The Rev. Dana Prom Smith, S.T.D.,
Ph.D. (1/31/2015)
“You
know, you don’t have to have meat at every meal. Sometimes, a delicious salad is good enough,”
thus spake meine Überfrau. Munching on a pile of bean sprouts felt as
though I were grazing on Kentucky
It’s
like losing contact with one’s bicuspids, those pitiful remnants of fangs. Looking into the mouths of our labs, Petite
and Katrina, I see those beautiful white fangs, especially Petite’s because she’s
black, and they’re so white. The
argument seems to be whether vegetables were meant to be the main dish or a
side dish. Actually, a lot of Asians mix
the meat and vegetables together with the sauce being the pièce de résistance. Human beings are omnivores, crossover eaters,
which raises the issue of vegetable gardens since most gardeners don’t raise
cattle, swine, or chickens in their backyards.
The best vegetables to grow are the
easiest ones to grow which
puts tomatoes way down the list. They’re a pain in the ass to grow, and
he only reason to grow them is that home-growns taste is so good while
store-bought
are insults to the tongue, as in acid with no taste. Tomatoes
are
worth the effort. Socially, most of us experience
enough tasteless
acid
every day without eating it.
Green beans are the easiest to grow and
the tastiest. The best
green
beans are the French haricots verts which is French for green
beans. Haricots means beans and verts
means green. The etymological
origin
of haricot is probably from the
Aztec ayacotli indicating that beans,
at
least most of the common beans, Phaseolus
vulgaris, originated in
South
America, in what is now Peru
the
same place.
As the refrain goes, “Everything sounds
better in French,” so it’s
pronounced something like ah-ree-koh-VEHR, not HAIRY-cot-vert. Going a step further, a lot of food tastes
better in French. Haricots verts are longer and thinner than most varieties. They are also more tender and have a more
complex flavor.
Now
to the nitty-gritty of growing French green beans. One caveat, the seeds cost a more than the
regular line-up of green beans, about a dollar a package. Now, for our odyssey into the space of haricot vert.
Starting
them indoors is chancy because green beans don’t do well being transplanted. They need temperatures between 50º to 85º to
thrive so plant them after the danger of frost is past or else the seeds might
rot in the soil. In case of a surprising
cold snap, cover them. Bush beans are
easier to grow than climbers, a real no-brainer. Plant the seeds two inches apart and one inch
deep. Make sure the soil is fertile,
friable, and well-drained. Green beans
generally mature between 55-60 days. For
a summer-long harvest, sow the beans every two weeks. Harvest them every two or three days.
Mulch
the soil, and water regularly on sunny days.
Spare high nitrogen fertilizer to avoid lush plants with no beans. Shallow cultivation doesn’t disturb the roots,
and planting summer savory and oregano as companions will improve their taste
as well as protecting them from aphids.
Fin de Bagnols, as the name suggests, is
a fine and delicate bean from southern France
Maxi
is a delight to grow because it is a teepee plant meaning that the beans grow
on the top of the bush. A compact bush,
its pods are long and thin.
Maxibel
beans are the classic haricots verts . Dark green and thin at about seven or eight
inches, their taste is elegant and luxurious.
A
genuine gustatory delight is the Beurre
de Rocquencort (Butter of Rocquencort.)
A yellow wax bean, it has been grown for almost 200 years after arriving
from Algeria
Perhaps,
the best bean from France
Copyright © Dana Prom
Smith 2015
Dana Prom Smith and Freddi Steele edit Gardening Etcetera for the Arizona
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