Long green beans

Like many vegetables, the long green beans ( Malay name: kacang panjang, Botanical name: Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis ) can be eaten raw and are deliciously crisp when fresh.  Personally, I like them when they are a darker shade of green with slight visibility of the pods for eating them raw.  They are a good source of protein, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus, and potassium, and a very good source for vitamin C, folate, magnesium, and manganeseAs the fruit matures, it turns to a yellowish green to yellow to brown.


I seed them in small polybags (about 10cm diameter) using store-bought seeds. It takes approximately 3 days for the seeds to sprout and once it has sprouted, with the right soil mixture, it grows rather rapidly.  As with most of my vegetables, the soil mixture contains organic matter as well as some sand within the mixture to allow for good drainage as well as moisture control.  After about 7-10 ten days, they are ready to be transplanted.

At the farm, it is transplanted in polybags before placing them along a trellis to allow better utilization of area, effective fertilization, protection from the farm animals and ease of relocating as well as weeding.
The long beans is a climber and is easily trained.  If you plan to plant it at your house, you can plant it along the fence or by an arbor.  It takes approximately 30 days before beginning to flower which then transforms into the long beans.  During this period, the water content in the soil is very important - do not let it dry out as I find that this will reduce the quality and quantity of the beans produced thereafter.  Conversely, do not let it be in a soggy, wet soil as this will encourage rot which can kill the plant.  I let some of the beans to mature to create a new batch of planting seeds.  I fertilize them fortnightly with organic fertilizer.  The mature leaves are also removed periodically to encourage new growth and flowering as well to prevent leaves from rotting on the vine which can encourage fungus which in turn will affect the plant.

The beans are susceptible to black "aphids", which will eat the beans and my best friend in this is the kerangga, the natural predator to these pests resulting in me not having to worry about getting rid of these pest.

The young leaf shoots can also be eaten like many other leafy vegetables - cooking it within a stir-fry dish.As with many vegetables, they are so many ways to prepare it and for me, it is a must in pecal and lontong.  Sometime, I chopped it up along with other ulam and mix it with rice for my version of nasi kerabu.  So, have fun experimenting.