There are at least forty species and several wild varieties of chickpea. Archaeological records date back 10,000 years in the lands currently called Turkey and Syria, and what was formerly Mesopotamia. New England is very unlike these climates, however out in the Western US they grow well. 
 
We source our organic chickpeas, or ‘Kalvash’, from Ramona Farms which is owned and managed by the Buttons, an Akimel O’Odham family growing on their ancestral lands in what is now known as Arizona. This crop was originally brought to the area from the Mediterranean by a Spanish Jesuit Missionary in the 1700’s and has been grown along other more traditional crops like tepary beans ever since. These are the same chickpeas we use in our falafel at Bean Crafters. There are none better in the States as far as we're concerned.