By Jane Hayes / Garden Jane
I love beans and I am delighted to share this bean celebration with you. Here are 10 fun bean facts, recipes and growing tips to enjoy:
- The UN thinks beans are great too and declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses.
- Beans are full of protein. Eating more beans and less meat is good for your body and the planet too.
- Soak and sprout beans to helps make them more digestible.
- Beans are ready for picking this month! Pick frequently to increase production.
- Beans are easy to grow and relatively drought tolerant. You can plant beans every two weeks to have them all season long. In spring, beans should be sown directly into the soil after the soil has warmed up.
- Beans are great for soil, in part because they help fix Nitrogen in soil. Nitrogen is one of the most important macronutrients needed to grow healthy food.
- There are at least 28,000 varieties of beans in the world and Seeds of Diversity estimates at ~4000 grow in Canada.
- Only about 20 varieties of beans can be found in grocery stores in Canada.
- There are 16,000 schools in Canada, so when schools save bean varieties, kids make a real difference!
- Bean seeds can last up to 10 years and still be viable. Save bean seeds and join the Bean Keepers. For more info about the Bean Keepers, send me a note at jane@hoffmannhayes.com!
One way that Daniel and I love beans is with garlic…
String Beans and Garlic
½ lb of green beans
1 clove garlic
Grapeseed or sunflower oil
Salt to taste
Peel and dice garlic. Heat oil on medium heat. Pan fry garlic. Boil water to steam beans. Steam beans until they are just tender (tip: larger amounts of beans can be taken off the heat a little crisp. They finish cooking with latent heat). Stir garlic into beans and salt to taste.
This post is part of the HH “Feature Crop of the Month” series, highlighting produce that can be grown and enjoyed locally.