This week covers the third sister: beans. According to tradition, the bean plant climbs through squash and then up corn to bind all of them together as she reaches for the sun.
Although Native Americans did not understand what was happening, they could see the results. Beans are legumes and nourished the other crops by converting nitrogen in the air into nitrogen-rich nodules that grow on its roots.
The beans use this to grow, and the excess provided nitrogen for the squash and corn. Farmers followed this practice, and you can get the same results in your own garden.
Beans or their relatives are native to almost every continent. They are among the oldest cultivated food plants on earth. The plants are easy to grow, and the seeds are large and very nutritious and, in the dried form, they store very well.
There are many kinds of beans. They are the second most popular garden vegetable in the U.S. because they are tasty and used in so many ways. Some are allowed to dry on the vine, and only the seed is eaten. Others are harvested when immature, and the pod and seeds are consumed as "green beans."
Some grow as long, trailing vines and are trained on cornstalks or poles. Others grow as smaller bush-size plants and require no support.
Color is another important aspect in selecting beans. Pods can be green, yellow, purple or speckled with all sorts of colors. Inside, the seeds themselves can be white, tan, brown, black or any one of a number of other colors. Dry or shell beans dry in their pods and are harvested and stored to cook later. Because these beans have very fibrous pods, the seeds are removed or shelled from the pods. These are refrigerated, frozen or dried until they are prepared for eating.
Local favorites for eating but not for growing in the garden include pinto beans — with a large commercial acreage grown in San Juan County — as well as navy, red and other dry beans. Cowpeas, black-eyed peas, field peas, purple hulls, cream peas and Southern peas are all really beans. Add to that array lima beans that are shelled out and eaten.
Snap beans are known as stringless or green beans. Although they originally had a string or fibrous cord along the seam of the pod that had to be removed, newer cultivars do not have that problem. Some tender types can even be eaten fresh without cooking.
To grow beans in your garden, choose a spot in full sunlight and fertile, well-drained soil. Plant them when the soil temperature gets to 60ºF. Bush beans produce in 50 to 60 days, so keep planting them every two to three weeks until mid-July to keep plants producing throughout the season.
Beans are sensitive to drought and heat. If the plants get too dry, they drop flowers and the pods become stringy and tough. If temperatures get above 95 degrees, the blossoms will drop and you will not get a crop. Organic mulches will help prevent these problems.
Overwatering is also harmful. Too much water encourages root-rot diseases and slows the growth of the plants. Water is most critical when the plant is flowering and the bean pod is growing. Irrigation amounts depend on your soil type and organic matter content.
Harvest snap beans when the pods are plump and full but before seeds get large enough that they cause the pods to bulge. Use them immediately for best quality. Harvest dry beans when the pods turn yellow and dry.
Many different types of beans grow well here. Choose the kind you like and also the pod color. Selected bush bean cultivars include Blue Lake, Greencrop, Gold Crop, Kinghorn Wax, Royal Burgundy, Slenderette, Strike or Tendercrop.
If pole beans are more to your liking, consider Blue Lake types, Kentucky Wonder or Romano. If you want to try dry beans, look for Kidney, Great Northern, Pinto, Blackbean or Blackeye Peas. There are many other cultivars that grow well here.
The most frequent problem I have in my garden is the Mexican bean beetle. These resemble a Lady Bird beetle, and the larvae feed on pods, roots and leaves. Hand-pick the pests and watch for the yellow egg clusters under the leaves. Crush them before they hatch out.
Insecticides also help control the pests, but you must get the insects on the backsides of the leaves. Another strategy is altering the planting date to avoid the main outbreaks of the beetles. I usually wait and plant later in the season.
Pick the kind you like, and find the right planting spot. Enjoy these tasty vegetable on your table this summer, and preserve some for eating later.
Larry A. Sagers is a horticulture specialist for the Utah State University Extension Service at Thanksgiving Point.