It has been a very long time since I have grown anything but green beans in my garden. If I grow several different kinds of beans in my garden will they cross pollinate and give me something unexpected???
My grandmother use to grow Lima beans, wow they are good. I grew Lima beans 35 years ago, wow they were good.
Navy Beans taste many times better than Great Northern beans. We only eat Navy Beans I want to grow some more.
Dark Red Kidney beans are good, they make good chili. Lots of can grocery store beans 65¢ & dry beans in bags 99¢ per lb. Not sure they taste much different than garden beans but it is fun to grow my own. All beans make good soup & stew.
I would like to grow Lentils just to see what the plants look like & if they grow pods like beans?
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yes, store bought beans are cheap, but what has been put on them?? and what was put into them??
I have grown pintos, reds, kidney, several soup beans, and black beans, both bush and pole. you are right, it's fun, and tasty.
if you are worried about cross pollination, and have limited space, watch the maturity dates, and plant so there is about 2 weeks between blooming periods. I have done this with corn and grew yellow, white and popcorn right next to each other with minimal crossing. also, crossing is a major concern only if you are saving seeds( I do)
this year we are adding navy beans (for home made pork and beans) and limas, which will be picked early for butter beans.
just remember, beans don't like cold dirt, so wait till the end of your planting season to plant your beans. oh, and if they have a short season, they make great second crops to follow the beets and peas or anything else that comes out early.
I have grown pintos, reds, kidney, several soup beans, and black beans, both bush and pole. you are right, it's fun, and tasty.
if you are worried about cross pollination, and have limited space, watch the maturity dates, and plant so there is about 2 weeks between blooming periods. I have done this with corn and grew yellow, white and popcorn right next to each other with minimal crossing. also, crossing is a major concern only if you are saving seeds( I do)
this year we are adding navy beans (for home made pork and beans) and limas, which will be picked early for butter beans.
just remember, beans don't like cold dirt, so wait till the end of your planting season to plant your beans. oh, and if they have a short season, they make great second crops to follow the beets and peas or anything else that comes out early.
Gary, if you are okay with having a pole bean, Rattlesnake can be a multipurpose choice.
They are an old-fashioned, flavorful bean. Despite some catalog claims for being tender, I find that they have only a short time when they are best as green beans. Missing a few on the vines doesn't bother me. They have a good, long season for production but leaving them to mature is also a good idea.
Getting the seed out of the dry pods isn't as easy as it would be with something like a pinto bean but the effort is worth it. We put the pods right down on the ground on a tarp and walk on them. Pick out the seed, maybe winnow in a breeze with a flat basket, or carry them up on a ladder in a bucket and dump them on a windy day back down on a clean tarp. You will soon have a nice lot for storing and cooking through winter. They will need a rinse before overnight soaking and going on the stove. Flavorful!
Steve
They are an old-fashioned, flavorful bean. Despite some catalog claims for being tender, I find that they have only a short time when they are best as green beans. Missing a few on the vines doesn't bother me. They have a good, long season for production but leaving them to mature is also a good idea.
Getting the seed out of the dry pods isn't as easy as it would be with something like a pinto bean but the effort is worth it. We put the pods right down on the ground on a tarp and walk on them. Pick out the seed, maybe winnow in a breeze with a flat basket, or carry them up on a ladder in a bucket and dump them on a windy day back down on a clean tarp. You will soon have a nice lot for storing and cooking through winter. They will need a rinse before overnight soaking and going on the stove. Flavorful!
Steve
I have grown fava beans in the fall since it likes cooler weather. I did find out from a friend that some people of Mediterranean decent may have a genetic problem. Some people are deficient in an enzyme called glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. A certain percentage of people deficient in that enzyme are unable to process fava-bean toxins, which begin destroying red blood cells.
Common tropical beans are wing beans, long beans, mung, and gandule beans (pigeon peas). Most people here only like flat podded fresh beans. I did grow lima and Italian beans a few years ago. I have dragon tongue, red noodle, soy, and azuki bean seeds. I don't grow a lot of beans since most beans here must be nematode and rust resistant to do well.
Common tropical beans are wing beans, long beans, mung, and gandule beans (pigeon peas). Most people here only like flat podded fresh beans. I did grow lima and Italian beans a few years ago. I have dragon tongue, red noodle, soy, and azuki bean seeds. I don't grow a lot of beans since most beans here must be nematode and rust resistant to do well.
Here in N. Florida on the Gulf coast, I grow several different beans. My biggest problem is root knot nematodes which kill bean plants after a bit. The nematodes aren't bad in the winter. Once it gets warm, they're doing their damage.
Bush:
Dragon's Tongue. Bushes get maybe 18" tall max. Very prolific bean set. Will flower multiple times. Beans are tender, with great flavor. Bean pod is yellowish green with purple streaks. Unfortunately, purple goes away with cooking. Good raw in a salad also. Nematode susceptible.
Pigeon Pea. Not really a bush. Grows into an 8-10' tall TREE. Perennial for 2-3 years if no freeze. Very prolific. Shell the peas. The peas are about 1/4" and nearly round. These really grow well in the heat. I planted this in March, and didn't see flowers until October, harvest in November. Don't expect much fast, but once it's established it's pretty impressive. Nematode resistant
Pole:
Or Du Rhin. A broad-podded wax bean with a dark, navy blue bean. I eat these pod-and-all. They are very VERY tender. Easy to overcook. I've eaten the beans without the pod when I left them on the plant too long and the pod got dry/leathery. Nematode susceptible.
Chinese Long Beans (red, green). These really like the heat and didn't seem to have problem with nematodes. They're slow starters, but once it gets hot out, they really grow fast. Pods are 16-22" long when ripe. If you wait too long, the pods get spongy and not so good. Pick them when they're green bean texture/firmness/consistency.
Snow Peas. Don't need much explanation at all. I grow these in the fall through spring. Heat kills them off. Nematode resistant.
Bush:
Dragon's Tongue. Bushes get maybe 18" tall max. Very prolific bean set. Will flower multiple times. Beans are tender, with great flavor. Bean pod is yellowish green with purple streaks. Unfortunately, purple goes away with cooking. Good raw in a salad also. Nematode susceptible.
Pigeon Pea. Not really a bush. Grows into an 8-10' tall TREE. Perennial for 2-3 years if no freeze. Very prolific. Shell the peas. The peas are about 1/4" and nearly round. These really grow well in the heat. I planted this in March, and didn't see flowers until October, harvest in November. Don't expect much fast, but once it's established it's pretty impressive. Nematode resistant
Pole:
Or Du Rhin. A broad-podded wax bean with a dark, navy blue bean. I eat these pod-and-all. They are very VERY tender. Easy to overcook. I've eaten the beans without the pod when I left them on the plant too long and the pod got dry/leathery. Nematode susceptible.
Chinese Long Beans (red, green). These really like the heat and didn't seem to have problem with nematodes. They're slow starters, but once it gets hot out, they really grow fast. Pods are 16-22" long when ripe. If you wait too long, the pods get spongy and not so good. Pick them when they're green bean texture/firmness/consistency.
Snow Peas. Don't need much explanation at all. I grow these in the fall through spring. Heat kills them off. Nematode resistant.
I grow Poamoho beans. It is a flat podded bean from the University of Hawaii. Poamoho, along with Manoa wonder are both nematode resistant, but Poamoho has better rust resistance. I also grew Kentucky wonder. It does o.k. with the nematodes but is not rust resistant. Most of the Asian varieties of beans seem to do o.k. with nematodes and much better with rust.
And for all you bean growers, take into consideration soybeans. I grow a row of them every spring for edamame that I eat on the rest of the year. One 45 ft. long by 2 ft. wide row with 2 sets of plants planted side by side usually gives me close to a 5 gallon bucketful when they are harvested. Many of the beans will have 3 soybeans in each pod.
Once I harvest them I wash them a few times in cold water then allow them to drain and in the meantime I get a large pot of heavily salted water on the stove to boil. Once it boils, I'll add some soybeans to the water until it comes back to a boil and let them cook for only a couple minutes and then remove them and spread them over the table on a towel to cool. Once all the beans are done, I'll bag them in quart bags and freeze what I plan to use later. They are a great snack and loaded with protein. If you ever go to a sushi restaurant, you know what they cost per order and for the cost of 3-4 orders I can get a full bucketful of them growing them myself.
Once I harvest them I wash them a few times in cold water then allow them to drain and in the meantime I get a large pot of heavily salted water on the stove to boil. Once it boils, I'll add some soybeans to the water until it comes back to a boil and let them cook for only a couple minutes and then remove them and spread them over the table on a towel to cool. Once all the beans are done, I'll bag them in quart bags and freeze what I plan to use later. They are a great snack and loaded with protein. If you ever go to a sushi restaurant, you know what they cost per order and for the cost of 3-4 orders I can get a full bucketful of them growing them myself.