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From the Irish Garden Magazine 1918
Below are two articles on the haricot bean which is still not widely grown in the U.K but these days is well worth s try with improved cultivars that are suitable for our climate. The cultivars mentioned in the articles may still be available from some companies or from the Hertiage Seed Library run by Garden Organic
Haricot Beans. 1
In the past too little attention was paid
to the food value of vegetables. In the days when meat was cheap and plentiful vegetables occupied a secondary place in the dietary of most families; now, however, when the joint is a thing of the past, we are groping for substitutes, and happily they are to hand. The Potato is enjoying a boom such as it never had before, and its value for producing a bulk of food material is high, but in actual food value it is inferior to some other vegetables, notably Haricot Beans.
In Continental countries they have long known and appreciated vegetables as food and have made an
art of cooking them. We,
loose surface and conserve moisture, it should be borne in mind that the object in growing Haricots is to reap a good harvest of Beans, not to use the pods, as with Kidney Beans. In September the plants must be pulled up, pods and all, tied in handy bunches, and hung up in an airy place to dry, subsequently extracting the beans from the pods for use in winter.
A well-known variety on the Continent is the Dutch Brown, but seedsmen advertising in Irish Gardening are able
to supply white and green varieties and Climbing Haricots, which are equally valuable. Allotment holders should not
fail to make an effort to grow a breadth of Haricots. They might be sown on the plot after autumn planted Cabbages which will have been removed by the end of April.
Haricot Beans 2
Ostensibly because they were so readily purchased at the grocer’s shop in pre-war days, the cultivation of the Haricot Bean was not seriously attempted in the British
cultivation and value as a food. A heavy crop of pods is the invariable record from many localities equalling and, in some instances, surpassing, the yield of the popular Canadian Wonder Kidney Bean. In a few instances there was prejudice from the kitchen because of the brown colour, but for a short time the White Haricots were seeded Beans not unnaturally led to some experiments with these, and with gratifying results.
While it is not possible to justly claim
that in all soils and situations where the popular Scarlet Runner succeeds White Haricot Beans may be grown, or that
they are quite so vigorous in growth and abundant croppers, the food value of
the Haricot Bean in winter justifies their extended cultivation. Taking the climbing selection first allotment holders here have had for several years a variety known as the Japanese Bean, or the “ Three Feet Long
“ Bean. The white seeds resemble those sold in shops and are produced in narrow kidney-bean like pods 1 foot long.
Another equally satisfactory variety is that known as the Climbing White Dutch, the seeds of this being as large as some of the Scarlet Runner Beans, and the nearest in size to the Butter Bean of commerce. Sutton’s Climbing White Haricot French Bean is a third variety with white seeds deserving of attention.
Among dwarf Beans with white seeds, Sutton’s Dwarf White Haricot and Vilmorin’s Haricot de Soissons are recommended. The cultivation of Haricot Beans presents no problems. With good and deep cultivation identical treatment to that given the Dwarf Kidney and Runner Beans may follow. Though if hard pressed for pods in the green state to cook, a few of the earliest may be gathered, the usual rule is to allow all the pods produced to mature. When
ripe the plants are pulled up and left on the ground a few days to dry in the sun. They are then tied in bunches and hung in a dry airy shed.
Picking off the pods provides work for a wet day, followed later by removing the beans from the pods. Surrey, England.
too, must learn this art,
and should grasp the fact
that Haricot Beans are
even more nourishing
than meat. Their culture
is comparatively simple.
Deeply dug soil and
an open position are
necessary. The deep
cultivation of the soil is of
the greatest importance,
for on no account must
the plants suffer from
drought if a good harvest
of Beans is to result.
Manure is necessary in poor, dry soils, and a moderate dressing will be beneficial on soils of good quality.
The seeds should not be sown before the first week in May, except in the south or in localities known to be immune from May frosts. This late date of sowing brings the young plants very soon into the hot months, hence the necessity for deep cultivation and manuring to prevent the soil becoming dry, and the consequent reduction to the crop. The rows should not be less than I8 inches (45cm) apart, and the Beans should be 6 inches (15cm) apart in the rows, and not more than 3 inches (7cm) deep. Some prefer to sow a double row of beans in the drill 6 inches (15cm) apart, in which case the drills should be 2 feet (60cm) apart.
The after cultivation consists of constant surface hoeing all summer to maintain a
In Continental countries they have long known and appreciated vegetables as food and have made an art of cooking them
Isles.
The erroneous
impression was also fairly general that our soil and climate are unsuitable for their cultivation from a commercial standpoint. Some eighteen months ago the soaring upwards of the prices of imported Butter Beans and Haricot Beans naturally caused food growers to find the beans to be unobtainable from the shops, and the Brown Dutch Beans secured a footing, and have come to
stay. The flavour and food value surpasses the kiln-dried shop Beans, and both in stews and as a separate vegetable there is now no question of their value.
Another valuable variety which did exceptionally well with us last summer both in the garden and allotment was Sutton’s Green Gem, a pale, green-seeded variety of delicious flavour. During the summer of 1917 in the Richmond (Surrey) district numerous varieties of Haricot Beans were grown in gardens and allotments. The reference
in the household for the bean meant
in this direction the Royal Horticultural Society took a leading part, importing
and distributing at a small charge large quantites of the Brown Dutch Bean from Holland.
Numerous letters in the horticultural press during the last six months furnish abundant evidence of the success in its
Simply Vegetables 27