Design

I'm using space between our house (in the mountains) and the next door apartment to set up trellises (and planting areas) for pole beans, yard-long beans, malabar spinach, etc. The space gets full sun most of the day in the summer; we planted blueberries along the apartment side last year. But challenged by space elsewhere (uh, I've filled up my raised stone beds already, probably overfilled them, to be sure). I'd be thrilled to have some vining vegetables in the corridor between our dwellings. Cheap, probably fake, 'redwood' trellises are the supports; they're attractive, at least. And the apartment brick wall is not especially attractive, marked by cable and telephone lines, along with abandoned phone lines, etc. Digging up the soil here isn't rewarding; beneath the decaying organic matter (leaves and bark mulch), there's more of the heavy gray to red clay, but at least this stuff is friable (unlike the compacted builder's fill in the front m...

My small group of vegetable gardening friends know I'm enthusiastic about yard-long beans. I can't help it. I find them so tasty, productive, and attractive that I don't understand why everyone doesn't want to grow them here. My early crop this year was a red variety , which didn't do very well, but was attractive while it held up. The usual green-podded varieties are sturdier, perhaps; more recently planted vines are looking very vigorous, and one healthy plant can be quite productive, reflected in today's harvest. There are so many interesting aspects to yard-long beans, too, and they THRIVE in hot weather and happily are even drought-tolerant! They even seem resistant to the usual bean-chomping insects.

I couldn't help myself -- I ordered more seeds yesterday evening (this time from Territorial Seeds, an excellent seed company based in Oregon). I used the last of my yard-long bean seeds Saturday afternoon, and I wanted more to plant, as I harvest the last potato beds, and the garlic beds. We have such a long growing season here in the Southeast (and it's getting longer), there's no reason not to plant more 'warm season' veggies in mid June. I'm planning to put in more tomatoes too, for a fall harvest, but they'll need to go in the garlic beds, for a good rotation, since they're related to potatoes. My excuse is that I need more seeds for fall. Hmmm. Actually I just like trying new things. So I added French sorrel, more Tom Thumb lettuce (a remarkably attractive small butterhead), parsnips, and something called Dyna Kohlrabi to my 'cart.' And, definitely, I need the purple mustard, speckled lettuce, argula, Tuscan kale, and Pac Choi for fall...

I've loved growing yard long beans ( Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis ) for the last few years; they're so unusual-looking, productive, and tasty, with the added bonus of beautiful flowers and attractive foliage. I first noticed yard long beans in Asian markets, marveling at their size and the flexibility of the pods. They're incredibly heat-tolerant, being native to Africa, and are easy to grow. (They were first domesticated somewhere in North Africa, and then spread throughout Africa, India, and Asia. In the process, cowpeas and yard long beans were selected for their different characteristics.) Interestingly, an older gardener in Belton told me that her mother grew yard long beans here in SC, perhaps the field pea relative that's also viney. Cowpeas are documented to have been brought from Africa by slaves. Yard long beans (also commonly called asparagus beans) can be snipped up and cooked like green beans, and have a lovely taste. Another nice aspect is t...