Beans

Amy Kumler

Beans and lentils, like all legumes, are nature’s own plant-based protein powerhouses, invaluable to anyone looking to eat less meat and more plants. They’re also able to make their own fertilizer by “fixing” atmospheric nitrogen and releasing it into the soil, eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers.

Green Lentils

The organic green lentils we use for our Green Lentil Soup and our Savory Seeds snacks come from Timeless Natural Foods, in Ulm, Montana.

Timeless started in 1987 with four farmers who were determined to revolutionize Northern Great Plains farming with a solution for fallow fields. Using cover crops would reduce erosion, build soil health, provide natural nitrogen fertilizer, and create a new source of income. Over thirty years later, they’ve achieved that and more. Timeless is known worldwide for its organic heirloom legumes, and the continued mission to care for the soil, rural communities and the planet. We’re proud to be working with them.

1. Nitrogen gas (N²)—about 80 percent of Earth’s atmosphere—seeps into the ground.

2. Rhizobium bacteria, living in nodules on the roots of leguminous plants, convert N² into natural fertilizer (NH²) for the plant.

3. At the end of the season, the plant dies back and is decomposed by microbes, releasing a form of nitrogen (NH4) that feeds neighboring plants—and microbes.