Sustainable Practices for Vegetable Production in the South
Dr. Mary Peet, NCSU
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Beans
BOTANY
All beans are in the family Fabaceae, formerly referred to as Leguminosae. Commercially the most important type of bean grown in the South is the snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), also referred to as the green bean or string bean. There are both bush and pole forms of snap beans. Pods can be yellow or purple in addition to the common green type. In addition to cultivars where the pods are harvested while still fleshy and green and seeds are immature, some cultivars such as 'Red Kidney' have been selected for the appearance and eating quality of the seed when mature and dry. Dry beans fall into many categories depending on the color, size, shape and pattern of the bean, with more than 2,000 cultivars listed by the Seed Savers Exchange. There is little or no commercial production of dry beans in the South, however, because high humidity in the fall makes harvest and threshing difficult, and make season-long protection from foliar diseases difficult.
Lima beans (Phaseolus limensis) can be harvested and sold when the pod is partially dried and the seeds are still green (green shell stage) or when the pod is completely dry and the seeds are white. They require a longer growing season than snap beans. Butter beans (Phaseolus lunatus) are similar but the seed is slightly smaller than most lima bean cultivars. Like limas, butterbeans can be sold dried or partially green.
Southern peas (Vigna unguiculata), also called cowpeas and field peas, are a warm season crop that are sold both at the green shell stage and dried. Many types of southern peas exist, including crowder (seeds crowded together) and purple hull (pod purple, seed light brown). Seeds can be tan, brown, white, cream, speckled, or 'black-eyed'.