As everyone knows, Jack was a poor boy whose mother sent him to market to sell the family cow. Sadly, Jack was very trusting and on the way exchanged the cow for a handful of ‘magic’ beans. When he got home, his mother was VERY cross with him, sent him to bed without his supper and threw the beans out of the window.
BUT, the next day when he went outside there was an ENORMOUS beanstalk growing all the way up to the clouds. When Jack climbed the beanstalk he found a magical castle and inside that a very fearsome giant, going “Fee, fi, fo, fum….” We all know the story. Jack was able to outwit the giant, bring his treasure back to his Mum and they both lived happily ever after.
That’s the Fairy Tale but we now know that all beans are magic, as indeed are all seeds. Just add water and see what happens to them . They may not take you up into the clouds to face a dangerous ogre but they do grow very fast and at the end of the summer give you lots of delicious beans. If you (or your Mum or Dad) grow their own vegetables, you’ll know that bean plants also feed the soil to help with the next crop. Magic or what?
There are several different ways you can start to grow your bean seeds.
• In the ground
• In a pot with soil
• In a glass jar with water and cardboard or paper to hold them in place – just to see how they grow
They’ll start even better if you soak them in water overnight and then leave them on a damp cloth or absorbent paper until a little rootlet (radicle) appears. Keep a layer of damp paper on top to stop them drying out and check them every day, as they can appear within a few days although they may take longer depending on the temperature.
In time you will have to transplant the seedling outside, either into the ground or a very large pot or container and give it a frame or a pole to climb up. Look out for the flowers that will appear if you keep it well watered and then the bees that pollinate them. If that happens, the flower will lose its petals and start to grow a pod. When the pod is big enough (but not too big to become tough and stringy) you can pick it, cook it and eat it, along with lots of others. At that stage the beans inside are still small. You can leave the pod to grow on and then you’ll get beans that are just like the one you started with. These can be dried for sowing the next year. Some types of bean can also be dried and stored to eat in the winter – just like baked beans.
To celebrate the magic bean, Moorlands Climate Action are giving away samples of runner beans at their Leek market stall. The variety is Lady Di, a popular stringless type with pretty red flowers. See if they work for you and lead to an encounter with a castle and a scary giant - but no promises!