Description

BLACK BELUGA PETITE LENTILS (Lens culinaris) are very tiny - named because they look like beluga caviar. They have a superior flavor and cook up easily in some very delightful ways, including sprouts! Annual 80-110 days, depending on weather. 100 Seeds.

GROWING TIPS: For best results, cover the seed with inoculent before sowing. They must be sown early, ideally a couple of weeks before the last frost date in your area or start them inside, but not too early, as they don't like to have their roots get too crowded. If direct seeding, you want to thin down to 4-5" between plants. You grow them pretty much as you would any legume, with neutral loose soil that has been amended with rich compost a couple of weeks before you sow. Give them support - a fence or trellis is ideal. To protect your newly emerged seedlings from cutworms, use the paper insert from your rolls of toilet paper and cut in 2" pieces, pushing into the soil around each seedling. To protect from aphids, should they arrive, either hose off or, my preference, gently just squish them on the plant as a warning to other aphids (just kidding). Basil and chives are good companion plants to intersperse with your lentils as they repel pests.