Nosh Sprout

Nosh Sprout is a crop that grows Nosh Beans, a versatile food ingredient used in several late-game recipes. It can be found in Rust Biomes, where Nosh Beans can be harvested from wild plants or dug up from Buried Objects. If the asteroid does not contain a Rust Biome, there is no renewable source of Nosh Beans, so maintaining a seed stock becomes important.

A wild Nosh Sprout takes 84 cycles to mature and produces 12 Nosh Beans. When domesticated, it takes 21 cycles to grow and still produces 12 beans, but it requires 5 kg/cycle Dirt and 20 kg/cycle Ethanol for irrigation. It can be planted in a Planter Box, Farm Tile, or Hydroponic Farm. The plant also needs a cold, carbon dioxide atmosphere: a temperature range of -25 °C to 0 °C and air pressure from 25 g to 10 kg.

Nosh Beans are valuable because they can be processed into multiple foods. In a Microbe Musher, 6 Nosh Beans + 50 kg Water produces 3,600 kcal Tofu. In a Gas Range, 3,600 kcal Tofu + 1 Pincha Peppernut produces 4,000 kcal Spicy Tofu. They can also be used for Curried Beans. Because the bean is a direct ingredient rather than a processed intermediate, Nosh Sprout is often treated as a food crop with excellent conversion value.

Some practical uses and notes:

• Compared with Sleet Wheat, Nosh Sprouts are more water efficient when the full food chain is considered.
• Each Nosh Bean effectively represents 600 kcal if converted into Tofu, and Spicy Tofu adds a small caloric gain over base Tofu.
• A domesticated plant is a strong food source: over 21 cycles, one plant yields enough beans for multiple cooked meals.
• Nosh Beans do not spoil while planted, which allows stored beans to be preserved indefinitely by planting them and then disabling the tile or building once the plant has matured.
• For long-term storage, the key concern is seed loss: if every Nosh Bean spoils and the asteroid has no Rust Biome, the crop cannot be re-established.

Beyond cooking, Nosh Sprout is part of broader resource loops involving other ranching and industry systems. Nosh Beans can be harvested for direct cooking, while the crop’s growth requirements make it most convenient in controlled, cold farms fed with Ethanol and Dirt.