Bean Lies

Hey all yall, Gardener Coo here with Nacho where he most definitely is not supposed to be here to talk to you about the lies Big Bean has been telling you. So lets get started and go in depth on everything beans.

So the one thing that gets passed around from Gardener to gardener, is that beans make your soil better. Beans have special nodes on their roots that create home bacteria. This bacteria pulls nitrogen out of the air and makes it available to the bean plant.  So “They” say beans add nitrogen to the soil.     LIES. 

Study after study out of farming universities have proved this to be utterly false! Beans only add nitrogen to the soil if you kill them before they flower. To repeat and be crystal clear, if you're growing beans to get fresh or dry beans you’re harvesting all that nitrogen. If you want to add nitrogen to your soil, clover is by far the easiest, and produces the most nitrogen.

–Today I’m growing three types of beans, two experimental: Bush, Soy, and peanut. When looking at green bean seeds you will usually see it called either bush or pole. Ignore the pole beans, they take up valuable trellis space that you could be using for cucumbers or melons and take a lot longer to get to harvest. Bush beans are power houses, spitting out more beans than you know what to do with in a really short time.  If you are wondering what types to get, all I can say is go Italian, and only Italians, sorry husband, because they are the best, the tastiest, and the most pretty! I recommend the yellow Capitano and the deep purple Romano Purpiat from territorial seeds. Also quick shout out to the spanish Musica bean, that one is my friend’s Coruja’s favorite! She would also want me to tell you she loves pole beans because in her later years it's harder to lean down to harvest bush beans, and this is why I have raised beds!.

–The other type of bean you will see are soybeans and peanuts. Now I won’t lie, these probably wont work in my zone. Peanuts like a crazy amount of heat and I live in the same heat zone as Juneau, and soybeans are in a similar boat. The reason I’m trying is because I got the seeds from the now defunct Fruition Seeds that had been selecting the best seeds for years that thrived in Northern New York, right next to canada. Another thing in my favor is I have an extremely long season because I am in USDA zone 10b, just like san diego.  This means it doesn’t get very cold here at all and I get the weird occurrences of harvesting all my chilis from september through March! Winter Chilis are not words that should go together!!!!  I want to urge you to experiment in your garden, its what makes it fun.

–So when you’re planting your bean plants you also want to plant seeds at the same time.  That way when your original plants are just finishing up you have a new crop just starting. Plant the shorter peanuts and bush beans at the front of the bed while planting the taller soybeans at the back so they don’t shade out their brothers.When planting the seeds you can add an inoculant, which is just that nitrogen bacteria we talked about at the top. This speeds up growth and increases harvest. The beans will naturally attract these bacteria but the inoculants speeds it up a ton. Don’t worry about it if you don’t have it, you will still get a large harvest. Plant beans in rich soil with full sun and regular water.  Plant a little shyly at first, you will be shocked by how much the little plants can produce! I’ve been swimming in beans so many times and like zucchini, there comes a point when your so called friends stop returning your calls…

–Here are some Italian flat beans from last year and they have the most beanie flavor, easy to cook, and often didn’t make it into the house. As you can see they also freeze really really well! Okay chef friends don’t listen but a great way, the easiest way, okay honestly the laziest way to prepare them is to trim the ends, cut in half and put on a microwave safe plate. Season with a drizzle of olive oil, a big pinch of salt, and some grinds of black pepper. Put a wet paper towel over the beans and microwave for 2 minutes, you’ll probably have to adjust this time for your microwave. It’s Pure heaven! They’re also great to dip in ranch or humus. Hit like and subscribe and start growing yourself some beans today. I’m gardener Coo here with Nacho, If you don’t hear from me again, you’ll know who to blame

Items in this video

Purple Bean  https://territorialseed.com/products/romano-purpiat

Yellow Bean https://territorialseed.com/products/bean-capitano

Innoculant  https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/inoculants/exceed-garden-combination-inoculant-7531.html