything around them grow better, but they require a lot of organic material and only fruit when there’s plenty of moisture, so I also don’t think they’re enough on their own to serve as a reliable protein staple:
Wine cap mushrooms
Oyster mushrooms
And there are annuals, of course:
Sunflowers
Peas
Fava beans
Winter wheat
All the various species of summer beans
All the various species of drought tolerant summer grains
But again, I don’t think those are really enough, especially for an emergency. We eat a lot of meat, eggs, and dairy for our protein right now. I thoroughly enjoy those things; they make fantastic protein staples. We just don’t have enough land to reliably produce any of those things for ourselves, so they seem like an inadequate plan for a long-term protein staple in an emergency.
Annuals seem like a partial solution, but only a partial one. Perennials are likely to be more drought tolerant and more productive every year, and I wouldn’t have to save a large percentage of the seeds to replant them, which would mean significantly more seeds to eat per seed planted.
So . . . I still don’t feel like I have found what I need to fill this niche yet. It’s a niche I really would like to fill. Since I imagine there are other people who feel similarly, I thought I would share my notes on this work-in-progress.
I haven’t yet tried two-colored bush clover (Lespedeza bicolor), which looks like it may tentatively tick all the boxes I want, which would be really cool. Has anyone else tried it? If so, what are the seeds like, and are they plentiful enough (and large enough) to be worth growing as a reliable perennial protein staple?
I also haven’t yet tried thicket bean (Phaseolus polystachios), which looks interesting, but the seeds look really small and are apparently bitter, so I’m not sure it fits the bill. Has anyone tried it? If so, what did you think?
Have you looked at the Staphylea species?
Yes! In fact, I bought some seeds of Staphylea bumalda from Sheffields recently. I figure even if the seeds trigger my tree nut allergies (please don’t . . . please don’t . . . please don’t . . .), the leaves are edible, so that’s promising. They’re supposed to be not at all drought tolerant and prefer partial shade, so in my climate, that almost certainly means full shade, in the guild with my pawpaws.
Have you grown any Staphylea species? If so, what are your experiences with them?
I’ve also considered yellowhorn, because apparently it has different chemicals than usually trigger tree nut allergies, so it’s possible I may be able to eat them. There are several gardeners in my state growing them, so they’re probably climate suitable. And the leaves are edible and contain protein, so even if I couldn’t eat the seeds, the leaves might be possible.
Buuuuut . . . apparently the leaves contain caffeine (which I prefer to avoid, or so I say with a straight face despite my enduring love of chocolate), so I probably wouldn’t ever want to eat them. And there is definitely still the possibility that they would trigger my allergies. Linden seeds seem to trigger them, ever-so-slightly (gahhhh!), even though I’m fine with seeds of all the other mallows I’ve tried (including, of course, chocolate 
), so I never know.
(Tree nut allergies are so weird.)
I only have Staphylea pinnata which is growing is a pretty damp patch, it has finally started bearing seeds but I’ve not tried any.
Neato! Have you tried the leaves?
Curious, what is the reason it must not have thorns?
I’ve got a couple siberean pea bushes that are doing well in zone 6. Tought they might produce peas this year but ended up having to cage them because the rabbits found them tasty.
I’m very, very clumsy, and thorns constantly find some way to catch on my clothes and rip them, and/or catch on my skin and do damage. When I first started gardening, I told myself, “Thorns aren’t that big a deal!” and after quite a few injuries to both myself and my children, I wound up deciding — nope. For someone as clumsy as I am (and my children inherited that, unfortunately), thorns are a big deal, and we need to avoid them.