Phaseolus vulgaris Pongo - Common bean

The 'Pongo' Bean is an excellent dwarf variety of pole bean that can be enjoyed as a fine bean when young and as a snap bean when mature. It produces slender pods that are 15 to 17 cm long, with a beautiful dark green colour, shiny and fleshy. In this dwarf variety, the flowering and fruiting occur above the foliage, making it easy to harvest. This variety offers excellent yield and is resistant to summer heat. To enjoy it, sow between April and August and harvest from July to September.

Whether consumed for its pod or its seed, the bean is a highly appreciated vegetable in gardens, as it is very easy to grow. It is so punctual that the gardener knows, down to the day, when they will make their first harvest, which is 60 days after sowing.

Discovered in the New World and acclimatised in Europe from the 16th century onwards, the bean has now become an essential legume in all world cuisines. Native Americans cultivated it for its dried seeds, but it was the Italians who, in the 18th century, started consuming the whole pod by harvesting it when immature.
The bean is a vine with indeterminate growth. Primitive varieties are all pole beans and require staking. Later, for practical reasons, dwarf varieties were selected, but they all have tendrils that can wrap around a support.
The pods are generally green, sometimes yellow (butter beans), streaked with red, or even amethyst-coloured. Among the varieties that are eaten when fine or extra fine, there are the filet beans, which have strings when mature. Afterwards, the pod becomes parchment-like and loses its taste quality.
The snap bean is generally more fleshy and can be consumed entirely, seeds and pods, even when mature. The recently created filet - snap beans can be consumed when young as extra fine until they become more fleshy, like a snap bean, as they do not form strings.

Immature green pods are rich in vitamins A, B9, and C, as well as trace elements and minerals. Dry beans are also very rich in vitamin C, trace elements, and plant proteins.

Harvest: Harvesting of young pods begins 60 days after sowing. It should be done every 2 or 3 days when the beans are at the fine and extra fine stage for filet beans.

Storage: Freezing the pods is the most common method of preservation. To do this, remove the stems, wash them, blanch them for 5 to 6 minutes in boiling water, then plunge them into cold water before drying them with a clean cloth. Once placed in a bag, the beans can be stored in the freezer at -18°C. However, canning is still appreciated for its taste qualities.

Gardener's tip: Beans, like all members of the Fabaceae family, have the ability to fix nitrogen from the air into the soil through a plant-bacteria symbiosis. They have the ability to enrich the soil. Beans can be included in crop rotation after incorporating green manure.
Beans get along very well with aubergines, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and radishes, as they protect each other. Avoid mixing them with alliums or fennel, as their growth will be inhibited.

A nettle spray can effectively control aphid attacks and strengthen the plants that have benefited from it.