The story of our Giant Beans

by arosis

Do you believe in fairytales?

Let us tell you a story about Giants!
It’s the story of our Giant Beans!

Once upon a time, in the small villages of Kastoria in Northern Greece people planted the first seeds of Giant beans! Nowdays, at the same family farms…

The agricultural fields are “resting” with the traditional practice of fallow land, waiting for the new cultivation season.

After the fallow period, the fields are plowed, and all the weeds that grew during the fallow stage are incorporated into the soil.

Next, the soil is finely tilled to create theideal environment to host our seed and later the parent bean plant.

During sowing, the soil must have optimal moisture and temperature conditions. These conditions are crucialfor good seed germination and the proper development of the plant in its early stages.

The seed germination was successfully completed, and our seed created a new plant, a new crop.

The giant beans are climbing plants. This means that with the appearance of the first leaves, we must place supports that will help the plant climb and continue its development uninterrupted.

Their climbing does not stop and continues many meters above the ground.

Our plants are growing, and the first flowers appear. The flowers of our bean plants have transformed into well-formed pods.

The development of the beans continues. The pods grow, day by day.

Our allies in this entire cultivating effort are pollinators, beneficial predators, including the honey bee (Apis mellifera) and the seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), as well. And of course, technology, as a smart farming station.

The cultivation is approaching its end. The pods have completed their development, they start to change color, and the bean seeds mature. To expedite the drying process of the plants, we cut the stems close to the ground’s surface, resulting in complete drying.

In a few days, the bean plants have turned a light green/brown color, indicating that we are approaching the threshing stage. They remain hanging on the support poles, away from the soil, in conditions of sunlight and ventilation, for their gradual and uniform drying. The brown color across the surface of the bean plant indicates that the long-awaited threshing day has come. The efforts ofthe entire year will be transported to the storage of each producer.

After threshing, the plant residues of the bean remain in the field and will be incorporated into the first plowing of the new crop, while the support poles return to storage to be protected from the coming winter and, of course, to be reused for the new crop.