Rattlesnake and Yard Long Beans

With the vegetable garden coming into full production, summer meals are made very easily. One just takes a basket and a pair of kitchen scissors or secateurs, heads to the vegetable and herb gardens and sees what is in season. We have carrots, beans, tomatoes, butternut and gem squash at the moment.

Runner beans climbing on their structure

I prefer bush beans but decided to plant runner beans this season. I chose rattlesnake heirloom beans and Keith brought some bean seeds from Pretoria that he got from friends. The unmarked bean seeds turned out to be yard long beans.

Yard long beans on the left and speckled Rattlesnakes on the right

I built structures for the beans to grow on and they covered it in no time. If I plan to plant runner beans again I will have to build taller structures. My neighbour believes the runner beans are perfect for the more mature gardener who needs to stand upright when picking beans. Bush beans can be tough on the knees when harvesting time comes around.

The rattlesnake beans are beautiful with their purple spots and the tall support structures add to their stature. The yard long beans are quite a surprise with pods of up to 75 cm long. The bean is of a different genus from the common bean and is a vigorous climbing annual vine.

A picking of Rattlesnake, and Yard long beans

My garden is the teacher and I am the student. I constantly learn about new vegetables and more importantly, how to cook them.  In my latest research stint, I found that the yard long beans are a good source of protein, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus, and potassium, and a very good source for vitamin C, folate, magnesium, and manganese.

Comparison of the Yard long bean with the Rattlesnake

One can enjoy the Yard long beans fresh or cooked. I cannot wait to use them in the recipes I found and be creative with this welcome newcomer to our vegetable garden.

The bean forest