Yard long beans

[Primrose]

I've posted this under "Harvesting" but it's really a travesty as every single Yard Long Bean I sowed this Spring rotted and died so I haven't even been able to pick one just to see what it was like. Several of you warned me that it wasn't suited to our climate here and after this year I can see why. Have justed sorted out my seed box and the remainder of the packet will be tossed, unless anybody has a polytunnel and wants to experiment with growing them next year, (in which case the first one to PM me with their address gets them) as it's a shame to waste them.

[FatB]

Hi Primrose.
I'm growing some in my polytunnel, I started 8 but accidentally pulled one out when weeding, but the other 7 have grown up canes as far as the roof. They're funny looking things, they throw out a lot of shoots from each plant but they don't like climbing, you have to encourage them round the cane at first and then all the shoots but they seem, well, OK is all I'd say. No flowers yet. I'll come back with, er, progress reports!

[Primrose]

I will look forward to your status reports and find out what I've missed (or not, as the case may be). I must confess, I don't think I've ever seen them on sale in the shops over here. The picture on the seed packet made them look very thin and stringy - perhaps they're fairly delicate and don't travel too well.

[mandylew]

I started a thread on this earlier in the year as i was keen to try them too, the results were as i was warned they havent got much higher than a foot and thats in the hot end of the greenhouse. I did note when i chucked a couple on the compost heap that the roots seemed to have some kind of little bug living amongst them, maybe a vine weevil? I was going to blame that. I'm going to send my packet back to t&m they were £2.99 or thereabouts its worth a voucher i think.

[FatB]

Progress report - first few flowers have appeared - beigey peach colour - quite a lot of shoots on each plant so I'm hopeful of a bean or two.

[FatB]

Further update.
I can't seem to get a photo onto the forum, but if you care to have a look at vg 15 on my blog there's one on there.

[FatB]

Primrose, I don't know if you looked at the photo of the flowers on my beans in my blog or not, but do have a look at vg 16. Beans ahoy!
Make a comment on there or here to let me know.

[Primrose]

That's absolutely fascinating to see. Thank you for posting the photo. Seeing how thin and fragile they are explains why you would never be able to buy them commercially. Sounds as if you can almost stand there and watch them grow. I'm delighted you had some success with them. What is the flavour like? I imagine they probably need hardly any cooking at all. Well done. I'm envious!

[Colin_M]

you would never be able to buy them commercially

I don't know if it's the same variety, but there are a couple of Chinese supermarkets locally that sell long beans (probably around 70cm, so not "yard long"!).

These are sold coiled up (to save space), look about the thickness of normal French Beans, but with a much tougher feel to them. I've never tried them, but they look like they'd need a fair bit of cooking. I expect they suffer from having been brought halfway round the world

Keep it up FatB - even if you don't prefer them to ordinary beans, you might find there's demand locally for them!!


Colin

[FatB]

Primrose, my intention is to grow them to a yard if I can before trying them so I won't be able to tell you about the taste for a while yet.
But I will!

Colin, sounds like they might be the same, but mine are very thin yet. Have you looked at the photo? If they are the same then obviously they are edible, I was wondering about that. I hope they're not just a novelty.

[Colin_M]

Colin, sounds like they might be the same, but mine are very thin yet. Have you looked at the photo?

Sorry for the delay. Here's what the commercial beans look like:

As you can see from the label, they don't try to pass them off as "yard long", just "long"!


How have yours turned out in the end? You can see a bigger picture here http://www.pbase.com/cmalsingh/image/84376595
They are charging £3+ for this bagful, so maybe there's a commercial opportunity for you here!! I can give you the supermarket's address if you like!

Colin

[mandylew]

can I ask where you got seeds from Colin, reading up on these there are lots of varietys coming under the term 'long bean', or 'asparagus bean', maybe my t&m were just a bad lot, or a peculiar strain.I'd really like to try them again next year, but maybe with different seed, did you have them in growbags or the soil ?

Mandy

[alan refail]

Mandylew

I think it's a case of the seed companies conspiring to deceive.
Yard-long bean, asparagus bean, long bean are merely different names for the same thing: Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis (you see why they don't market them under that name!). They are certainly not different varieties.
According to Simon Hickmott, Growing Unusual Vegetables, there are many different "varieties" available in areas of the world where they grow well, but these relate to seed colour and pod length.
I have tried yard-long beans many times - but would not grow them again. Reasons: they almost always fail to produce much of a crop; they taste pretty awful. The only time I have enjoyed them was in Guyana (S. America) where they grow wild (almost) - delicious freshly picked and cooked immediately.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yardlong_bean

Alan

[Colin_M]

can I ask where you got seeds from Colin

Sorry if I misled you, but I'm not growing these and can't suggest seed sources. However FatB (see above) has got some on the go - see pictures on his blog:
http://www.fatbsblog.blog.co.uk/

As per Alan's message though, I think FatB hasn't had a particularly large crop. Maybe it's a bit like growing Okra in the UK - possible, but best left to the climate they best suited to?


Colin

[FatB]

Sorry to take so long to come back. I probably left them on the plant too long to see how long they would grow to, but we've had our first meal and, well, they are eatable, not bad, but when Wendy comes back from her short holiday we'll try some younger ones.
It only takes 3 beans to make a good sized portion per person, and there's lots of beans coming now, but the longest were only 22" long, not a yard! They look the same as the ones in the bag, but I have to have Wendy here before I can get photo's on the blog! She's back on Friday.