It was surprisingly hard to find the kind of beans or peas that will really work for us in this mediterranean garden.
Broad Beans / Vicia faba
Broad Beans at first seemed a really good idea. Especially because they can be planted over the winter when the dreaded black aphids aren’t around. I planted them for two years running and they grew well but despite having lots of pretty black and white flowers, they never really produced many pods. And seeing the amount of work that goes into shelling them and the mountain of empty pods next to the small handful of actually edible beans I’ve decided they are not worth my time and effort.
Runner Beans / Phaseolus coccineus
Scarlet Runner Beans are called “Firebeans” in German and “Haricots d’Espagne” in French. Which led me to believe that they were perfect for mediterranean climates. I could not have been more wrong. This bean comes from South America and it is special for tolerating cold better than normal green beans – not heat. They do grow here and they do get lots of lovely flowers, but they simply will not fruit in the summer heat. In Greece, as well as Turkey and North Africa they are cultivated in winter but since they do not tolerate frost that wouldn’t work here either.
It goes without saying that regular green beans (phaseolus vulgaris), whether the bush or pole variety, also do not heat or drought tolerant. If planted very early in spring you may get some pods but as soon as the heat sets in they shrivel up.
I researched some more and found Tepari Blue Speck and Anellino Dwarf Beans in the Dry-Gardening section of Seedshunters.com. I ordered some because they were supposed to be very heat and drought tolerant, coming from Arizona and Italy respectively.
Tepari Blue Speck / Phaseolus acutifolius
The Tepari bean plants grew but despite shading and watering they stayed very small, producing very tiny and very stringy beans with very hard kernels. Again not worth the effort for me if one does not have a lot of space to dedicate to dry beans.
Anellino Dwarf Bean / Phaseolus vulgaris
The Anellino di Trento grew well and produced pretty curled-up green and purple bean pods. However the kernels grow hard very quickly in summer and just for the kernels it’s again not worth the effort if one does not have a whole field full of them.
Asparagus Beans / Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis
Finally a bean that really works here! I sowed these in April at the foot of the Albizia tree because I had run out of space for pole beans. From early July through late September I was able to regularly harvest handfuls of long green, tasty and tender beans. They were also popular with ants and wasps who loved to gather the sweet sap at the base of the pods but that did not present any problem. Apparently these beans can grow up to three meters long but I didn’t wait for that, preferring them young and tender. These I will definitely sow again. And did I say they have gorgeous purple flowers? They do!
Peas and Sugar Snaps
Peas can also be planted in winter and I do love me some fresh peas. So I tried the local variety “Petit pois nain provencal”. They did grow well and produce pods in spring but these grew stringy quickly. And again the amount of empty pods and edible peas is just disproportionate. I gave the rest away and this winter I sowed sugar snap peas, that don’t need shelling.
Next up for trials
I will continue to try some bean varieties like Blackeyed Peas and Bisbee Red Beans (Vigna unguiculata / cow peas), that are supposed to be robust, undemanding and heat-tolerant. I may also try Hyacinth beans, Lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) or pinto beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)… stay posted 🙂
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