Legumes
These are the protein powerhouses of edible plants. Legumes are also tipped as good for fibre, managing blood sugar levels and promote digestive and heart health. Legumes cover a wide variety of edibles including beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas, which are used across world in a variety of culinary forms. From curries to sauces to meat substitutes, they're a staple for many households and a favourite for gardeners and allotment holders. Most legumes as a general rule need to sown 2-3 cm (1 inch) deep either in propagators from March onward, or so them direct outdoors once the weather has warmed.
Although part of the same family, legumes have originated from different areas of the world. Beans from the Americas, as far south as Argentina and ranged all the way up to Mexico, whilst peas and chickpeas are believed to come from the Mediterranean, north Africa and the Middles East. Lastly, lentils originate from the Middle East. Legumes are subtropical plants so require lots of sunlight, however, many varieties have been developed to suit colder climates or to resist pests and diseases. The big things to watch out for are rust, which is a mould that affects legumes as well as pests such as slugs and pigeons, which eat young plants. For more mature plants weevils, bean fly, black fly and aphids can cause considerable damage to your crops if they are not dealt with.
Bush beans
Bush beans, sometimes called broad beans, will provide ground cover under taller plants such as sweetcorn or sunflowers. It's a good idea to put some supports in place to keep the beans from the soil to avoid rotting or being eaten by slugs and snails. This can be done with short stakes or bamboo canes and twine. For square foot or companion planting these beans can be grown in rows or inter-planted with other vegetables such as brassicas, cucurbits, sweetcorn and root veg like carrots and radishes.
Sow bush beans in March or April, however, hardier varieties for colder climates such as Aquadulce can be sown from October to February to provide you with an earlier harvest. Some people may tell you to plant them close to each other but as these bush out try to allow at least 20 cm (8 inches) between seeds when sown direct or planting out. Good cropping varieties to try are Crimson Flowered, Optica and The Sutton.
The hardier winter varieties do will when sown undercover until Feb/March, which will give plants a good head start. If sowing undercover, use one seed per plug or pot as they will produce large, fibrous roots that will intertwine. Typically you can expect to harvest bush beans from May through to August. If you live in a warm/hot climate, you may be able to grow hardy beans as a winter crop.
Climbing beans
These plants are what typically come to mind when people think of beans. Climbers include French, runner or the Italian beans such as borlotti, haricot and cannellini. Typically these plants are much heavier cropping and require a structural support to climb up. This could be a garden arch or poles/canes in a wigwam or as a longer bean frame.
Most climbing beans can be sown undercover from April - May and direct from June - July. When your frost dates have passed, plant out any you have sown undercover and you can expect to start harvesting from July - October depending on how fast growing the variety is. Great French bean varieties to try are Allegria, Cosse Violette and Masterpiece, whereas Enorma and Polestar are good cropping runner beans.
If you want to try something different, Lingua di Fuoco 2 is a Barlotti cultivar that can grow in colder climates with red/cream dappled pods.
Chickpeas
These are not commercially grown in the UK as they require a bit more heat at over 20 degrees Celsius (68 F) for 4 - 6 months to be harvest ready. However, they can be grown at home when started off in a heated propagator or greenhouse. Sow from March onward and when planting out allow a 15 cm (6 inches) gap between plants. If you cannot guarantee temperatures around 20 C keep in a greenhouse.
It is worth noting that new varieties of legumes keep appearing so cultivars suited to colder climates could soon tolerate cooler outside temperatures. Good varieties to try would be the heavy cropping Kyabra or the Italian Principle. You can pick chickpeas green or wait for them to dry and turn beige/yellow if you live in a warm climate.
Lentils
The colour of the lentils will likely depend on what you sow, for example, red/orange, yellow, black or green. Lentils can be grown commercially in temperate climates and will take less time than chickpeas at around 3-4 months to be harvest ready. Sow in modules undercover and plant in May. Some plants will be frost tolerant but keeping them warmer will speed up growth.
Lentils should be ready from late summer, each pod will contain a couple of lentils and will typically start to dry from the base of the plant where the older growth and pods are. If plants start to bend like bush beans it is the weight of the crop on the stem of the plant so don't be worried.
Peas
Peas can be grown and used in avariety of ways from pea shoots, mangetout, sugar snap pea and standard pea varieties. Garden peas are hardier in cooler climates than sugar snap peas. Hardy peas can be sown from November onward for an early crop such as Kelvedon Wonder and Meteor. For most varieties it is the same as legumes - from March onward.
As peas are delicate climbing plants they will require protection from strong direct sun, insects and birds. Netting can be used for this as well as some partial shade in the summer. I have found peas plants dry out much quicker than beans do so water regularly.
Peas should be ready for picking from July to October, however, I have picked Meteor from early June. Once picked peas do not last as long as beans on the worktop or in the fridge so try to pick them to use within a couple of days. Good varieties to try are Meteor, Blauwschokkers (purple) and Canoe. Peas are nitrogen fixing plants and can benefit carrots, celery, cucurbits, squashes and sweetcorn in square foot or companion planting.
If you want to try something different, the asparagus pea, also called a pigeon pea because the pods look like wings. Sow asparagus peas from March - May and plant out from the end of May. Pick the peas when they reach 2.5 - 3cm ( 1 - 1.25 inches) in length.
There are 2 varieties, the yellow, which does better in cooler climates (zone 9 and below) and the heat loving red, which are suitable for (zone 10 and above). Although the yields are less than regular peas, asparagus peas do establish a ground cover for taller plants.