Hassle-free freezer fillers Go HERITAGE FOR BEANS

Beans have been a staple crop for thousands of years, helping to shape our civilisation. They remain as important as ever and here heritage veg expert Rob Smith reveals his favourite tried and trusted dwarf and climbing French varieties

BEANS

Rob’s neighbours are likely to find regular deliveries of beans on their doorsteps

Top tip

Some beans, notably French types, are generally self-fertile, producing pods through self-pollination. However, others will cross if the right insect transfers pollen from one variety to the other. If you are planning to save seeds to grow next year’s beans, make sure to grow your different varieties as far apart as possible.

The pods of French beans come in several attractive colours

A young bed planted using the ‘three sisters’ – corn, squash and beans

Being legumes, beans are part of the Fabaceae family, the second most important plant family to feed humans after the grasses (Poaceae). They have gone by many different names over the centuries and depending on what country you come from depends on what you call them.

Dwarf French bean, climbing French bean, kidney, flageolet and even pole beans are different names for what we would call French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), be it the climbing ones which need support, or the dwarf varieties which are happy to be grown in a window box. All are equally suited to the garden or the allotment.

There can’t be many gardeners out there that haven’t grown a bean or two in their gardening lives. It seems like an unwritten law for everyone to grow more beans than they can possibly eat, even if they ate them for every meal of every day all year long! In fact, I have a standing agreement with my neighbours; at first I ask them if they want some beans (and they happily accept); however, when they start to decline overfull carrier bags of beans, I still leave them on the doorstep – I just don’t ask them if they want them! It’s what I like to think of as my ‘bean redistribution service’!