Beans - An Overseas Guest In The Legume Family (part 1)

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Few of the housewives did not buy bags of frozen vegetables, in which you could find cauliflower, broccoli, and green beans. Admittedly, this is very convenient. And it's tasty, and vitamins are available, because everyone knows that they are almost completely preserved in frozen products. By the way, a set of such bags for the winter can be prepared by yourself. There would only be a desire. Although I, for example, freeze these vegetables separately, because I use them, as a rule, for cooking side dishes. But this is not important. The main thing is to grow and freeze. Including beans.

True, few people still strive to grow beans, considering it a heat-loving and fastidious crop. In general, of course, all this is true. But after all, we do not need so much of these beans. A dozen plants, with good care and in our not at all favorable climate, will give you an equally large backpack of delicious pods. Although, of course, if you decide to grow beans for grain (and from 3-5 acres in Ukraine you can get two or more bags of grain), then you really have to urgently change your place of residence, for example, to the same Ukraine. If the goal is to collect bean pods (they are usually called "shoulder blades"), then the Urals or, for example, the North-West will be quite suitable. Vegetable beans on the "shoulder" are one of the earliest vegetables ripening in summer. And it would be a sin not to use it. And this plant is extraordinary beautiful. There are varieties with green, yellow and purple pods.

And if you remember that beans, like other legumes, in addition to the harvest, also contribute to an increase in soil fertility, accumulating nitrogen in nodular formations on the roots, then we can assume that God himself ordered to allocate a piece of land to her on his "hacienda".

Bean history

Peas, beans, lentils and other legumes in Russian cuisine have long occupied a special, privileged place. And not only in Russian. Beans and lentils were cultivated as far back as a thousand years BC in Palestine - this is evidenced by both references in the Bible and the results of excavations. For example, during the excavation of the pyramid in Thebes, the remains of a lentil soup were found in one of the pots. And the famous historian Pliny wrote about her in his writings. Beans in Europe began to be used in food much later than beans and lentils. Although the first mention of it is found in ancient Chinese chronicles, and the Indians used it long before our era. The Chinese cooked beans with rice. So, by the way, and now they continue to cook beans in India and Korea, Japan and the Philippines. And the Indians made stews out of it and baked flat cakes.

Despite the fact that beans have been widely used in Asia since ancient times, they came to Europe not from Asia, but came from the Indians in the famous era of great geographical discoveries. After the discovery of America, Europeans received not only untold riches and new lands, but also many overseas plants, one of which was beans. In Europe, she first became an overseas guest of gardens and parks, turning overnight into an unpretentious ornamental plant. Even now, curly bean varieties are very attractive for shading and arranging gazebos, masking a compost heap or decorating a veranda. Similar to small moths, white, pink, purple and even fiery red bean flowers, collected in inflorescences, are really unusually decorative.

Years passed. And beans turned from a beautiful ornamental plant into an irreplaceable vegetable. For example, in warm France it has become one of the favorite vegetables, it is grown even in winter greenhouses. Moreover, Europeans began to use beans not only for food, but also to use them for making ladies' whitewash. By the way, in German, beans are still called "bleach beans". But it was appreciated, of course, not only as a cosmetic product, but also as a wonderful food.

Beans came to Russia only in the 17th-18th centuries under the name "Turkish beans". Beans are especially widespread in Ukraine and the Caucasus, where they are now part of many national dishes.

At first, only mature grains were eaten, from which delicious soups, sauces, pies, side dishes and even cutlets were prepared. However, over time, it turned out that beans with unripe seeds ("shoulder blades") taste very good. Moreover, they are simply irreplaceable for preparing a huge number of salads, side dishes and main courses.

Gradually, breeders have also developed special varieties for cultivation on the "shoulder blade". And if we also take into account the fact that it takes much less time to harvest the "shoulder blades" than to ripen the grains, it becomes quite clear why vegetable beans have become very popular in the world. Russian gardeners also began to grow it.

About the benefits and dangers of beans

European healers drew quite understandable attention to beans as early as the 17th century, as evidenced by the corresponding instructions in European herbalists. The beans themselves were used as a medicine, turning them into powder and using them for skin diseases, as well as as a basis for preparing all kinds of pills. Now in folk medicine, a decoction of bean pods is successfully used to treat hypertension and heart weakness, edema and chronic rheumatism, gout and diabetes mellitus. Beans are useful for diseases of the liver and gallbladder, as well as low immunity. Bean masks are very good for delicate and dry skin. And all this is not surprising at all, because the "shoulder blades" of beans are rich in sugars, vitamins A, group B, PP, C, E, as well as iron, calcium, potassium and phosphorus. It surpasses most vegetables in the content of copper and zinc.

On the other hand, beans can be considered a truly unique plant, because the protein contained in beans is close to animal protein and is equated to dietary chicken eggs. Therefore, vegetarians can safely adopt it. At the same time, it is better to refuse the use of beans for those who suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. It should also be remembered that only pre-boiled beans can be used for food, because they contain toxic substances that are destroyed during the cooking process.

Varieties, varieties … Sugar or grain?

All varieties of beans are divided into grains and vegetables (sugar). It happens that an intermediate option is also distinguished for vegetable beans - semi-sugar. Beans have a thick layer of parchment on their shells, and even in an unripe form, these "shoulder blades" are rough to eat. In semi-sugar varieties of vegetable beans, this parchment layer inside the pods is much thinner, and their taste is more pleasant. And sugar parchment layer is absent altogether. But of the greatest interest are those sugar varieties that do not have coarse fibers in the seams of the beans (they have an unusually delicate taste). Such beans are usually called asparagus.

Curly and bush

In addition, bush and curly forms are distinguished in vegetable or sugar beans. Climbing varieties in terms of yield are significantly superior to bush varieties. But they are considered less early ripening, but they have a longer harvest period.

Where do you stop?

Naturally, since we are talking about growing beans for a "shoulder", and not for grain, you need to choose sugar beans, and even better, immediately asparagus, which is tastier.

Unfortunately, I cannot name a good variety of asparagus beans of domestic selection. Domestic varieties Saks (early maturing), Yubileinaya (mid-maturing) and Moskovskaya white (mid-maturing), which are most often found on sale, are closer to semi-sugar varieties. their "shoulder blades" coarse very quickly. But there are many varieties of western selection of asparagus beans on sale, primarily Dutch ones. Many of them made a very good impression on me. For example, of interest are the bush varieties Oil King (yellow "shoulder blades"), Nerina (green "shoulder blades") and Purple Teepee (purple "shoulder blades"). Among the curly beans I would like to name the varieties Neckargold and Laura, which have yellow shoulder blades.

Are beans so easy to grow?

It is usually believed that beans are a fairly unpretentious crop. This is actually the case, however, only in the southern regions. With us, everything turns out to be somewhat more complicated. And the main reason is precisely the thermophilicity of this culture. I became convinced that with our unpredictable Ural summer, it is better not to take risks and not plant beans in the open field. It is better to donate a small area in the greenhouse and plant it as a compactor of tomatoes, with which she, frankly, is friends. In those regions where the climate is milder, it is better, of course, to grow beans in the open field.

Seedlings and more seedlings

Given the extremely short warm period in our zone, it is naturally better to grow beans through seedlings. To do this, a month before planting the plants in the greenhouse (around the end of April), it is worth planting the seeds in low containers with sawdust. If seeds are planted in cold soil (at ambient temperatures below 11 … 12 ° C), they tend to rot. This should be remembered for those who prefer to plant beans immediately in a permanent place in the ground.

In room conditions at a temperature of 20 … 24 ° C (I manage to provide such conditions only on a battery) they sprout quickly, although they begin to germinate at 12 … 15 ° C. Treatment of bean seedlings with the Epin growth stimulator will reduce the negative reaction of plants to an insufficient amount of light in an apartment. I cannot say anything about any peculiarities of caring for beans at the seedling stage. The only thing you need to pay special attention to is good illumination. With an insufficient amount of light, the plants stretch out and will not give a good harvest in the future. As for the temperature, with the emergence of seedlings it is slightly reduced: to 18 … 20 ° С (for me this happens automatically as a result of moving containers with seedlings from the battery to the table in the room).

Planting seedlings in a greenhouse

In late May - early June (depending on the thermal conditions in your greenhouse), in other words, after the threat of frost has passed, the seedlings of beans (or simply germinated seeds, if you are not satisfied with the option of growing seedlings) should be planted in a permanent place in the greenhouse … It should be remembered that in most cases, lowering the temperature to 2 … 3 ° C, if it does not immediately lead to the death of plants, then stably ensures their disease (most often decay), which ultimately will still lead to plant loss. Therefore, one must not forget about the whole complex of measures to preserve heat in the greenhouse: biofuel, mulching the soil between the plants with a film, installing an internal frame in the greenhouse, followed by covering it with a covering material, etc. If you are not inspired by this prospect,then, in our conditions, it will be necessary to plant plants no earlier than June 10 … 17. Even a short-term drop in the temperature in the greenhouse to 2 … 3 ° C will lead to the death of plants.