I think I've decided I like the flavor of yard longs better ...

11 years ago

than the flavor of either species of Phaseolus used for the pods (vulgaris and coccineus). To my palate, it has a subtle, mushroom-like flavor that compliments other foods well when served along side them, simply dressed with butter, salt, and pepper. And, it takes well to relatively simple stir-fried dishes as long as the sauce and seasoning isn't overly assertive.

I may just do these exclusively next year and not even plant regular pole beans, since we're pretty much ignoring the regular beans this year.

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Comments (5)

zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
11 years ago
Glad to hear that your yardlongs are doing well, Dennninmi. It sure is a good year for them in our neck of the woods. What variety(s) did you grow?

While I am a big fan of yardlongs, I wouldn't go so far as to say that I prefer them to P. vulgaris snaps. Both have their distinctive flavors & textures, but I still prefer 'green beans' as a vegetable side dish.

Normally, those snaps would be bearing early, followed by the yardlongs. But this year, the yardlongs started at the end of July, and I have yet to pick a snap. Furthermore, given frequent deep irrigation (a trick I learned during the flooding of 2010), the pod quality has been outstanding, and the plants are loaded. Isn't bean diversity a wonderful thing? ;-)
denninmi
Original Author
11 years ago
I've got Liana and Chinese Red Noodle this year.

I actually prefer the flavor of Runner bean pods to common bean pods as well.

What can I say, I'm a weird dude!
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ocalagirls
11 years ago
Yard Long beans are wonderful! Down here in Fl we can't grow much of anything during the summer. But, yard long beans can handle the heat, humidity, and pests. They give me something to grow other than okra and black-eyed peas. And I too prefer the flavor.
dancinglemons
11 years ago
I agree - but not ready to completely give up snaps. I am growing yard-longs and BJBB's this year. Orient Wonder is a green yard-long which will grow in the center of an asphalt parking lot has been my favorite. This year I am growing Chinese Red Noodle again. The first time I grew Yard-longs I grew in an Earth*Box - they were OK but not great. Now I grow them in a raised bed and they grow like wildfire. I had several volunteers of Orient Wonder and transplanted them (some survived). I did note that the volunteer Orient Wonder started production of pods when the plants were only 12-18 inches tall. The seed planted yard-longs started production at around 3-4 feet tall.

Cheers,
DL
pnbrown
11 years ago
Yes, I grew yard-longs for the first time last year and was pleased by the eating quality as snaps. My planting this year is not as large and for some reason is later to pod so haven't had any yet.

I much prefer shelly beans and peas to snaps of any kind, though.