Suffering With Joy

The Asparagus Bean Surprise

May 6, 2010

God really has ways of delighting us unexpectedly.  A couple of years ago I wanted  to put in an asparagus bed, but after reading about the work involved, the time for a bed to mature, and considering my health issues – and Roger’s, too, I gave up on the idea.  (Fibromyalgia and arthritis sufferers just can’t do a lot of digging, bending, and stooping for serious garden work.) A number of times since then I’ve thought about how great it would be to have asparagus out of our own beds and had to say, “Thy will be done.”

Asparagus beans. Also known as Yardlong Bean, Snake Bean, and Chinese Long Bean. A useful Asian import that is disease and bug resistant.

Wouldn’t you know that God’s plans are always better than ours! This year in mid-April I went to Walmart to get plants for the garden.  Every year we’ve put bush beans into the Earthboxes® and into the ground and I’ve been unhappy with the paucity of the harvest.  No matter where we put them or how we treated them, the beans were just plain puny.  As I collected the various starter veggies this year, I saw something called an “asparagus bean” that the tag said “grows 15″ to 18″ long.”

“Well, what do I have to lose? Same amount of space and over 3x the amount of veggie.  A no brainer,” I thought, and picked up a packet.  It looked like they were similar to pole beans and I had already decided to switch to climbing beans I could train on the chain link fence.

The beans went into the ground just fine and they look happy, having grown five or six inches over the past couple of weeks.  Today I finally got around to reading about asparagus beans and I really had to chuckle.  God gave us some real bonuses with these plants.  Local Harvest says:

Asparagus beans in bloom

Asparagus beans are easily grown, produce heavily, harvest easily, thrive in hot weather, are slightly more resistant to drought than snap beans and are tolerant of a wide range of soils. [Music to my ears!] Grow in the same manner as pole beans or along a trellis, 8″ apart, 1″ deep. [A chain link fence will have to do.] Sow in June [we started early and will see how they work out] and make two or three successive plantings about three weeks apart for a steady supply. HARVEST: Harvest when pods reach 12-15″, before the seeds fill the pods. The mature beans may be threshed or shelled from the pods and cooked in the same fashion as dried beans. Their flavor is like southern peas but with a drier, nutty quality. Young leaves and stems are also edible.[What a deal!] FLAVOR: Sweet and mild resembling the combined flavor of asparagus, mushrooms, and beans. [Hmmm...this should be very interesting!]

So I don’t get my asparagus, but maybe this will be tasty and enjoyable instead.  They cook up just like ordinary green beans and should be a great addition to our eating for wellness.  I have nine plants and if they live up to the description, we’ll have beans coming out our ears.  Thank you, Lord, with joy.

Tags: fibromyalgia, wellness

1 Comment to The Asparagus Bean Surprise

1. 

   Love it. Looks like they’re doing well!
Kathleen@so much to say, so little time on June 27th, 2010

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