Experience In Growing And Using Different Types Of Beans

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

Beans are an ancient cultivated plant of American origin. She came to Europe after the voyage of Christopher Columbus. Beans penetrated into Russia in the second half of the 16th century and were originally used as an ornamental plant called "Turkish beans or stakes."

Later, it began to be cultivated as a vegetable, and from the 18th century - as a grain crop. Nowadays, beans are cultivated in almost all zones of warm and temperate climates. I have been growing beans for a long time. Even when there was no summer cottage, it was grown in common gardens along with potatoes. When planting tubers, one beans were thrown into the hole with them. So we got a double harvest. This neighborhood benefited both vegetables: the beans use the potato bush as a support and, in turn, feed the potatoes with nitrogen, which enriches the soil.

When a summer cottage appeared in our possession, the area for a vegetable garden was significant, and we planted a lot of potatoes, and, consequently, beans. Grain beans were grown to produce ripe grains.

Once I decided to use unripe bean blades, but since we cultivated the beans with shelling, for grain, they turned out to be rough. Then I then tried to use unripe, but already formed beans at the stage of milk ripeness for food. The dish made from such grains turned out to be simply amazing in taste. Sure, a decent chunk of the beans went to waste, but it was worth it! Recently I found out that this is not my invention. In Europe they use such beans as a delicacy and call them in the French manner "flagole". In France, the bean cultivar grown Flageollet, and used in cooking it is unripe beans. It boils down quite quickly, goes well with mint and chervil. The flagole is served mainly as a side dish for baked meat.

Over time, sugar asparagus beans began to appear on the market, and I began to grow such beans more and more, and soon I completely switched to asparagus beans. If ripe grains are used in shelling varieties of beans, then in asparagus, vegetables they use unripe fruits (valves with very small seeds), which taste like asparagus, they do not have a parchment layer and fibers or they do not form for a long time. Of course, the first varieties of asparagus beans were not of very high quality, but over time, breeders began to offer more and more new varieties of asparagus beans. If earlier vegetable growers did not have enough good varieties, now there is such a choice that you can get lost in it.

When choosing asparagus beans, first of all, you need to pay attention to the early maturity of the variety. If the summer is short, it is better to use early or mid-season varieties. In my experience, early varieties almost always lose quality to middle ones, but if there is no choice, then you will have to plant early varieties, mid-season ones simply may not give ripe seeds. Or grow medium-sized beans through seedlings and under a temporary film cover.

Always make sure that the asparagus bean variety does not contain any coarse parchment layer or fibers on either side of the pod. Although seed producers are sometimes cunning. For example, the popular fiberless Sachs asparagus is found to be fiber-free. So you will have to use trial and error when choosing seeds. My best varieties were Laura and the Butter King.

For vegetable plants, the length of daylight is of great importance. In the equatorial part of the globe, the length of the day and night are approximately the same. In the middle zone of Russia, the ratio is different: in the summer period, the length of the day is about 16-17 hours, and the further north, the longer the day is. This discrepancy between the length of the day and the biological characteristics of short-day plants often leads to a lack of flowering and fruiting. Short-day plants include pumpkin, cucumber, pepper, eggplant, tomato varieties, corn, squash, squash, and nearly all beans. The factor of darkness is necessary at the beginning of their life (growing season), and in the future they can successfully develop and bear fruit in conditions of a long day.

I read that medium and long-day beans are now appearing on the market, but I have not found any with such characteristics among the catalogs of seed producers. By adjusting the length of daylight hours, you can have the desired effect on crops. By lengthening or shortening the daylight hours, it is possible to change the flowering time of vegetable crops and get higher yields. To shorten daylight hours, the plants in the beds are usually shaded from 8 pm to 8 am the next day.

When choosing seeds, you should pay attention to the shape of the bush. In the Northwest zone, it is better to grow bushy asparagus beans. Curly bean varieties grow well in greenhouses.

Now on the market you can buy seeds of asparagus beans - vigna. These beans have very long pods - up to a meter. Chinese varieties of cowpea are more unpretentious, give a good harvest of tender, very tasty pods up to 4 kg per plant. By the way, such legumes as mung bean, adzuki are also varieties of white beans. They do not require pre-soaking and have a pleasant nutty taste. They are used for germination. The advantage of asparagus beans is that they use green pods, green unripe grains, and ripe grains for food.

Beans are high in protein. Among them is a protein that inhibits the action of digestive enzymes. As a result, unpleasant sensations arise in the intestines. Soaking the beans in a baking soda solution and boiling them until cooked can help reduce flatulence. You can soak beans in Borjomi.

When boiled without soaking, a significant part of the beans loses their shape - they are boiled. When the water boils, it is drained, and the beans are poured with boiling water and boiled in a saucepan covered with a lid, with a weak, continuous boil. You need to salt the beans at the end of cooking.

Here are my favorite bean recipes:

Bean pods fried with mushrooms

Cut the processed champignons into slices. Scald the beans with the mushrooms with boiling water, put them on a sieve and immediately transfer them to a preheated pan with a small amount of vegetable oil, add soy sauce. Fry, shaking the pan all the time, pour in sesame oil, fried with allspice.

Bean sprouts in soy sauce

Germinate mung beans within 1-2 days. Dip them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then in cold water, squeeze out the moisture and put in a bowl. Add sesame oil (or any vegetable oil), chopped garlic, ground coriander and soy sauce. In such a salad, you can add fresh chrysanthemum petals, previously soaked in cold water for about 20 minutes.

Bean salad with cucumbers

Boil the beans until tender. Cool and transfer to a bowl. Add vinegar, ground coriander, minced garlic, soy sauce and let stand for a couple of hours. Stir in thinly sliced fresh cucumbers and parsley and dill.

Vegetable soup with beans

Cut carrots, celery and parsley into strips and cook in salted water. Add boiled beans. In a frying pan in vegetable oil, sauté the onions until golden brown, add the peeled tomatoes. Season the soup with the finished sautéer. Boil. When serving, sprinkle with parsley and dill. Add sour cream.