Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide by Carla Emery, Lorene Edwards Forkner Page B
Authors: Carla Emery, Lorene Edwards Forkner
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beans ( Phaseolus coccineus or P. multifloris ) are easily identified by their lush vines, colorful flowers, and “Jack in the Beanstalk” seeds, which are deep purple pink speckled in black. The runner is actually a perennial but is grown as an annual in temperate zones. They come in orange-, scarlet-, white-, and red-and-white-flowered varieties. Sow seed 2 inches deep and 6 inches apart in double rows, one on each side of a climbing support; they’ll grow 10 to 12 feet high and are good for screening. They thrive in hot, humid weather and need plenty of water during their growing season. Runners can be eaten as snap beans when picked quite young and boiled or steamed. Once the pods fill out with seed they may be harvested as green shell beans or left to dry for winter storage.
Pigeon peas ( Cajanus cajun ) are an excellent garden choice if you live in the frost-free South. Woody shrubs to 8 feet tall take at least 5 months to start bearing but then will continue to produce their pretty yellow flowers and pods of small, but highly nutritious seeds for up to 5 years in a sunny location. Pigeon pea plants are dense enough that some people grow them as an edible hedge.
Southern beans or peas ( Vigna sinensis ) originated in the world’s tropical regions, but can be grown in mild but warm regions, basically requiring the same climate as corn. In the United States black- and yellow-eyed peas and crowders are southern favorites that thrive in the warm days and nights of that growing region.
Soybeans ( Glycine max ) are the lowest-starch, highest-protein bean, making them a vegetarian favorite. Soybeans need heat to produce well, although some chill-tolerant kinds will produce modestly in more temperate zones. Because soybeans take a long time to mature, with a relatively small yield, homegrown crops are best enjoyed as a green shell bean, called edamame, for a high-protein snack food.
Yard-long bean ( Vigna sesquipedalis )—also known as long bean, Chinese long bean, asparagus bean, bodi , boonchi , and dau gauk —is an Asian vegetable with huge yields. Climbing vines with large, pretty, lavender-white flowers produce 1½- to 2-foot-long slender beans. Closely related to black-eyed peas, yard-long beans love heat and do best in temperatures of 95 to 100°F. They’re easy-to-grow, prolific producers, not usually bothered by bugs.
GOURDS
T he Curcurbit family includes cucumbers, melons, and N squashes. Along with bean and cereal crops, edible gourds were humankind’s first cultivated crops. To help make garden-sense of this large and sometimes complicated botanical family, this chapter classifies plants as follows:
Cucumbers (including citron)
Melons (cantaloupe, muskmelon, and watermelon)
Squashes
Summer squashes (zucchini and the like)
Winter squashes (including pumpkin)
Exotic squashes (bitter melon, calabaza, chayote, fuzzy melon, and spaghetti squash)
Craft gourds
Cucumbers
Cucumbers ( Cucumis sativus ) like warm weather and lots of sunshine. Varieties include the familiar green salad cuke; thin-skinned pickling types; small, rounded yellow lemon cucumbers; and long crooked varieties from Asia. High-yielding, disease-resistant, modern cucumber hybrids produce self-fertile plants bearing only female flowers.
Citron, a cucumber relative (not to be confused with the citrus fruit that goes by the same name) looks like a small, round watermelon but has solid, uniformly green flesh and seed. Citron is generally pickled, preserved in sugar syrup, or candied and may be used when preparing fruit cakes, plum puddings, and mincemeat.
PLANTING: Cucumbers need well-tilled, fertile soil and plenty of water throughout their growing season. Put off direct sowing or setting transplants until the weather is truly warm, at least a week after your last frost date. In a very hot climate like that of the Gulf Coast, plant in early spring or late summer for a more moderate growing season. Sow seed 1 inch deep, 4 to 6 seeds to a
Pigeon peas ( Cajanus cajun ) are an excellent garden choice if you live in the frost-free South. Woody shrubs to 8 feet tall take at least 5 months to start bearing but then will continue to produce their pretty yellow flowers and pods of small, but highly nutritious seeds for up to 5 years in a sunny location. Pigeon pea plants are dense enough that some people grow them as an edible hedge.
Southern beans or peas ( Vigna sinensis ) originated in the world’s tropical regions, but can be grown in mild but warm regions, basically requiring the same climate as corn. In the United States black- and yellow-eyed peas and crowders are southern favorites that thrive in the warm days and nights of that growing region.
Soybeans ( Glycine max ) are the lowest-starch, highest-protein bean, making them a vegetarian favorite. Soybeans need heat to produce well, although some chill-tolerant kinds will produce modestly in more temperate zones. Because soybeans take a long time to mature, with a relatively small yield, homegrown crops are best enjoyed as a green shell bean, called edamame, for a high-protein snack food.
Yard-long bean ( Vigna sesquipedalis )—also known as long bean, Chinese long bean, asparagus bean, bodi , boonchi , and dau gauk —is an Asian vegetable with huge yields. Climbing vines with large, pretty, lavender-white flowers produce 1½- to 2-foot-long slender beans. Closely related to black-eyed peas, yard-long beans love heat and do best in temperatures of 95 to 100°F. They’re easy-to-grow, prolific producers, not usually bothered by bugs.
GOURDS
T he Curcurbit family includes cucumbers, melons, and N squashes. Along with bean and cereal crops, edible gourds were humankind’s first cultivated crops. To help make garden-sense of this large and sometimes complicated botanical family, this chapter classifies plants as follows:
Cucumbers (including citron)
Melons (cantaloupe, muskmelon, and watermelon)
Squashes
Summer squashes (zucchini and the like)
Winter squashes (including pumpkin)
Exotic squashes (bitter melon, calabaza, chayote, fuzzy melon, and spaghetti squash)
Craft gourds
Cucumbers
Cucumbers ( Cucumis sativus ) like warm weather and lots of sunshine. Varieties include the familiar green salad cuke; thin-skinned pickling types; small, rounded yellow lemon cucumbers; and long crooked varieties from Asia. High-yielding, disease-resistant, modern cucumber hybrids produce self-fertile plants bearing only female flowers.
Citron, a cucumber relative (not to be confused with the citrus fruit that goes by the same name) looks like a small, round watermelon but has solid, uniformly green flesh and seed. Citron is generally pickled, preserved in sugar syrup, or candied and may be used when preparing fruit cakes, plum puddings, and mincemeat.
PLANTING: Cucumbers need well-tilled, fertile soil and plenty of water throughout their growing season. Put off direct sowing or setting transplants until the weather is truly warm, at least a week after your last frost date. In a very hot climate like that of the Gulf Coast, plant in early spring or late summer for a more moderate growing season. Sow seed 1 inch deep, 4 to 6 seeds to a
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