No matter if you call them legumes or beans, they are an excellent addition to any backyard garden. And since they're easy to grow and harvest, they may be a good gateway produce for beginning gardeners.
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There are different types of beans, and they come in a broad scope of sizes, shapes, and colors, and have different growing habits, for them to be healthy to fit nearly any garden space in most environments.
Also other than being a delicious garden treat, beans also improve soil fertility by fixing nitrogen with their roots.
The biggest factor that you need to know about before buying seeds to grow your very own beans is their growth habits. There are different types of beans out there which are classified by their dietary importance or growth formation.
Types Of Beans According To Dietary Properties
At times, beans are classified to green beans or dried beans when it comes to their dietary importance. Green beans are so called because of the green pods they are in, while dried beans are collected ‘dry’ for consumption.
Green Beans
These types of beans are often described as vegetable beans as they are collected quite young and often served in veggie dishes. A person can eat the whole pod as long as it is cooked.
Green beans are rich in potassium and are found to be ideal for those who want to lose weight. They further reduce water retention and helps lower blood pressure. Don’t see this as an easy escape to get your ideal body. Green beans have high oxalate that could lead to arthritis and gout.
Probably, moderation is the key. If eaten at the right amount, this could boost vitamin C intake and antioxidants to rid of those toxins in the body and cell-damaging properties. Vitamin A is also high, and the beans control cancer cells.
Dried Beans
The beans are dry and ripe for it to be eaten. Hence, it’s called dried beans. Most often they are considered as legumes than vegetables because they can be eaten alone. They are highly rich in protein but have more calories than green beans.
Dried beans, however, are low in fat yet high in sugar content. What’s more is that they are low in sodium but high potassium. One thing is for sure, though, dry beans have more fiber that green beans and contains more minerals as well.
These types of beans rich in folate which is why it is more recommended to pregnant women or to those who have a hard time absorbing food. Compared to green beans, though, it offers less vitamin C and antioxidants.
Types Of Beans According To Growth Properties
Pole Beans
These are the climbing beans that need support because of their vines. If you want to grow these types of beans, it’ll place you into an advantage of a smaller footprint since it will not take much space in your garden. Regular maintenance of the plant is what you need for higher produce result.
Bush Beans
It is called as such since it is considered as a bush. They are quite easier to plant and grow than pole beans because it can survive anywhere. A lower maintenance is needed to care for the plants. However, unlike the climbing beans, a bush bean would require space in your garden. You can read more different things about bush and pole beans here.
Common Types Of Beans
Typically, almost all beans are easy to grow and are inexpensive to buy in the market. If you want to plant a bean, check out the most common types of beans. Also, you can check how it is used in most gardens and their classifications. Additionally, they are easy to grow for beginners.
Black Beans
Black beans are sweet, but mostly you can taste its velvety, earthy flavor. The beans are best eaten in salads, soups or beef stews. Black beans are dry beans and can either be pole or bush.
Black Eyed Peas
No, they’re the American band you’re thinking of, but rather it’s those plump little seeds that have a black spot at the center. Black eyed peas are dry beans and are high in folate. They can also be planted with a trellis or let it grow out into a bush bean.
Kidney Beans, Also Known As Cannellini Beans
They are shaped like kidneys and come in two colors – red and white. It’s meaty, yet bland in flavor. It goes well with your stews and chili dogs. It’s a type of dried bean that can be cultivated either by bush or pole.
Chickpeas Or Garbanzo Beans
It’s the most common and most consumed bean to produce and eat. These types of beans are easy beans to grow for beginners. They are round and quite nutty in flavor which is perfect for anything – from soups to stews or plainly a roasted snack. It’s a staple food for many countries in the world which makes it why most people would cultivate it. It’s a dry and bush bean. There are many types of chickpeas!!!
Pinto Beans
These beans are dried beans that are somewhat related to the kidney beans. It has an earthy flavor that works well when combined with Mexican foods like stews. Like its cousin, the kidney beans, pinto beans are also preferred in chili dishes.
Soybean Or Soya Beans
The wonder bean has many uses because of its protein and oil content. It’s the second most valuable agri-product to be exported in the US - soy milk and tofu being the most popular demands. Soybeans can be a green bean or a dried bean and can be grown as a pole or bush bean too.
Winged Beans
This bean dominates in countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Its pod has four wings being run by frilly edges. Though some people wait until the beans are mature enough to be eaten, winged beans are commonly plucked when they’re young to be cooked for a homey vegetable soup. It’s climbing bean that needs poles or support.
Lima Beans
They start to grow lima beans in a greenish color until it matures and the color fades to yellow. What’s surprising about these types of beans is that you can eat it while they are young after you shell them. It’s both a green and a dry bean and climbing and bush bean.
Great Northern Beans
The Great Northern Bean has a white to creamy color and gives that mild earthy, nutty flavor. It’s perfect for stews because of its absorption properties. It’s grown all year round.
Mung Bean
Popular in Asia where it is also known as Mongo, the mung bean can be cooked as a side dish or can be turned into a dessert. It’s relatively easy to grow one since you can just put the bean in a water container and it will germinate by itself. It’s a dried bean and is grown as a bush bean.
If you want to more information on beans, our friends from Farm To Harvest can help you here.
How Nutritious Are Beans?
A lot of vitamins and minerals can be found in beans – vitamins A, B group, C and more. They have relatively low water content and fat which is good for our body. Beans are high in protein and fiber that helps in the building of amino blocks in the body and regulates our gastrointestinal organs.
Its antioxidant properties help the body relieves toxins efficiently and helps maintain proper brain functions. They may be vegetables, but they are also rich in iron and help prevent anemia. They popularly are the ones being substituted for meat by vegetarians – especially with soya beans because of its rich protein content.
Are There Any Dangers In Eating Beans?
Not that anyone can think of, but there are a fairly few people who are allergic to beans. Some have sensitive stomachs and eating beans would cause excessive flatulence. Gastrointestinal problems would also occur, leading to severe loose bowel movements.
Some Little-Known Facts About Beans
That little plant you’re planning to grow has some amazing tidbits we want to share with you.
- India is the largest producer of dry beans in the world.
- America is the leading country in growing green beans.
- How to be a public official in ancient Greece? Pick the white bean among the black beans in a bowl.
- The largest bean pod recorded was about five feet long.
- There’s a National Bean Day in honor of Gregor Mendel who used beans to test his theories.
- An archaeologist stumbled upon an ancient pot full of seeds in Mexico. His team tested it, and the seeds were growing!
- Indonesia held a song composition contest about beans in 1985.
- Philosopher Pythagoras doesn’t like beans or were afraid of beans because he said it contained souls of the dead.
- The Irish are the number one consumer of beans in the whole world, followed by the Brits, then the Americans.
- The Russian army in the past used beans to decide for their freedom.
Have any fun? Growing beans is easy. They’re crucial to the world despite being so small, aren’t they? Look at the fun facts. They may seem funny and odd, but that’s how beans are vital for a person’s way of living.
Any types of beans you can grow with as long as it is conducive to your location and the type of soil you have in your land. If you want to turn it into a business growing those common types of beans is a very lucrative career.
What do you think? Comment below, and we’ll see why.
Nice post