Why should we add beans to our home garden?
Simple! The bean can be grown successfully even by the most inexperienced, it is generally a very resistant plant that gives more harvests.
It is an excellent source of vegetable proteins and the plant releases nitrogen into the soil so it is ideal to combine for example with tomatoes which require a lot of it.
The climbing varieties, in addition to being decorative, allow this plant to grow even in the smallest spaces.
The bean can be eaten fresh, freshly shelled, frozen or dried for storage at room temperature; the all-eating varieties such as green beans, snow peas or the particular Aquila bean from Lucca give generous harvests of which nothing is thrown away!
Let's see what the general rules are for growing this legume.
It grows well in all types of soil, even without fertilization, but it suffers from the cold and will not vegetate until the minimum temperatures exceed 10 degrees; it is advisable to sow it directly into the ground from April to June, continuing until mid-August for the all-eating varieties (this way we will have autumn harvests).
The climbing varieties need supports in the form of nets or trellises while the other varieties only need space, they are sown in rows with a distance of at least half a meter between the rows, for 10 m2 approximately 150 g of seed will be used by placing two or three beans in holes no more than 4 cm deep. Alternatively, you can germinate the seeds in the seedbed as early as the beginning of March and then plant the seedlings when the temperature allows them to grow, calculating a distance of about 3 or 4 cm between them.
Beans require little water and require it especially during flowering; some climbing varieties will flower throughout the summer in your garden, so it will be good practice to water at least once a week, adjusting this according to the variety, soil and climate. More free-draining soils may require more frequent watering as well as plants growing in containers where the soil will dry out more quickly.
The bean is associated in the garden with all the salads, tomatoes and radishes while it must stay away from garlic and onions.
The beans are harvested 80-120 days after sowing, when the pod tends to wither, while the green beans must be harvested green and tender, in most cases before the seed inside is completely formed.