More stories

  • in , ,

    How to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Southern Peas

    Southern peas black eyed1

    Southern peas are tender bushy or vining annuals. Southern peas are also called black-eyed peas, crowder peas, and yard-long beans. Southern peas are sometimes called cowpeas or field peas. Southern peas are more beanlike than pealike. The best-known Southern pea is the blackeyed pea. It is white with a distinctive black mark at the hilum […] More

  • in , ,

    How to Grow Soybeans

    Soybean pods on a young soybean plant

    Soybeans are bushy, free-branching, warm-weather annuals. There are more than 10,000 soybean cultivars. Seeds can be smaller than a pea or as large as a kidney bean. Soybeans grow 12 to 36 inches (30-91cm) tall. Stems and leaves are hairy. The flowers are white with lavender shading. Pods grow 1 to 4 inches (2.5-10cm) long […] More

  • in , ,

    How to Grow and Care for Lentils

    Lentil

    Lentils are a cool-season legume. Sow lentils in spring as early as 2 weeks before the average last frost date. Lentils can be started indoors before transplanting to the garden; lentil seeds will germinate in 10 days at 68°F. Lentils require 80 to 110 days to come to harvest. Description. Lentils are a hardy annual; […] More

  • in ,

    Cooking and Serving Yard-Long Beans

    Beans asparagus

    Yard-long beans can be eaten raw or cooked. Sliced yard-long beans can be added raw to salads similar to French haricots verts. Yard-long beans can be steamed or sautéed as a side dish. They can be added to soups and stews. Yard-long beans have a chewy, crunchy texture–more so than snap beans–and a flavor reminiscent […] More

  • in , , ,

    Black Bean Soup

    Bean soup black beans5

    The black bean – Phaseolus vulgaris – is kidney shaped and just short of blocky looking with a cream-colored flesh, and, of course, a matt to shiny black skin. Why is the black bean found in so many cuisines? Two reasons: it holds its shape when cooked, and its floury texture absorbs the flavors of […] More

  • in , ,

    Piquant Wax Beans

    Beans yellow wax1

    Piquant is a flavor that can be spicy, tart, or pungent. In this recipe that combines wax beans with chopped pimiento, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard, I think we are on the border between spicy and pungent. The wax bean is a pale yellow variety of green bean. Sometimes called yellow snap bean, the […] More

  • in

    Legumes and Pulses

    Legumes1

    Legumes are plants that carry edible seeds in a pod. All beans, peas, and peanuts are legumes. Peas, soybeans, lentils, peanuts, chickpeas, cowpeas, lima beans, adzuki beans, green beans, haricot beans, mung beans, winged beans, yard-long beans, runner beans, and kidney beans are all legumes. Some legumes—such as peanuts and mature English peas–are eaten seeds […] More