By now most gardeners have planted their bush and pole snap beans. These beans come in green, yellow or purple colors and are probably some of the easiest veggies to grow. With the hot weather returning, there are other beans that will not only enjoy the heat, but need it. Let’s talk about sowing edamame, yard long beans and lima beans now to take advantage of the heat and long days. I’ll talk about varieties, planting techniques and where to grow them.
Now is the perfect time of year to grow heat-loving beans, like edamame, yard long beans or lima beans. These are three examples that can grow in Vermont, but they need the heat, and you’ve got to get them growing fast, because as soon as it starts getting cold, toward the end of August or September, they shut down.
Edamame, or the green soybean, grows up like a bush, and it has pea-like pods with the beans inside–usually two or three per pod. The peas all seem to mature at once, so freezing some is a good option, or eating a bunch pretty quickly. Then you can chop the plants down and put in a fall crop like kale, so it’s actually a nice succession crop. You can steam edamame in salted water. And then once the pods are soft enough, you can squeeze them and the bean pops right out. It’s a fun thing to do with kids! You just shoot the beans right into your mouth and they’re delicious.
Lima beans grow in a similar way. Bush varieties, like the Fordhook 242, or the Henderson Bush are two heirloom varieties. They grow like regular bush beans, but they need even more heat. You can grow them in black plastic or put them under a tunnel of some type. You can get a lot of heat on those plants so they mature quickly. When the pods start turning a little bit different color from the green, that means the seeds are ready to eat. You can make some succotash.
And the third heat-loving bean is actually a pole bean. It’s a yard long bean and grows up like a regular pole bean. And it has two beans that can grow a yard long, but some are about a foot long. They grow in pairs–very romantic beans. The red noodle is a burgundy-colored bean. It’s thin. It’s delicious. It’s really nice–and great in different kinds of Asian recipes. But it’s another one that once it gets cool at night it starts yellowing and it’s done. So if you’re looking for some hot beans, these are the ones to go for.
