Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide by Carla Emery, Lorene Edwards Forkner Page A
Authors: Carla Emery, Lorene Edwards Forkner
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and tying them at the top to form a bean teepee.
◗ Post and string: Secure a sturdy post at either end of your row of beans and string a strong cord or wire horizontally between the posts at their tops and bottoms. Affix twine and string up and down between the wires to create a series of vertical runs for the bean vines to climb.
Plant the beans at the base of their support, 3 to 4 inches apart in every direction, in early summer when frost danger is completely past and the soil has begun to warm. Pole beans require a richer soil to feed the tall leafy vines; site them where they won’t shade other vegetables, and give them plenty of room.
HARVESTING: Once your bush green beans start, they will bear for 4 to 5 weeks if given regular water and kept thoroughly picked. Pole beans flower and set pods from the bottom of the plant up and will continue to do so as long as the plants are well-picked until the first frost. Handle the vines gently when picking to avoid damaging the plants.
Snap beans are picked and eaten, pod and all, before their seeds have begun to mature. Most are green, but there are also purple-and yellow-podded varieties of both bush and pole beans. Wax beans are yellow with a smooth, almost translucent pod and a mild, delicate flavor. Both yellow and purple beans make for easy picking, with their bright color obvious among the leafy, green vines, and they lend an ornamental quality to the vegetable garden. Purple varieties are lovely, but be aware they turn green when cooked.
Snap beans are the most tender if they are picked before the seeds have begun to swell their pods. Some people prefer to pick them quite young and slender, in the manner of the French haricots vert. Romano beans are a European variety with large, flat, meaty pods and a distinctive flavor.
Shell beans are grown specifically for their large seeds, which are removed from the pods and either prepared fresh as green shell beans or allowed to dry and shelled for long-term storage. Nearly all shell beans are bush types; the only difference in cultivation is in their harvest methods.
SOME SHELL BEAN VARIETIES
◗ Black beans are Latin America’s favorite bean. Also known as turtle beans, these small, glossy black beans grow on semivining bushy plants and require a warm growing season 85 to 115 days long.
◗ Flageolet and horticultural beans are bred for their large seeds, which are typically harvested at the fresh green shell stage, 60 to 75 days. They can also be dried for longer storage.
◗ Great Northern beans are big and white. Bushy plants produce a heavy yield in 90 days making this a good shell bean for short-season areas; they can also be harvested as green shell beans.
◗ Kidney beans are Mexico’s most popular bean and the traditional chili bean. A white-seeded variety is called a cannellini bean. With a relatively short 95-day growing season, the kidney bean has been called the easiest dried shell bean to cultivate.
◗ Pinto beans are small and speckled and require a warm growing season, 85 to 105 days long. They are generally pole beans.
Other legumes
Fava beans ( Vicia faba ), also referred to as fabas (southern Europe) or broad beans (England), are easy to grow in a wet, cool climate. Favas are hardy down to 20°F, but dislike hot summers. Plant fava beans in early spring, spacing seed 4 to 5 inches apart, 1½ to 2 inches deep, in rows 12 to 36 inches apart. Bush-like plants, 3 to 5 feet tall, begin to produce plump pods 6 to 12 inches long in May and June. In the Deep South and mild coastal regions, fava beans may be planted in the fall to overwinter and begin producing much earlier in the new year. Following the initial harvest, cut plants back to 2 inches and fertilize for a secondary late summer crop. Note: There is a very rare inherited sensitivity to fava beans and their pollen, found mostly in males of Mediterranean ancestry. This allergy, if triggered, can result in a mild to severely toxic reaction.
Runner
◗ Post and string: Secure a sturdy post at either end of your row of beans and string a strong cord or wire horizontally between the posts at their tops and bottoms. Affix twine and string up and down between the wires to create a series of vertical runs for the bean vines to climb.
Plant the beans at the base of their support, 3 to 4 inches apart in every direction, in early summer when frost danger is completely past and the soil has begun to warm. Pole beans require a richer soil to feed the tall leafy vines; site them where they won’t shade other vegetables, and give them plenty of room.
HARVESTING: Once your bush green beans start, they will bear for 4 to 5 weeks if given regular water and kept thoroughly picked. Pole beans flower and set pods from the bottom of the plant up and will continue to do so as long as the plants are well-picked until the first frost. Handle the vines gently when picking to avoid damaging the plants.
Snap beans are picked and eaten, pod and all, before their seeds have begun to mature. Most are green, but there are also purple-and yellow-podded varieties of both bush and pole beans. Wax beans are yellow with a smooth, almost translucent pod and a mild, delicate flavor. Both yellow and purple beans make for easy picking, with their bright color obvious among the leafy, green vines, and they lend an ornamental quality to the vegetable garden. Purple varieties are lovely, but be aware they turn green when cooked.
Snap beans are the most tender if they are picked before the seeds have begun to swell their pods. Some people prefer to pick them quite young and slender, in the manner of the French haricots vert. Romano beans are a European variety with large, flat, meaty pods and a distinctive flavor.
Shell beans are grown specifically for their large seeds, which are removed from the pods and either prepared fresh as green shell beans or allowed to dry and shelled for long-term storage. Nearly all shell beans are bush types; the only difference in cultivation is in their harvest methods.
SOME SHELL BEAN VARIETIES
◗ Black beans are Latin America’s favorite bean. Also known as turtle beans, these small, glossy black beans grow on semivining bushy plants and require a warm growing season 85 to 115 days long.
◗ Flageolet and horticultural beans are bred for their large seeds, which are typically harvested at the fresh green shell stage, 60 to 75 days. They can also be dried for longer storage.
◗ Great Northern beans are big and white. Bushy plants produce a heavy yield in 90 days making this a good shell bean for short-season areas; they can also be harvested as green shell beans.
◗ Kidney beans are Mexico’s most popular bean and the traditional chili bean. A white-seeded variety is called a cannellini bean. With a relatively short 95-day growing season, the kidney bean has been called the easiest dried shell bean to cultivate.
◗ Pinto beans are small and speckled and require a warm growing season, 85 to 105 days long. They are generally pole beans.
Other legumes
Fava beans ( Vicia faba ), also referred to as fabas (southern Europe) or broad beans (England), are easy to grow in a wet, cool climate. Favas are hardy down to 20°F, but dislike hot summers. Plant fava beans in early spring, spacing seed 4 to 5 inches apart, 1½ to 2 inches deep, in rows 12 to 36 inches apart. Bush-like plants, 3 to 5 feet tall, begin to produce plump pods 6 to 12 inches long in May and June. In the Deep South and mild coastal regions, fava beans may be planted in the fall to overwinter and begin producing much earlier in the new year. Following the initial harvest, cut plants back to 2 inches and fertilize for a secondary late summer crop. Note: There is a very rare inherited sensitivity to fava beans and their pollen, found mostly in males of Mediterranean ancestry. This allergy, if triggered, can result in a mild to severely toxic reaction.
Runner
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