Cool season beans to inter crop with barley?

I planted some barley in a place where I grew the last generation of barley, which was harvested 6 months ago. I'm concerned with the nitrogen levels in the soil. I didnt bother to mess with the stubble until the few days before I planted the new barley. We have a Mediterranean climate, so the winter high is generally about 65 to 75 degrees, though it's about 55 to 60 on rainy days. The nighttime low occasionally reaches 25 degrees. Apparently most beans wont tolerate any frost, but I was wondering what varieties I could plant at this time. Any help would be nice.

In that I live in Hawaii, I'm not familiar with any cold tolerant beans. But my own experience growing beans indicates that most beans will not germinate if the soil temperature is much below 60 degree Fahrenheit. Sun on the soil does help get germination going on cooler days. But again, your cold nights might negate that. ....... Just guessing.

The ones we grow here in the winter are fava beans and tic beans, which are basically a smaller version of the fava. Field peas would also work for what you are trying to accomplish and don't mind cool, damp weather. All of these are frost hardy down to at least -2 or -3 C. I used to grow favas, snow peas and asparagus peas (which are in the genus Lotus) in Tucson and they were never bothered by the occasional cold night in the low- to mid-20s.

[/quote=Su Ba]Sun on the soil does help get germination going on cooler days. But again, your cold nights might negate that. ....... Just guessing.
Well I imagine sun on the soil would help. The coldest time is actually early morning, but even then it generally stays in the mid to high 30s

Phil Stevens wrote:I used to grow favas, snow peas and asparagus peas (which are in the genus Lotus) in Tucson and they were never bothered by the occasional cold night in the low- to mid-20s.

I thought asparagus peas (also known as winged beans) are quite frost sensitive. I heard they even start looking sad at high 30s.

Being in the tropics, I hadn't even thought about fava beans.

Field peas would be a good option. While any pea would do, field peas are vigorous enough to survive in a grain field.

Profusion of names has probably led to confusion. There's an asparagus bean in Vignus, and a winged bean in Psophocarpus, both of which are tropical. The asparagus pea I refer to is a Mediterranean species, Lotus tetragonolobus or now Tetragonolobus purpuroides, and it has no problem with frost.

In similar fashion I have about 2500 square feet of rye in rows.  I scattered a bit of excess crimson clover I had in a few rows along the side as an experiment.  I too am looking for a pea or hardyish bean to try between more of the rows.  And on the cheap!

I planted the plot in recently cleared soil (dozed as part of clearing for my house) so it's probably okay for this year.  There was what amounts to a big hugelkultur mound of pine debris overgrown with brush that when the dozer cut into it looked like pretty decent compost, so I had it spread out over this area.

Crossing my fingers.  Planted a bit late (early December) for my zone, but so far it's looking good.  Not much sign of clover so far.  Some green bits I suspect are sprout, but still small.

Am test sprouting some black-eyed peas from grocery store at the moment in  my kitchen. Cheap seed if they germinate.  Need to see how hardy they are though.  I'm in zone 8b and so far two nights of frost this year.  Forecast looks warm out through January too.

I'd second the field peas.  I have the Austrian Winter pea variety, and I have no problem getting them to sprout right now.  They don't grow very fast with the short days, but they still look healthy.  My climate's pretty similar to yours, just a bit cooler.  Highs are 40s to 50s this time of year, nights usually hover around freezing temp.