Growing Better Beans
In the garden as in life, sometimes simple is best. Such is the case with beans, an uncomplicated vegetable that lacks the drama of broccoli, the sizzle of peppers, the dripping fleshiness of tomatoes. Beans do have a botanic name that rolls easily on the tongue, Phaseolus, and the distinction of being one of the “three sisters” in native American horticulture, wherein long-vined pole beans were (and still are) grown in close company with squash and corn. Yet beans know many more tricks, which I re-learn each season as I guild my garden with beans. Come to think of it, I have never met a boring bean.
Each year I grow several types of beans, including bush snap beans, pole beans, runner beans (a type of pole bean) and one or two varieties that produce meaty soup beans to eat in winter. Not that beans can be so neatly sorted into categories. All green beans eventually mature into soup beans, but various culinary traditions favor one stage over the other. Scarlet runner beans provide an excellent example. English gardeners treasure the tender green pods, while American gardeners grow them for their beautiful flowers. I like to cook and eat the big, meaty seeds, which is rarely done anywhere except in Central America, the homeland of the species.
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There is some gray area regarding the growth habit of beans, too. Many vigorous bush type varieties of soup bean produce twining stems that twist into a tangle atop the plants if not given a few stakes to keep them heading skyward. In comparison, last year I grew some bush type filet beans that were petite enough to grow in window boxes.
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Over the years I have grown twenty or more beans, and I will never end my quest to find ways to grow better beans. I’ve distilled my knowledge into the list of tips below, so that even the newest gardener can enjoy success with this easy crop.
By Barbara Pleasant
Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Garden news
This post was last modified on 15/10/2023 12:00
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