Beans

Written by Lynn Pitts

What edible plant has beautiful flowers, grows super fast from seed, and has a whopping 15 pages of recipes devoted to it in Julia Child’s classic cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking? BEANS!

Whether Bush Beans, Pole Beans, French/Filet Beans, Dry Shelling Beans, Runner Beans, or even the infamous “Fa-Fa-Fava” Beans, they’ll thrill any gardener with their unique flavors. Aside from radishes, I don’t know of any seed that will give the almost instant gratification to children and newbie gardeners. No “Waitie-Katies,” aka Britain’s Princess Catherine, beans are the speed-daters of the legume world. Pop ‘em into the ground and in a blink of an eye, they’re producing. Hello, does Jack and the Beanstalk ring a bell?

After buying your seeds, you’ll need three important items: an inoculant, trellis netting, and 6’- to 8’-tall poles. Plant centers and nurseries sell inoculants. This is a powder, not a shot, silly. It will vastly improve the growth and nitrogen-fixing ability of beans. You simply dampen the seeds and coat them with the inoculant powder immediately prior to planting. Take a plastic bag, spray a little water into it, add the seeds, and shake around. Then, add the powder and shake again. The trellis netting should be hung between two poles sunk into the ground. All beans, even bush types, will benefit from being grown up a trellis or pole.

April and May are the best months to plant beans in Bakersfield as the soil has warmed up nicely. This is when you should buy a good bean slicer and/or a bean frencher, unless you’re a kitchen masochist, wishing to slice ‘n’ nip ends of beans from scratch. There are lots of choices in kitchen sections of stores. As for moi, I’ve found an exceptionally good one called, quelle surprise, “Bean Slice,” sold by www.chefn.com. Once the flowers start blooming on your bean plants, get ready for instant veggies. Unless, you’re growing Dry Shelling Beans, in which case you’ll pick when 90 percent of the leaves have yellowed or fallen off the vines. These beans can be effortlessly shelled by hand. On the other hand, if you’ve planted a whole lotta beans, you’ll need to do the Mrs. P tough love shelling approach: yank the plants out of the ground and holding them by the roots, bang back and forth inside a barrel singing “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.”

While we’re discussing Dry Shelling Beans, here’s where you can think outside the box and look for interesting varieties rarely found in any grocery store. Etna, Cannellini Lingot, Bingo, California Blackeye, and Tiger’s Eye are truly fine-flavored beans good in soups and ham dishes. Anyone for Pasta e Fagioli? Then, for fun, there’s Yin Yang, a dried bean with the three-dimensional depiction of the familiar Chinese symbol, in black and white.

Another unusual bean variety is what is known as Yard Long Beans. They’re not really a whole yard long, but long enough to have that wow factor. Personally, I’ve grown Orient Wonder and Red Noodle, delicious 15”- to 18”-long beans with super slender pods, best prepared steamed, stir-fried, or in soups.

How about Edamame Beans? Health food store favorites, Edamame is actually a sweeter and more digestible soybean, rich in protein, fiber, calcium, and vitamins A and B. If this wonder bean could also do windows, I’d marry it! Edamame can be substituted for green peas or Lima Beans in any recipe. They make a quick snack when simply boiled in salt water, and then gently squeezed out of the pods. In Japan, Happy Hour would not be the same without “Beer Friend” Edamame Beans. This variety grows on 2.5’- to 3’-tall lush green plants with heavy yields. Serve with your favorite microbrew. Mrs. P finds them especially tasty with porters.

Sure, you can grow Lima Beans, but they’re not reliable in our hot weather; they get tough and are tedious to shell fresh. I’d skip planting them, but if you want to try, plant Jackson Wonder, a smaller variety.

Moving along down the Bean Highway, there’s something we ought to get straight. What’s the difference between regular Pole/Bush Beans and French/Filet Beans? Zee Frenchie Beans are less than a quarter-inch in diameter, tender, stringless, and flavorful. Haricots Verts, or French Beans, according to my muse Julia (Child) must be absolutely fresh, that is to say, very recently picked. Well, ooh-la-la; in Bakersfield we can go from backyard to pot in a nano. Varieties of these refined beans to plant are Soleil, Nickel, Maxibel, Fortes, and the new la favorita of trendy chefs, Denver. I have 29, count ‘em, 29 recipes in my Larousse Gastronomique (a French encyclopedia of food, wine, and cookery) for just French String Beans. One, in particular, brings back nostalgic memories of leisurely meals al fresco in Provence served table-side by solicitous waiters from large platters.

“Salade de Haricots Verts” is caveman easy to make—Try something new tonight.

• Pick the string beans and wash.
• Boil in salted water until barely tender and drain.
• Roll the string beans around in a clean dishtowel until dry.
• Lay on top of butter lettuce and top with finely chopped mixed herbs, finely sliced onions, pimento, and drizzled with vinaigrette dressing.

This is yummy alongside anything off the barbeque. Vive la Haricots Verts!

Bush Beans are trouble-free and tend to mature a bit ahead of pole beans. They need Bakersfield’s warm soil and hot days. They don’t require much feeding, maybe a cup of a complete fertilizer per 10 feet a season. Beans are shallow-rooted and do require up to a quarter-inch of water a day—don’t forget. Most gardeners are familiar with Blue Lake Bush Bean varieties and yes, they’re plump and tender. There’s a new kid on the block, though, and it’s called Speedy. Don’t you love that name? Harvesting will start a few weeks earlier than other varieties, hence the moniker.

In the olden days, Pole Beans were planted at the base of rough wooden poles and the vines clung to the bark as they twined upward. Today, most gardeners grow Pole Beans on trellises. Mrs. P marches to a different drummer and prefers the tepee style. Set three or four 8’ poles in the ground and tie together at the top. Plant Pole Bean seeds at the base of each pole and let them twine up, helping every so often with stretch tie tape. Kids, cats, and doggies adore hiding inside these tepees. Kentucky Blue and Blue Lake Pole are heirloom variety beans and the blue ribbon standard for being canning jar straight.

Mrs. P doesn’t care much for Fava Beans. They’re a cool, as opposed to warm, season bean. Fava or Horse Beans, as they are sometimes known, are not a real Legume, but actually a giant vetch, often used for forage. Some people (mainly of Mediterranean heritage) have an enzyme deficiency that can cause dangerous health reactions to these beans and pollen. Plus, we won’t even start on Hannibal Lector, okay?

The final bean choice is one of my all time quickie landscape tricks for showy ornamental flowers, Runner Beans. Native to Mexico, these 6’-tall vines produce gorgeous, show-stopping flowers in shades ranging from peach-pink to scarlet red. Grown in gardens from the early 1800s, Runner or Scarlet Runner Beans will provide almost instant shade on patios or porches. And you can eat the sweet, tasty beans these vines produce! Pick when the beans are just starting to form in the pod. Choose varieties such as Sunset, Scarlet Emperor, or Painted Lady.

A final bean-o story: When my gardening- and bean-loving brother-in-law celebrated his 60th birthday, I made up a three-hole binder containing six varieties of beans with each envelope holding 10 seeds. I decorated the cover and called it, “60 Beans for Bill.” I hope your Bakersfield garden will be “Full ‘o Beans” this summer.

Editor’s Note: Cool Beans!

Article appeared in our 28-1 Issue - April 2011