Susan Young

Dennis Barrow wrote:I won this book!  Thanks Susan and Permies!!

I have just started reading it and find it full of wonderful information!

Thanks again!!

Delighted to hear you find it full of useful information - - -

Have fun growing beans.

Nicole Alderman wrote:These four people climbed up Jack's beanpole to find the treasure of.... their own copy of Growing Beans: A Diet for Healthy People and Planet

Congratulations!

Dennis Barrow
Vickey McDonald
Allen Ayers
Nikki Roche

Winners, please keep an eye on your email inboxes for an email from the publisher to arrange your copy of the book! If you have a chance, it really helps the author if you can leave a review here on permies and maybe also on Amazon or Goodreads!

Big thank you to Susan Young for joining us this week! We hope you stick around, and we're so glad to have you here this week answering our questions!

To those that are bummed that you didn't win, here's a handy-dandy link to the book Growing Beans!

Congratulations to those who won a book - I hope you enjoy reading it and are inspired to grow lots more beans!  And thank you to everyone for all your interesting posts.  I've enjoyed responding and chatting beans.  And I hope there'll be many more bean chats to come.  I've already made one bean friend here in the UK and we've been swapping seeds. For sure I'll stick around!    

Thank you too for the suggestion that those who read the book might leave a review on Amazon or elsewhere - I'd appreciate that.  

Heather Gardener wrote:Not sure what happened on that last post, the comment that starts “Have you tried growing beans in containers?” is part of a quote too, by Susan Young I think.

My comment starts where I say “I grew a pretty decent crop of runner & French beans….”.

Sorry for any confusion, I’m not plagiarising, honest!

Hi Heather - it's tricky with this platform, I've discovered, to take out a sentence and respond to it . . .  

Great picture of where you grow your beans.  I've only grown dwarf beans in fairly large tubs - only for the reason that I didn't want to have to provide them with climbing supports and I've enough garden space to grow climbers.  You WILL get that large garden one day - or more than a garden if you dream of it?  We have two acres - a wild flower meadow and orchard with chickens, small wooded area, vegetable growing areas, fruit bushes and flowers (cottage style meets prairie I would say - - unkempt and a bit wild).  It's a south facing slope with a view of the Wye Valley beyond.  

But to get back to your beans in containers.  I'm very pleased that you posted that information because it confirms that they can be grown in small spaces and do perfectly well.  I've even seen a photo of someone growing climbing beans on an apartment balcony and training them high up the wall.  Did you need to water them a lot in the containers? - or perhaps, it looks as if the containers might have been in the shade of the wall and so didn't dry out?  

E Gottesman wrote:

Susan Young wrote:

E Gottesman wrote:Beans beans the musical fruit we love beans. I mostly grow green beans. Kids love them raw more than cooked. Dry beans are fun for using as rockson a kids construction site! Lol I first introduced beans to my kids with a 2 lb bag of pinto beans from Walmart. They didn't eat them  but used their toy loaders and dump trucks to push them all over the living room. From there they fed them to the fish. Only then did they decide that beans were good to eat. They are 3 and 2. We took some and planted them. I want to know more because beans are a staple in our diet.  

I must add a word of warning.  

Oops I meant they eat the green beans raw. They have tried the dry ones but end up spitting them out.
You say that 'kids love them raw more than cooked' - but beans, either green or when they are shelled - contain a toxin, lectin, which is destroyed when they are cooked.  Of all vegetables, beans are the one that is not good for us to eat raw.  The toxin is a common cause of food poisoning.  Kidney beans contain the most - cannellini beans also contain quite a lot, but all beans contain some.  

So BEANS SHOULD NOT BE EATEN RAW OR UNDERCOOKED -

Green beans are also mildly toxic when raw - I certainly don't risk it by eating them raw, and I would be concerned about children eating them raw.

E Gottesman wrote:Beans beans the musical fruit we love beans. I mostly grow green beans. Kids love them raw more than cooked. Dry beans are fun for using as rockson a kids construction site! Lol I first introduced beans to my kids with a 2 lb bag of pinto beans from Walmart. They didn't eat them  but used their toy loaders and dump trucks to push them all over the living room. From there they fed them to the fish. Only then did they decide that beans were good to eat. They are 3 and 2. We took some and planted them. I want to know more because beans are a staple in our diet.  

I must add a word of warning.  

You say that 'kids love them raw more than cooked' - but beans, either green or when they are shelled - contain a toxin, lectin, which is destroyed when they are cooked.  Of all vegetables, beans are the one that is not good for us to eat raw.  The toxin is a common cause of food poisoning.  Kidney beans contain the most - cannellini beans also contain quite a lot, but all beans contain some.  

So BEANS SHOULD NOT BE EATEN RAW OR UNDERCOOKED -

Roxanne Sterling-Falkenstein wrote:Congratulations on your book Susan! What a timely subject! I am a big bean lover, I have been growing beans for shelling, ever since I went on vacation one spring and the friend who watered for me didn't pick any beans while I was away... came home to one heck of a seed crop!
I discovered the blue lakes made a very tender quick cooking bean for white hummus! I decided then my crop yielded a longer lived staple in the form of dry beans, I became far less concerned about green beans. A big FAT Roma being the exception 😉... and honestly my white whale. I've yet to find the variety I remember from the 60's in New Jersey.
Maybe it's like so many things from childhood they seemed bigger, because I was smaller.
Welcome to Permies!! Better than any encyclopedia!
Roxanne Sterling

Thank you for your congratulations Roxanne - I agree completely that the bean crop yields a longer lived staple in the form of dry beans.  We're still working through last year's dry bean store, together with the fresh ones I put into the freezer.  We will finish them by the time the next crop comes, and for two of us, I can easily grow enough dried beans to last the year.  

Of course, everything from our childhood seems bigger! - I  have in my memory a big long hill I had to walk on my way to primary school - only then, to revisit the road, and discover a short, gentle rise.  

Melissa Ferrin wrote:Hello Susan!
Is the prize a physical book or an ebook? Any restrictions on winners location (outside the US of A)?

I don't know the answer to either of your questions, I'm sorry.  The publishers have arranged the offer.  

 I always eat fava beans fresh, although I know that in the middle east they also eat them dried.  

I've eaten dried fava beans and they are delicious! - often slightly salted -

The madness is that fava beans are grown in the UK and exported to Middle East for dried fava beans and also for making into a kind of falafel I believe - and we don't eat these delicious dried beans ourselves.  And then we import tons and tons of beans from Canada and USA to make baked beans in tins.  The food miles issue is obvious.  

Fava beans - mashed up, into a kind of puree - is eaten in Greece.  Just back from Crete where I ate lots of fava beans in that form - plus gigantes in tomato sauce of course.  My favourite.  There are lots of wonderful European dishes made with beans.    

I would love to hear more about how one can grow enough beans in a small space to create useful quantities in a smaller suburban plot.

Best,
Juliana

Have you tried growing beans in containers?  You need quite a large container to give them a deep enough root run, but they would be perfectly happy.  Beans are pretty unfussy growers.  You'd need to water them well when the beans are forming.  Climbing beans will provide a bigger crop in relation to space than dwarf beans, so be sure you grow a climbing bean (although dwarf beans crop in less time, so you could conceivably get 2 crops in during a growing season, if you live in a warm climate).  I'd also select a bean that grows taller than some, and that would carry a bigger crop - and also a bigger bean.  One of my current favourite beans is called schneekappchen - it's a South German bean, from the mountainous region, so pretty tough and it's a big, bean with quite a lot in a pod.  So if you grew that one (assuming you can find the bean seeds) then I think you'd get the maximum crop for your space. It's also really pretty - the flowers are white with a pale lilac tinge - so it would look good in your small yard!  

Anne Miller wrote:One year, the first year that I grew pinto beans, we ate them fresh off the vine rather than drying them.

These beans were so much better than the dried beans.

I understand why they are usually dried so they will keep longer.

Does anyone else eat fresh beans?

Beans can be eaten at four stages - as green beans (mange-tout), as fresh shelling beans (podded like peas or broad beans), as shelling beans when they are starting to dry and are firmer (the french call this demi-sec - half dry), and then allowed to dry (either on the plant if the climate allows, or picked and then dried indoors.

In my book I explain all these different stages.

In Europe beans are often sold in the markets to eat at the freshly shelled stage or at the demi-sec stage.   They are completely delicious when eaten fresh or demi-sec - and at these stages they can be put into the freezer to store.  I just throw them into plastic bags without blanching, and then take out handfuls during the year to use as we want.  Because they don't need soaking, they are quick to cook.