Beans, Beans, Beans... and maybe a few peas too!

Beans beans... good for your heart!

Beans are ridiculously easy to grow and provide a nutritious and tasty crop.

They provide useful amounts of vitamins A, C and E, as well as niacin and iron.

They have the added advantage of being very bountiful. Most varieties perform and produce all summer long.

Here's how to grow some of the common types.

Runner Beans

Runner beans can make a good contribution to green living, helping us to reduce our food miles. They also make great gifts for neighbours and friends as they are so bountiful.

In real life the bean stalk does indeed grow at a prodigious rate, curling skywards up any handy support. Children are often very impressed by these plants, even these days. The beautiful flowers, red or white, are followed by weeks and weeks of productive life right into autumn.

They are not always to everyones taste, being sometimes rather stringy. The secret is to pick them while they are young and tender. Also, some varieties are better than others and may be marketed as "stringless".

Grow them to start in medium sized pots or boxes of potting compost. The "seed" is quite large, and they develop deep roots quite quickly. Place the seed about 1" below the surface of the soil or growing medium. Try to put them upright - this way they are less likely to rot. If you put them in upside down, they will right themselves but it will slow down their early growth a little. Firm the compost down and water them well. Keep the compost moist but not soaking wet.

They will quickly grow and should be planted out before they become pot-bound (too big for the pot - roots sticking out of the bottom).

Harden them off for a few days before planting out. Plant them out about 8-10 inches apart and next to a frame to climb up. Frames are easy to make. Take tall bamboo or hazel poles and create a tepee-like structure by pushing the poles into the soil to form a circle. Each pole should be about a foot away from the next one. Bring the poles together in the middle and tie them together.

If you want to be eco-friendly it is good to use a native species for your bean poles. In Europe hazel is a good choice, being reasonably strong and straight. Some garden centres sell these for a small sum. You can cut your own if you have access to hazel trees.

This is more environmentally-friendly than using bamboo canes brought in from China (unless you happen to live in China, of course!)

Now you can use garden twine to weave the poles together more firmly. It is easiest to work from the top downwards. Finish about 10 - 15 cms from the ground. The plants will quickly latch onto the support and grow up it. You can put plants on either side of each pole and they will happily climb up together.

The trick is to keep them well fed and watered but if your soil is good and the weather is warm with some rainfall, you may not have to do very much at all!

Once the plants have developed their pretty red or white flowers, the seed pods will start to form not long after. All you have to do is keep up with the picking! Once they start producing they will carry on until the winter frosts stop them.

Extra beans can be blanched and frozen.

Picture: Cooked "Trail of Tears" beans

Pole beans and French beans

There is a pole bean called "Trail of Tears" which delivers immense crops of sweet, soft beans which you can also dry for later use. The Cherokee Indians used to carry these beans around with them wherever they went.

French Beans

French beans can be much smaller bushes needing only minimal support to keep them upright. Some of these can be pretty productive too. They tend to be tender and tasty and not very demanding to grow.

I find it easiest to start them off in pots under shelter.

Fava Beans or Broad Beans

Then there's the broad bean or fava bean. (These are basically the same as field or horse beans but the stock has been improved for horticultural use.)

Fava beans are a little trickier to grow than most beans as they are started earlier in the year and can become victim to cold winds and other difficult growing conditions. They are not generally as productive as pole beans. However the taste can be absolutely fantastic, making them well worth the effort. They are also versatile staples for the organic kitchen, especially if you enjoy soups and stews.

How to grow Fava beans

Broad beans can be started in pots or directly in the ground either in autumn or spring. Pots can be started on windowsills or in a cold greenhouse for a surer start.

Put one or two beans into good quality potting compost. Place the beans in the medium so that they are standing upright. This way they are less likely to rot. You can also pre-soak them for a few days if you like, to get them started before you put them into pots - this makes it easier to see which way up they are!

When you have done this for a few days (preferably two weeks, especially if the weather is still at all chilly), choose a mild, damp day to plant them out in their growing positions. Give them a reasonable amount of room, depending upon the variety, 8-10 inches at least. Rows need to be about 12 -15 inches apart.

Water them well and firm them down. You may want to cover them in fleece to begin with.

They should now grow on without problems, provided that you keep the ground reasonably free of competing weeds.

Broad beans are legumes and will fix nitrogen in the soil, making them a useful crop for improving the soil fertility. They also have quite deep roots so they can help bring nutrients up from deep in the soil.

Some organic growers use them almost as much for their soil improving qualities as for the crop.

Growing peas

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