Beans are easy to grow, easy to cook, delicious, nourishing, and
beneficial for us and the planet.
Growing your own beans builds healthy soil in your garden and provides
you with a nutrient rich diet. Beans can play a role in reducing the
risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer; they are good
sources of protein, fibre, folate, iron and potassium, and they can
reduce our carbon footprint and food miles!
Susan Young brings together 10 years of experimenting with multiple
varieties of beans (Phaseolus) and takes us on a culinary journey around
the world, revealing a range of colourful and historic beans, from the
pink Fagiolo di Lamon of Italy to the black and white Bosnian Pole bean.
She explains which varieties are best for eating fresh off the plant
(green) and which for drying for later use, providing harvests for
storing all through winter. Beans offer year-round meals, and dried
beans can be the star of the show with their diversity of flavours and
textures.
Susan shares six must-grow beans, as well as a multitude of European
varieties along with their backgrounds. She includes a basic guide to
drying your beans and guidelines for cooking them.
Learn how to sow, grow and harvest your beans, how to build supports for
climbing and bush varieties, and keep your plants and soil healthy.
