Beans are a delightful staple of the summer garden.
With little effort, plants yield quantities of fresh, crisp pods unequalled by supermarket produce. Left to dry on the plants, pods produce a rainbow of coloured beans that provide delicious healthy soups, stews and chilies throughout the year. Bean seeds found in archeological sites in Peru and Mexico have been dated at 8,000 and 5,000 BC respectively. Beans spread to North America where, along with corn and squash, they became the Three Sisters of Life the sustaining staple crops of indigenous Native Americans. Bean seeds were planted in each hill of corn to grow up the corn stalks.