The Amazing Long Bean

[macmex]

I’ve found a great hot weather vegetable for our garden. It goes by various names: yard long bean, long bean or sometimes even noodle bean. The scientific name for this crop is Vigna unguiculata. It’s a subspecies of cowpea (think black eyed pea). The difference between long beans and other types of cowpeas is that the long beans have really L O N G pods. The variety I raise (Georgia Long) has two foot long pods. I’ve heard of varieties with pods up to three feet long.

Here in Oklahoma summers can get so hot that most green beans simply die, or take a mid-summer nap, until cooler weather arrives. During this midsummer heat wave one might get tired of okra, which is one of the few crops which adores such heat.

Long beans are very heat resistant. They love it hot.

Long beans are very heat resistant. In fact, I have to save seed from mine before the really cool nights of fall come along. Once nights are cool enough for one to wear a jacket, they may continue flowering and even producing some pods, but the seeds simply won’t develop. However during the dog days of summer, when most other kinds of green beans wimp out, the long bean is at its “happiest.” In fact, its one of those crops I have dubbed a “feel good crop,” because it makes me feel good, even when other parts of the garden may be struggling.

Long beans are pest resistant. I’ve seen grasshoppers and Japanese beetles attack them, but I rarely have to worry about pests. This bean is so vigorous that it pretty much outgrows the damage. All cowpeas do attract ants and wasps. This is because they produce some nectar from certain nodes on the vine. Ants stake them out as their own territory, harvesting this nectar. They’re not really a problem, other than, when I pick pods, I generally give each pod a quick, back handed swat, before picking it, just to be sure I knock the ants off. The ants aren’t hurting anything and they rarely bother me. I just don’t want to collect ants while picking dinner! The fact that wasps enjoy the same nectar is actually a good thing. Wasps eat a lot of garden pests, and, the majority of wasps encountered in my garden are not aggressive.



Ants are attracted to the nodes where long beans form, but they are harmless, if not beneficial.

Long beans are low maintenance. Most varieties do need a trellis. I almost always put up a 16-20’ cattle panel trellis for our long beans. I plant the seed once nights are warm. They require a little weeding until they get going. But once they take off, they are pretty trouble free. Though heat resistant, they do appreciate adequate moisture. So, I water them when they get real dry.

Long beans are easy to pick. It only takes half a dozen pods to make a healthy serving of “green beans. I don’t even have to carry a bucket to the garden, when I pick these. One fist full of pods is enough for a meal.


They’re easy to prepare. Instead of snapping pods, I lay them on a cutting board and cut them into short lengths. This is much quicker than snapping. I actually hold the entire fist full of pods together and cut off short pieces of every pod with each stroke of the knife. There is one important difference between preparing long beans and regular snap beans. Long beans have a much better texture if sautéed rather than boiled. When I boil the pods, they are “okay.” When I saute them in a bit of olive oil, they are outstanding. We generally serve long beans, alone, as a side dish, or add them as an ingredient in a stir fry.

[glen]

George I enjoyed your article on long beans. As you know, I also did a thread on this bean. Long beans have their use, especially if you live in a hot place like I do. Long beans like heat and can grow in my insanely hot dry season. The problem for me is figuring out how to enjoy eating the pods. They taste different than regular snap bean pods. The main way to cook this bean to me is stir fried. Chinese style. If you just steam them yes, they are edible. But, they do not taste anything like steamed snap beans. If you can get over this than yes, these beans are terrific. Because as you said, they produce very well in horribly hot conditions. In Panama they grow a lot of cowpea's. I mean I think its the main kind of bean they produce. They produce them for the dried pea's. They don't eat the pods fresh here. And, for once I have to agree with them. Cowpea's make a much better pea, than they do a fresh pod for the kitchen. Now, if you can get over it, the pods are ok to eat. They are just different. Also, cowpea's produce a lot of pea's. The long beans can produce 15 to 20 pea's in each pod. That's nothing to sneer at. The problem is that the pea's are so cheap, its hard to justify growing them when you can buy a lb of these pea's for less than a dollar. Its probably at least this cheap in the Walmart near you. They are fun to grow and fun to shuck the pods on the back porch also. And, when its so hot out that nothing else will grow except black eyed pea's, the long bean will grow right along with it. Black eyed pea's are cow pea's also by the way.

[macmex]

Agreed. This summer I found, as with most summers, that I absolutely rejoiced in our Georgia Longs, being so glad we planted them and had them during the extreme heat of mid to late summer. But I also planted more snap beans in late July. As soon as they started coming in, the Georgia Long stopped getting picked. Now their vine are almost dead and there is no more production. This is mostly due to neglect on my part. I do need to get out there and harvest more dry seed, as there is a lot.

In my climate, I would be kicking myself if I did't plant a row of these.

[glen]

You can make yourself a pot of nice pea's. Another thing I like to do with the pea's is when I am making a pot of soup, you can throw a hand full of the dried pea's in the soup. They taste great in soup.

[macmex]

Since Homesteading.edu is no more, I made the effort and transferred here, the entire blog, which started this thread. Will bump it up now, so folk can read and interact.

[jang]

Interesting. Thank you. By coincidence, I just referred to Vigna unguiculata in the Iron Curtain thread. Regrettably, they're very difficult to grow in the cooler climate here in England.  

[galina]

Jun 27, 2024 9:23:35 GMT -6 jang said:

Interesting. Thank you. By coincidence, I just referred to Vigna unguiculata in the Iron Curtain thread. Regrettably, they're very difficult to grow in the cooler climate here in England.  

And they are not much better here either.  Growing vignas here, but they have done almost nothing since I planted them.  Whereas the Woods Crazy Mountain beans are covered in flowers and we will get beans very soon.  They will be the first beans in the garden.  

[macmex]

We need to get some Barksdale bean seed into your hands to grow in Europe. I suspect it would be a champ there.

[chrysanthemum]

I just harvested a huge bunch of long beans this morning [red noodle yardlong]. I should have gotten some of them earlier, but I was a little under the weather this weekend, and the weather itself was very hot and humid which made it hard to work in the garden.

When I’ve been by the yardlong beans I’ve been noticing all sorts of ant activity on them and figured that’s just how they are, as Macmex mentioned in his original article. This morning, however, I noticed that the ants had begun farming aphids on a number of the stems and on the beans themselves. It was amazing how much had been covered in just a few days since I had looked at them closely. I cut out the worst parts of the infestation as I could and submerged the vines in soapy water. Unless I can knock them back, though, this could spell trouble for my long beans. We’ll see.

[jang]

Jul 8, 2024 10:26:21 GMT -6 macmex said:

We need to get some Barksdale bean seed into your hands to grow in Europe. I suspect it would be a champ there.



Thank you very much for the lovely thought, Macmex, but I already have Barksdale happily growing and I think Galina might have too. She will perhaps say. I received seed from Triffid who I believe received it from Russ Crow and grew it to return seeds to him. 

So we have at least a small English outpost growing Barksdale. This is my second year growing it, and hoping to spread the seed a little more widely. You’re absolutely right that it grows well here and is set to become a favourite. 

[galina]

Yes we do have Barksdale, second year growing. Last year they were not entirely happy, but this year they look much stronger. No flowers or beans yet, but the foliage is halfway up the poles and it is looking much healthier than last year. Thank you.

Triffid shared them two years ago and I saved from the best pods last year and we ate the rest. Not enough for sharing last year and not all pods were good enough, but I believe they are now adjusting, looking at the foliage this year.

[galina]

Barksdale are still not flowering but strong foliage right up to the top of the supports. In fact I had to bring in extra support sticks to stop them leaning, they were so top heavy. This is getting late. Not sure what is up. They have been watered. Yes we had, and still have, an unusual heatwave with up to 34C aka 93F, but this seems to have accelerated most other beans. There are only 6 to max 8 weeks of growing time left here. Plenty of seeds left, but I would have hoped, that from seeds grown here, they would adapt quicker.

Do they stop when it is very hot with you, MacMex, and start again with the cooler weather later in the season?

[macmex]

Yes. This is one of those beans that almost refuses to flower with warm nights. But I bet you'll see a burst of blooms and pod set as soon as things cool off. 
It amazes me how a different location can affect a variety. Keep us informed!

[jang]

Barksdale for me does have flower buds and a few managing to just open. I’m hoping to see that burst of blooms very soon now!

[galina]

Looking forward to them bursting into life soon. Will let you know how things progress.