Bring up beans at a garden gathering, and you might as well settle in, because discussion on which pod is priceless is a long-winded one. When it comes to legumes, people are fervent about favas, love their limas and are crazy about chickpeas.
“Beans are the easiest thing in the world to grow,” says Ken Albala, author of “Beans: A History” (Berg publishing $24.95). “All you do is throw them in the ground. That’s why little kids have them as their school experiments; they can grow them but don’t have to fuss over them.”
Albala, a professor of history at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., admits his book isn’t a gardener’s manual; he doesn’t give growing advice. Instead, he lauds the lowly legume, the one food to be stigmatized as the “poor man’s meat” throughout history.
“In the kitchen, I wouldn’t say beans are an empty canvas like many starches, where you can do any number of things with them. But beans are very versatile; they’re one of the foods that’s pretty much adaptable to any type of cuisine. In fact, there is no cuisine on Earth that doesn’t have beans in some fashion.”
Growing beans ensures that they’re fresh, something Albala insists is crucial. “People often buy beans off the shelf that have been sitting there for ages, going stale. Growing them yourself means you can use them within months of harvest. They cook better that way and they’re better for you.”
He should know, having eaten beans three times daily for close to 18 months while researching his book. Asked if this caused a drop in invitations for social engagements, he laughed.
“People say you get used to it after a while, but I never found that. I still eat beans — it wasn’t like it was a terrible discomfort — but I don’t think you adapt when you suddenly decide to eat them every day. I had gas no matter what I did; I think you just get used to that.”
Herbs used in cooking to help combat the musical side effect of beans include epazote, savory or cumin. Results vary on their success, so stock up on Beano, the only product proven to help reduce gas.
Then plant the rainbow — red Cranberry, purple Royal Burgundy or Ianto’s Yellow Fava. Just beware: The sad thing about colorful beans is they look pretty, but when cooked they lose their color.
Fresh string beans add gourmet flair with filet varieties, harvested slender before the beans swell. Left to grow, they become flageolet, a delicacy in France.
“Imagine a string bean, just a classic green string bean, left on the vine for another month or so. They grow bigger and thicker, and eventually the outer coating isn’t edible anymore, but the beans inside get larger. Those are flageolet. And in France, for whatever reason, they adore flageolets.”
While planting beans is a snap, there are a few things to consider when growing them. Water management takes vigilance in our hot, semi-arid region. Beans like consistent moisture: they drop their blossoms if they get water stressed. Be sure to mulch them and use drip irrigation for a successful crop, but don’t worry over feeding them too often.
“The great thing about beans is that they have nodules on the roots that act in symbiosis with rhizobium bacteria, sucking nitrogen out of the atmosphere and putting it back in the soil where it can be used. This means using less chemical fertilizers, which is a plus,” Albala said.
Though there are many delicious bush bean types, pole beans are widely considered better-tasting and produce all season long. For a family of four, one 10-foot row of pole beans produces two meals per week in the summer. Let them run up a tepee, and plant crops such as lettuce or spinach underneath. The beans will provide shade and be a windbreak for the tender crops below.
Reach Carol O’Meara, a local gardening expert, at omearac@yahoo.com or on her blog .
Know your beans
Dry: Known as shelling beans, they serve up a triple joy in the garden. Eat them fresh as you would a string bean or fully dried for richest flavor. For true culinary seduction, pick, shell and eat the fat, tender beans at the demi-sec stage, when beans are “green” — swollen, but not dried down.
Harvest: To eat at fresh shell stage, pick pods after the beans have plumped but before the pod dries out. Fully dry beans are left to hang on the plant until the pod is desiccated.
Varieties to try: Want beans best for soups and stews? Try Yellow Indian Woman or Hutterite Soup beans, which are listed on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste (a project devoted to promoting and preserving heirloom foods in danger of extinction). Soissons Vert is a small, creamy textured flageolet with an abundant harvest.
Fresh beans: Harvest daily to ensure beans all season, picking filets at a diameter of about a quarter-inch, and snap beans when pods swell but the beans are small.
Try: Fortex, a filet-type rampant grower with vines reaching 12 feet tall, need a tall trellis. Smaller spaces are best for Tavera, a French haricot vert (filet-type), and if you’re a fan of yellow wax beans, look for Beurre de Roquencour or Roc d’Or.
Decorative pods: Dangling from vines or accessorizing your fall arrangements, decorative beans are a perfect accent in gorgeous striped or mottled pods.
Varieties: For stunning effect, try purple hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab) intertwined with white roses. Be careful with hyacinth bean; the beans themselves are toxic when eaten. For colorful and edible, try Coco Rubico bean, with its russet and blond mottling, or Italian Rose, a white and red bush bean.
Accessorize your dishes: Pods and beans aren’t the only parts of the plant that boost your culinary skill. Garnish salads with scarlet runner bean blossoms and you’ll have a flash of red that fills your mouth with a delicate, beany flavor. Sprout mung beans for salads, sandwiches or stir-fry.
