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Legume Family
- Chinese long beans, Edible pod sugar peas, and Hyacinth bean
Chinese long beans - (Vigna sesquipedalis):
Also called the asparagus bean and yardlong bean, the plants are long
training vines grown on trellises. The plants are susceptible to black
bean aphids, spider mites, nematodes, and mosaic viruses. The plant is
more closely related to blackeye peas than to the common green snap bean.
Dark and light green varieties are available as well as a red type. The
darker varieties are generally preferred. Trellised. Warm season.
Cut into 2"
pieces and add to various stir-fries. The paler green is sweeter and more
tender than the dark green.
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 Snap
pea (top) and Snow pea (bottom) - (Pisum sativum): This is
the only cool season member of the group. It deteriorates quickly in the
heat of summer. The plants are trellised to facilitate the picking, however,
if grown for the tender shoot tips, they are usually left untrellised.
Problems encountered in Fresno include thrips, aphids, caterpillars, and
a devastating fungal disease called Ascochyta.
The pods and seeds
are edible and are essential in oriental dishes. They are used in soups,
beef and other meat dishes, stir-fry, and sukiyaki. Snow peas are flat
and should be trimmed at both ends. Snap peas are more filled out and
do not require trimming. Stir-fry in sesame oil for 2-3 minutes and toss
with a bit of soy sauce. The tender tips can be boiled like spinach or
added fresh to a green salad for a special treat.
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Hyacinth
bean - (Lablab niger): is a vigorous twining vine. Lablab is
an Arabic or Egyptian name describing the rattle of the seeds in the dry
pod. Pods are oblong and flattened. The most popular strains have purple
tinting at the margins. It is native to India. Warm season.