Urbana, Illinois, USA
May 6, 2011
Considered among the top five most popular vegetables grown in a garden, garden beans are perhaps one of the most varied and versatile crops, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"There are so many different types, colors, shapes and sizes that it is no wonder we 'don't know beans about beans,'" said Greg Stack.
Beans are an ancient crop, considered to be a staple and grown extensively throughout North and South America. According to Stack, beans are easy for home gardeners to grow and provide an ample supply of produce.
"As a group, beans prefer a full-sun location and soil that is well drained and crumbly," Stack said. "Because beans are a warm-season crop, they do best when planting is delayed until the soil has sufficiently warmed in the spring, which is usually well past the frost-free date in an area."
Soil temperatures below 50 degrees often result in poor germination and rotting of the seed. Most bean types should be planted 1 inch deep. Cowpeas, yard-long and lima beans should be planted a little shallower, about 1-half inch deep. Space the seeds about 2 to 4 inches apart in rows that are 18 to 24 inches apart. Pole varieties are often planted in groups or "hills" of 4 to 6 seeds and the groups spaced about 8 to 12 inches apart.
"There are both bush and pole types of bean varieties," Stack said. "Pole beans are great for gardeners who want to maximize the vertical space in the garden. Stakes should be 5 to 6 feet long and rough textured to allow the plants to climb easily.
"Another method is to stretch a wire between posts at each end of the row and train the beans to climb up ropes suspended from the wire, which are fastened to the ground with stakes placed at the base of each group of plants. Once the vines have reached the top of the support, clip off the ends of the vine to encourage branching."
Although most gardeners are familiar with green snap beans, there are many different types of beans, including green shelling beans and dry beans. Each one has its own unique character and flavor.
"Spend time looking through the bean pages of a seed catalog and you will soon see that you won't run out of choices any time soon," Stack noted.
Here are a few choices to get you started on the road to knowing about beans:
Green snap beans are edible pod beans once called "string" beans because of the string-like fiber running along the seam of the pod. Today's cultivars have been bred to eliminate this fiber-like string and now use the name "snap" bean because of the crisp "pop" when we break them. Pod colors range from green to yellow to purple. For bush-type green beans, consider Provider, Topcrop, Tendercrop, and Contender. Golden Wax and Cherokee Wax are good choices for yellow pod bush beans. Royalty and Royal Burgundy provide colorful, purple pod beans.
Pole snap bean choices include Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder and Purple Pod. To ensure a continuous supply of quality snap beans through the season, plant a new crop every 2 to 4 weeks until about early August. Also, keep the pods picked to encourage plants to continue setting new pods.
Lima beans, also called butter beans, are grown for the immature seeds that are shelled out of the pod. Lima beans are very sensitive to cold soils and poor drainage so plant these 1 to 2 weeks later than regular snap beans. Standard lima beans require 3 to 4 months to mature, and baby lima beans mature much quicker.
Lima bean plants also get much larger than snap beans so allow a little more space between plants. Harvest when pods are plump and well filled but still bright green. Fordhook 245 is a large-seeded variety whereas Baby Fordhook is a baby lima variety. Both of these are bush varieties. King of the Garden is a good pole lima-bean variety.
"Horticultural beans are large seeded beans used in the green shell stage," Stack said. "These can't be used as a snap bean because the pods are very fibrous and tough. Harvest these when the pods turn from green to yellow.
"Many of the heirloom bean varieties are considered horticultural beans. The seeds can be quite decorative with swirls of color."
Brokton Horticultural is a pole type with wonderful nutty flavor whereas Good Mother Stallard is also a pole type with a meaty flavor.
Another bean that can be grown as a green-shelled or dry bean is the Cowpea, sometimes called Crowder or black-eyed pea. These beans grow best in warm, humid weather. The bush types mature earlier and are better suited for use in Midwest gardens. Purple Hull Pink Eye is a good variety, too.
Yardlong or asparagus bean are really a type of cowpea but are eaten as immature pods like a snap bean. These tall, vining plants require some type of support or trellis. Plants continue to produce for several weeks and, if allowed to mature, the pods can grow to 3 feet long. At this stage they are past the best stage for cooking but can be shelled out and used as you would cowpeas. In the long bean category Chinese Red Noodle provides deep red-colored beans 18 inches long. Vines grow to 10 feet tall and produce most of the summer.
Taiwan black-seeded long bean produces pods that are 38 inches long and are best fried rather than boiled.
Fava beans are also called broad beans and require a long, cool growing season, and they typically don't like hot summer weather. With this in mind, these are best planted in very early spring at about the same time peas are being planted. Two varieties to look for are Aquadulche and Broad Windsor.
Edible soybeans, also sold as soya or edamame beans are becoming popular in home gardens. The garden varieties are often larger than field varieties of soybeans. These can be shelled and used as fresh beans or dried. Soybeans are picked when the pods are plump, green, rough and hairy. Nearly all the beans will be the same size so you can pull the entire plant and pick off all the beans at once. Envy is the variety often grown.
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