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Curly Beans, Cultivation, Varieties, Recipes
Curly Beans, Cultivation, Varieties, Recipes

Video: Curly Beans, Cultivation, Varieties, Recipes

Video: Curly Beans, Cultivation, Varieties, Recipes
Video: The Different types of Beans - Type and Variety Comparisons 2024, March
Anonim

A valuable protein southern vegetable can grow near St. Petersburg. Our experience in growing beans

Beans came to Russia in the 18th century from France. But, despite the value of this vegetable crop, it did not receive industrial distribution, perhaps only with the exception of the southern regions, for example, in the Krasnodar Territory. In family gardens, beans are ubiquitous, but, unfortunately, not in every area. But this vegetable is unusually rich in easily digestible proteins similar in composition to milk and meat. It is also important that unripe pods (shoulder beans) are rich in vitamins and other biologically active substances.

Beans
Beans

Amateur gardeners grow mainly two types of beans: common beans and for purely decorative purposes - multiflorous beans. By the nature of growth, bush, semi-curling and curly forms are distinguished. The bush form gives a harvest earlier than the curly forms, but its fruiting is very short, while the curly form bears fruit for a long time, up to frost. Therefore, in the garden, so that the period for collecting beans was more extended, it makes sense to plant a bed with bush beans. Climbing beans have long stems and need support. On our site we grow curly common beans. On the south side of the house, we tied thin cords to the balcony on the second floor and ran beans along them. When the plant thrives and blooms, it also becomes a wonderful decoration for the home and garden.

According to the structure of the pod valves, there are shelling, semi-sugar and sugar varieties of beans. In shelling varieties, a thick parchment layer develops early on the inner side of the valves, and coarse fibers develop in the seams of the pods. Sugar varieties have no parchment layer and no fiber when they ripen. They are found only in overripe pods, and then very thin. Therefore, we gave preference to sugar varieties, which, moreover, are still interesting in decorative terms, since they are very diverse in shape and color of the pods, which can be yellow, green (of various shades), purple and even pink.

Of the curly bean varieties, we particularly like the Golden Nectar, with its delicate yellow pods ready to harvest just 67 days after sowing. This bean variety has a prolonged fruiting period; a parchment layer does not form in the pods for a long time.

Medium-sized, beautiful yellow pods distinguish the Golden Neck variety.

The Winner variety blooms with very spectacular bright red flowers, its pods are very long (up to 25 cm) and fleshy, but quickly coarse.

The Curly Green variety ripens later than the others, respectively, it ends fruiting later, therefore, in a cool summer, its harvest may noticeably decrease. But, if it is a warm autumn, this variety will significantly lengthen the period for collecting pods.

Good beans are Fatima, Mauritania, Queen Neckar, Blackjack (deep purple color of the pods) and Pink, which does have very pretty pink pods, but they get rough quickly.

Since beans are a self-pollinating crop, you can get the seeds of your favorite varieties yourself. For example, for this we leave the largest long pods: even on the plant we mark them, for example, with ribbons, and wait for maximum ripening. Such seeds will be more adapted to our conditions.

Bean curls
Bean curls

Beans are a thermophilic culture. Seeds begin to germinate at a soil temperature of + 10 … + 12 ° C. The optimum temperature for germination is + 20 … + 22 ° С. Therefore, if you want to get the harvest earlier, it is better to propagate the beans through seedlings. We do it this way. In mid-May, pour a layer of sawdust about 6 cm high into the container, spread the beans on them, sprinkle them with other sawdust on top, moisten them and put them in a warm place. When the seeds hatch a little, we immediately rearrange the container in a bright place so that the seedlings do not stretch out. We plant seedlings in open ground in the phase of 2-3 leaves, in early June, when the threat of frost has passed. We select a place protected from cold winds, but quite open, since this culture does not tolerate shading. Before planting in the garden, we add humus or compost. Seedling care consists in weeding, loosening the soil. During budding and flowering, you should especially carefully monitor the soil moisture. This is a critical period for bean plants. Drought causes dropping of buds, flowers, young ovaries, greatly reduces the yield.

Beans begin to bear fruit in the second half of August, if the summer is warm, and only by the end of this month, if the summer was cool, which is very typical for our North-West. We use young beans for food when seeds are just beginning to form in them. Overgrown pods are coarser, less juicy. A variety of dishes can be prepared from young beans. To do this, rinse the pods in water, cut into slices and bring to a boil in salted water for 20-25 minutes. Then drain the water.

Here's what you can make with boiled beans:

Young bean salad

Required: 500 g beans, 80 g onions, 100 g red tomatoes, 50 ml vegetable oil, parsley or dill, salt. Add onion, chopped into semicircles, grated with a little salt into the beans. Season the mixture with oil, chopped dill or parsley, add chopped tomatoes, stir everything well.

Young beans with sour cream

Pour boiled beans with well-whipped sour cream. You can add garlic or finely chopped dill. Serve as a salad or a side dish for meat.

Young Bean Soup

Required: 110 g of meat, 140 g of potatoes, 80 g of beans, 40 g of onions, 25 g of carrots, 15 g of tomato puree, 5 g of butter, herbs, spices, salt. Boil the meat broth, strain, put in diced potatoes, bring to a boil, add sautéed onions, tomato puree and chopped beans. Bring the soup to readiness. Sprinkle with herbs when serving.

Boiled beans
Boiled beans

Beans also have medicinal value. Its pods are diuretic and prevent the formation of sand and stones in the bladder and ureters. In folk medicine, "tea" from the leafs of bean pods has been used since ancient times as a diuretic for urinary retention and dropsy, bladder diseases, kidney inflammation, and rheumatism. Juice from green bean pods is especially useful for patients with diabetes mellitus, as it contains plant inulin and effectively affects carbohydrate metabolism.

Apparently, one of the reasons that beans are almost a rare vegetable, even in family gardens, is related to the spread of the idea of them as a southern plant. And this at a time when in the middle lane and even in the North-West, you can harvest a good harvest of this dietary vegetable and use its curly and bushy forms in the decoration of the site.

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