Beans

Beans are a great vegetable to grow in every garden! Bush beans make perfect companion plants for other veggies like peppers and tomatoes, and pole beans can thrive when paired with vertical supports, or with heavy feeders like corn (as part of the Three Sisters method) and squash. Bush beans are especially great for peppers in hot climates as they can help provide side shade to peppers to prevent sunscald, while building the soil and conserving soil moisture by acting as a living mulch. All beans are legumes which fix nitrogen in the soil, so they are a welcome addition to any food garden. Beans do this as they form a mutually beneficial relationship with specific soil bacteria called rhizobia, which live in small bumps (nodules) on the bean's roots, which pull nitrogen from the air in the soil and feed this nitrogen to the beans. When you leave the roots in the soil even after the season is over, they add organic matter and release the fixed nitrogen as the root nodules break down.Beans are a great vegetable for crop rotation!