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GLT's Grow: Smells Like Bean Spirit

Beans in collander.
Saiberiac
/
Flickr via Creative Commons
Dragon Tongue Beans are pretty ... tasty!

Don't grow just any old bean in your garden. Go with the beautiful and tasty dragon tongue bean.

  • This is a versatile as well as tasty bean. The dragon tongue bean is of Dutch origin. A wax type bush bean, they're great as a fresh snap bean when young and as a shelled bean when fully mature. 
  •  Young dragon tongue beans are a cream color and are ready for harvest when purple variegations appear on their stringless pods. Bear in mind, when you blanche them, those cool purple stripes will vanish.
  • You don't have to shell this bean—they're fully edible when young. Mature beans should be shelled.
  • They're easy to grow from seed. Plant them 1 inch down and 3 to 4 inches apart.
  • Water generously and apply light mulch. They'll grow to 2-3 feet.
  • Watch out for the Mexican bean beetle and bean weevils. 

GLT's Grow is your source for sage gardening advice and down-to-earth tips. Host Patrick Murphy and co-host Laura Kennedy are ready to take on all your gardening questions, so submit yours today.

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Reporter, content producer and former All Things Considered host, Laura Kennedy is a native of the Midwest who occasionally affects an English accent just for the heck of it. Related to two U.S. presidents, Kennedy appalled her family by going into show business.