BEAN

 

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Some beans are grown to be eaten green when the pods are tender (that's the French bean sold by greengrocers), and others are eaten dried (that's the Kidney, Navy bean, etc., sold by grocers). The first have either no parchment (inner skin) in their pods, or a very thin one, and the second usually have a thick parchment. Apart from the green beans being left to mature and dry on the bush, the seed-saving techniques for both green and dried beans are very similar, so we will deal with both together. Some of the many other species known as "beans" are covered elsewhere in this book. Both French and Kidney beans have two growing habits: dwarf (bush) and climbing (pole). In the 16th century, Pope Clement the Seventh seemed to have had vision with beans – he distributed, in ceremonies of great pomp, bags of beautiful-looking beans to the populace. When his niece married the French King Francois I, he gave her large quantities of multicolored beans to replant in France, saying that she should be more proud of her wedding present than "all the jewels of the crown". Beans spread so fast from the Americas to Asia that for a long time they were considered in Europe to be of Chinese origin.

Plant Names
Botanical Family: 
LEGUMINOSAE
Common Name: 
BEAN
Genus: 
Phaseolus
Species: 
vulgaris
About the Name: 

phaselos is Greek for bean, and vulgaris "common" in Latin. (see separate entries for Broad Bean, Guada Bean, Lima Bean, Runner Bean, Snake Bean, Soya Bean, Winged Bean and Yam Bean).

Origins: 
<p>Although there are records of bean cultivation in Mexico in 4000 BC, the plants seem to have originated from the temperate regions of South America. Ethno-botanists focus on the Incas of Peru as the domesticators of beans and surmise that they were transported in successive waves northwards through Central and North America. The invention of pottery 6000 years ago in South America is thought to have enabled the boiling of dried beans. Prior to that, beans were eaten green.</p>
Plant Description: 
<p>Some beans are grown to be eaten green when the pods are tender (that's the French bean sold by greengrocers), and others are eaten dried (that's the Kidney, Navy bean, etc., sold by grocers). The first have either no parchment (inner skin) in their pods, or a very thin one, and the second usually have a thick parchment. Apart from the green beans being left to mature and dry on the bush, the seed-saving techniques for both green and dried beans are very similar, so we will deal with both together. Some of the many other species known as &quot;beans&quot; are covered elsewhere in this book. Both French and Kidney beans have two growing habits: dwarf (bush) and climbing (pole). In the 16th century, Pope Clement the Seventh seemed to have had vision with beans &ndash; he distributed, in ceremonies of great pomp, bags of beautiful-looking beans to the populace. When his niece married the French King Francois I, he gave her large quantities of multicolored beans to replant in France, saying that she should be more proud of her wedding present than &quot;all the jewels of the crown&quot;. Beans spread so fast from the Americas to Asia that for a long time they were considered in Europe to be of Chinese origin.</p>
Variety Notes: 
<p>The beauty of beans is so marked that ethno-botanists think that there was religious significance to human beings in their colour patterning and forms. Active subscribers of Seed Savers are maintaining hundreds of varieties of beans. Wally Bergman, a coalminer from Mackay, Queensland, has collected and maintained more than one hundred sorts of beans over the years. He even buys stocks from seed companies that are about to discontinue lines. He has rescued some beautiful strains from Goodwins, a small Tasmanian family seed company. Bill Hankin, in the Snowy Mountains, is another enthusiastic bean collector. Beans seem to enthuse their collectors more than most other vegetables. We will look at green, then dried bean varieties. Green Beans &ndash; French Beans, Snap Beans, String Beans &ndash; to be eaten fresh. Dwarf: Bush beans include New Discovery, Feltham Prolific, Emperor William, Perfect Bush, Tweed Wonder, Canadian Wonder and Magnum Bonum. In Queensland, Redlands Beauty and Redlands Greenleaf were bred by the Department of Primary Industries for their resistance to the fungal diseases that are common in that State's wet and hot weather. All the beans whose names start with &quot;College&quot; were bred by the NSW Department of Agriculture and have been popular with market gardeners and canneries. Climbing: For these a trellis, fence, or tripod will need to be provided. Many beans that arrived in Australia in the early years were quite large and suited the big families of the day. General Mackay has pods thirty cm (a foot) long and quite wide. The Muffet Bean, which arrived from England to be established in the Goulburn, NSW, area in 1827, was a large bean that would have helped to feed the fourteen registered children of Ken Muffet's great grandfather. It contains up to twelve beans in one pod and is possibly a Caseknife. This name indicates their large size. Ken and his relatives still grow this old-fashioned bean and it means a lot to them. The Lohrey's Special Bean, with a natural salty flavour, and a butter bean from Rocky Cape in Tasmania, named the Magpie because of its black and white seed, were saved for fifty years by the one family. We have been sent dozens of types of Zebra beans with names such as Count Zeppelin, Scotia, Mollie's, Greek and Mrs O'Brien's Zebra Beans. They come from various states of Australia, some having arrived with German settlers. Doreen Bollen from Toronto near Newcastle, NSW, who has saved and grown a Zebra bean for forty years, says that, &quot;My father-in-law got them in Bellingen (NSW) from a lady who had them from an old man who had brought them from Germany years ago!&quot; The Nardi Bean is one that performs well even in poor soils. It first arrived in Australia from the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) in the late 1800's with the Nardi family who settled in New Italy, a hamlet near Lismore, NSW. You may wonder why anyone would want to collect so many Zebras that apparently looked the same. Isn't one enough? The reasons are that because they emanated from different regions before they came to Australia, they were adapted to different climatic conditions, soils and grow in different regions of Australia. These unique properties had earned them the right to be grown and protected - and still do. Yellow-podded varieties, both dwarf and climbing (such as Bountiful Delicacy, Mammoth Golden Cluster and Kentucky Wonder Wax) are known for their fine flavour. Butter beans such as Cherokee Wax used to be very popular in New Zealand. Dried Beans &ndash; Pinto Beans, Navy Beans, Soup Beans, Kidney Beans &ndash; to be dried and stored for soups and flour. Many varieties of Barlotti (or Borlotti) beans, both dwarf and climbing, exist amongst the Italo-Australian community. They are characterized by speckled brown and red pods with very fat seeds. The Atherton Tablelands in northern Queensland, the Riverina area of southern NSW and Shepparton and Mildura in Victoria are all strong Italian farming communities (Jupp, 1988). A climbing variety resistant to rust &ndash; the Mangere bean, with waxy pods &ndash; has been developed in New Zealand. Barlotti beans are also used green-shelled. The very tender Green Flageolet Bean used for making cassoulet is grown and distributed by Michel Porcher at Gisborne, Victoria.</p>

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