meadow
Deeply Rooted
No, definitely was thinking of dried. Thanks for this.
2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders
- Thread starter Blue-Jay
- Start date
meadow
Deeply Rooted
Apparently a wise choice. Records for the past 34 years show we've only met the nighttime temperature requirements during 13 of those years. Of course our particular property may not (probably is not) accurately reflected in the numbers, so I'd still give cowpeas a shot... just not this year.
ETA: Found out with the help of @digitS' brilliant post, here. A tutorial, really. Very helpful!
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Zeedman
Garden Master
If the climate is too cool for cowpeas (and probably limas as well) then peas, garbanzos, and favas are possible alternatives. Maybe soup peas?
I'm in the opposite situation; my climate usually shifts from Winter to Summer so quickly that cool-weather vegetables are difficult. My garbanzos just barely produced replacement seed last year, and grass peas (another cool-weather crop) died shortly after flowering.
I will be trying favas this year started early as transplants, hoping they ripen before the summer heat settles in.
I'm in the opposite situation; my climate usually shifts from Winter to Summer so quickly that cool-weather vegetables are difficult. My garbanzos just barely produced replacement seed last year, and grass peas (another cool-weather crop) died shortly after flowering.
I will be trying favas this year started early as transplants, hoping they ripen before the summer heat settles in.
Zeedman
Garden Master
Upon reflection, I realize I failed to mention what may be the most rewarding bean for your area. The large-seeded white runner beans should do exceptionally well in your climate. @aftermidnight & several others in the PNW have had great success with them. I've grow several of those (including Piekny Jas last year) and they make HUGE delicious shellies that IMO rival even the largest limas. Gigandes, Bianca de Spagna, and Bond's Orcas Lima are similar, and all are pole beans. I could offer seed for either Gigandes or Piekny Jas, if you would like to try them.
meadow
Deeply Rooted
Peas do very well here! Soup peas are a great idea. Garbanzos are a complete surprise! I'd never thought to grow them and have imagined them to need hot weather. Will have to look into this! Thanks!
Do I understand you correctly, that favas can be grown rather like peas? I was thinking they were an overwintered crop (I've never grown them before). I did purchase a packet this year: "Karmazyn," a Polish variety with a pink blush, said to have excellent flavor and (relatively?) tender skins.
😍 We did sample Rancho Gordo Royal Corona beans not long ago using this recipe: Pizza Beans / Tomato and Gigante Bean Bake I am a huge fan of large white beans now! So pleased to know they will grow well here!
I may take you up on your very kind offer. I first need to do a little research and also make sure there is trellis room (I'm guessing these are aggressive climbers?).
Jack Holloway
Deeply Rooted
I'm thinking/hoping that people would know if they would be at risk for Favism, before growing or eating fava beans.
Zeedman
Garden Master
In areas where winters are mild & the ground doesn't freeze, favas are often Fall planted, and grown over the Winter. They will take light frosts. But they can also be grown Spring planted, in areas with mild Summers. I saw both methods being used in coastal California; those over-wintered just had a much longer DTM.
Royal Corona is another of those large white flowered / white seeded runner beans, similar (or identical?) to those I mentioned above. It is one I have not yet grown, but other gardeners have spoken highly of it. All of those beans look, grow, and taste so similar that I often wonder if they are the same bean, with each country which grows using a different name.
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Jack Holloway
Deeply Rooted
@meadow I can send you some Jack's Runner Pole Bean, all white seeds, if you like. Seed from 2010, not stored correctly, if you want to try it.
Zeedman
Garden Master
A reasonable precaution, before eating favas for the first time. It is a genetic weakness, mostly in people of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern ancestry (and apparently some of India descent) so something your parents or other family might know. A lab or doctor can test for it, but I have no idea how much the test would cost, or where to get it. If I were to eat favas, I would probably be the first in my family to do so (maybe ever). To be honest, I'm not even sure I will like them yet!
I would grow favas for seed regardless, as a service to those who might want to grow them... and because my bean curiosity demands it.
@Jack Holloway , you brought up an important issue, about growing unfamiliar legumes for the first time. Many of the world's cultivated legumes (or pulses) require special precautions to be consumed, which we sometimes take for granted because their proper preparation is part of our culture. For example, we in the U.S. cook the toxicity out of limas & dry beans perhaps less because we know of the toxins, than because we have always done so. The danger is when something is grown outside of the culture(s) which are familiar with it. I was showing a friend who spends a lot of time in Europe my garden, and showed them a large runner bean seed... which they started peeling to eat raw, as they said they had done with favas. I had to explain to them that raw Phaseolus beans could make them ill.
The grass peas (Lathyrus sativus) which I tried to grow for the first time last year (and which failed) have their own eponymous disease, lathyrism, which can be caused by consumption over time.
Jack Holloway
Deeply Rooted
@Zeedman To add, from what I read when looking up today, what it was called, I found that even the pollen can make you sick, or just being around the plants, so it is doubtful you have the issue. I just remembered reading something about it 40 years ago and have just never wanted to grow them since.
I didn't know that raw Phaseolus could make you ill. I've often wondered out people figured out ages ago, how to make some very toxic foods safe to eat. Seems there would have been a lot of deaths from trial and error. Amazing to me.
I didn't know that raw Phaseolus could make you ill. I've often wondered out people figured out ages ago, how to make some very toxic foods safe to eat. Seems there would have been a lot of deaths from trial and error. Amazing to me.
