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Varieties of beans are divided into several types: bush, semi-curly and curly. Most often, bush beans can be found in garden beds and farm fields, the height of plants in which does not exceed 60-70 cm. Such varieties are very productive, endure cold weather and begin to bear fruit before the rest. However, low bushes often become prey for pests, mainly beans are threatened by slugs that spoil not only stems and leaves, but also pods with fruits.
A worthy alternative to bush beans are climbing species of this legume. Long creepers braiding fences, wattle fences, arbors and trees will become a real decoration of a garden or kitchen garden, and it will be possible to collect enough fruits from each bush that is enough for the whole family.
This article is about varieties of curly edible beans, because breeders have bred many varieties of this crop, the fruits of which have no nutritional value, but play only a decorative role. While beans and pods of edible varieties have the same taste and nutritional qualities as beans harvested from a stunted bush.
Features and varieties of bush beans
The length of the lashes of bush bean varieties can reach five meters. Fences are twisted with such vines, let them on the walls of houses, outbuildings, arbors and pergolas. But you can limit yourself to ordinary props with a slingshot at the end, the height of such supports should be about two meters.
The features of growing bush varieties include:
- The need to tie plants.
- Beans love warmth, so it is sown in the ground in late May or early June, when the threat of frost disappears.
- The vegetative period of legumes ranges from 60 to 90 days, depending on the variety. Curly beans can be harvested until the autumn frosts, as the fruiting period of this crop is extended.
- The possibility of planting a climbing bush near fruit or garden trees. Such a neighborhood will not harm even young trees in any way, because the roots of beans, as you know, release nitrogen into the ground, which is necessary for most plants for normal development.
- Creating shade with legume bushes.
- Tall plants do not like drafts and winds that can break their whips. Therefore, it is necessary to plant climbing bushes in places protected from strong winds.
Depending on the form in which the beans are eaten, the varieties of this crop are divided into:
- asparagus;
- semi-sugar;
- cereals.
Asparagus beans are eaten along with the pods. Such varieties are also called sugar. The seed box of these beans is soft, without hard parchment partitions between the grains. Harvest the beans in an unripe form, when the pods are still tender and soft. When fully ripe, the beans inside the pod become the same as in cereal varieties, only smaller.
Semi-sugar varieties when unripe, they have tender pods. But if you lose sight of the beans a little and harvest the asparagus at the wrong time, the seed pods will become as tough as those of the grain varieties. In this case, the beans can be eaten just like regular beans.
Grain varieties also called shellers because the pods are shelled in order to extract mature beans from them. Such beans are used boiled, and the fruits need to be cooked for a long time, at least two hours.
On climbing bushes, you can grow any of the three types of beans: both pods and beans grow well here. It remains only to choose a good variety of fruit-bearing vines.
“Blauhilda”
Violet Climbing Bush: This bean surprises with purple pods, purple beans and even leaves. The bush also blooms in a dark purple color. It is better to grow “Blauhilda” in a warm climate, for central Our Country it is better to choose a seedling method or plant beans in heifers. The ripening period is from 90 to 110 days, so the beans may simply not ripen in a short summer.
Bushes begin to bloom very quickly, their flowering continues until the autumn cold. Therefore, there are always fresh pods on the bean bushes – it bears fruit all season.
The variety is considered asparagus, the length of the pods reaches 23 cm. When fresh, the pods are purple, but after cooking they turn green. If not harvested in time, the asparagus can become a little tough. In this case, you can eat the beans themselves, because they are also very tasty – large, oily, beige.
The basis for “Blauhilda” must be strong, because the bushes reach a length of three to four meters, have fairly powerful shoots with many fruits. This plant will be an excellent decoration of the garden and vegetable garden.
“Winner”
This variety is also called fiery red beans. The bushes of this bean look very impressive: thin lashes, up to four meters long, with many small bright scarlet flowers.
In Our Country, this variety is found more often than others, because it is very unpretentious. The only thing that the “Winner” is afraid of is frost, even with small frosts the plant dies.
The beans of this bean are eaten, they are painted in a light purple hue with black spots. There are several varieties of the variety, they all bloom in different shades and have beans of different colors.
Pobedel bean pods can also be eaten. But before that, they must, like beans, need to be boiled. The fact is that beans contain toxins, and when cooked, they are quickly neutralized.
The taste of beans is average, so it is most often grown for decorative purposes.
“Purple Lady”
This climbing bush is not very tall – its height reaches a maximum of 150 cm. The plant is decorated with large dark purple flowers. The fruits of the variety are pods, up to 15 cm long, the shape of which resembles a tube.
The variety belongs to early ripening, asparagus can be eaten already on the 55th-60th day after sowing bean seeds into the soil. Beans are also eaten, they are white in color and have an excellent taste.
From the variety “Blauhilda” “Purple Lady” differs in more elegant shoots and higher yields.
“Harmony”
The variety is considered semi-sugar – you can eat asparagus and beans. Fruiting beans begins on the 65th day after planting, fruiting continues until the first frost.
Gardeners love “Harmony” for its unpretentiousness, good germination and stable yields. Bean pods are golden in color, you can eat them and the beans themselves, which are painted white.
From each bush, 300-500 grams of beans are harvested. The weight of the lashes is quite large, so the vines need to be tied up on reliable supports, because their length reaches four meters.
“Spanish White”
Beans are unique in this variety – their size is five to six times the average size of beans. The variety belongs to peeling, it also has excellent taste qualities of fruits, which have a very delicate and thin peel.
The pods of these beans are not eaten – they are too tough. But the beans can be added to borscht, lobio, canned or stewed – they have a unique, very delicate taste.
In each green pod, the length of which does not exceed 14 cm, there are only 3-5 beans. The variety begins to bear fruit not very early – on the 70th day after sowing the seeds into the soil.
The decorative qualities of the vines are also on top – the length of the lashes is about four meters, the bushes are powerful and strong. Beans bloom with snow-white flowers, with which the bush is literally dotted.
Berlotto
The fiery color of the inflorescences, delicious asparagus and a powerful climbing vine made the Italian variety one of the most popular in Our Country. At the beginning of the growing season, the bean pods are colored green, have a size of about 14 cm, and a flattened shape. After some time, a beautiful marble pattern appears on the pods, they become variegated. Each box contains four beans. It is better to collect grains in an unripe form, so they are more tender, quickly boiled soft, and have a slightly nutty flavor. After full ripening, white beans also develop a spotted pattern.
Eating Berlotto is recommended while the beans are uniformly green. Fruit can be harvested 60 days after planting. Even earlier, you can eat the pods of these curly beans – they are tasty in an unripe state, until the green color has changed to spotted.
Vigna
This Asian beauty is quite whimsical and capricious, but the bushes of this plant can become an adornment of any site. Beans belong to the subspecies of asparagus, it has a very high yield.
The length of the average pod “Cowpea” reaches one meter. Curly bushes reach three meters in height. The plant blooms only at night, the flowers are painted in a purple hue. During the day, the flowers are closed and their color changes to yellow-brown.
About 200 pods can be harvested from each bean bush. You can eat both asparagus and the beans themselves, which are painted white. You can easily recognize the fruits of “Vigna” by a dark spot on the side of the bean.
“Golden Nectar”
This bean belongs to the asparagus varieties, its pods reach a length of 25 cm, painted in yellow-golden color. The variety is considered early ripe, the fruits ripen on the 60th day after planting.
The immature pods and beans of Golden Nectar should be eaten before they become too tough.
“Dolihos”
In India, the fruits of this variety, which is a variety of cowpea, are eaten and considered a delicacy. Whereas in Our Country this bean is still grown only for decorative purposes. True, some gardeners feed beans to livestock or use them as green manure.
Depending on the variety, Dolichos creepers can be purple, red or green. The height of the whip reaches four meters. Bean inflorescences are not only beautiful, they exude a delicate, pleasant aroma.
The pods adorn the creepers until the first autumn frosts, they are painted in different shades, like the flowers of “Dolichos” – it depends on the variety of beans.
Cooking beans
Not only beans need special treatment before eating. After all, everyone knows that beans need to be soaked for a long time in cold water, and only after that cook for 1,5-2 hours.
Pods of asparagus varieties also need to be able to cook. They are cooked quite a bit – just a couple of minutes. And if the asparagus is to be frozen, it must be blanched. For a few seconds, the pods are poured with boiling water, abruptly replacing it with ice water. This tactic helps to preserve all the nutritional properties of asparagus, “cork” useful vitamins and minerals.
Curly beans can be more than just a decoration – they are a great way to get a high yield of beans or excellent tasting asparagus from a modest plot of land.
