Lesson 6.18.0 HYACINTH BEANS - Dolichos lablab L.

 

 

FOOD FOREST COURSE

AGRO-ECONOMY Lesson 6.18.0 

HYACINTH BEANS - Dolichos lablab L.

 

Poor man’s bean, seven-year bean, hyacinth bean, or lablab originated in India and Java. 

This climbing bean is found growing wild whilst it is also cultivated as a green manure crop or as a poor man’s bean.  It is also widely grown in China, tropical Africa, western Asia, and it even found its way to Egypt in ancient times.  There is a dozen or so variations in colour in the foliage, flowers, pods, and the beans.  The colours range from white, pale yellow to bright mauve.  The seed can range in colour from black to white and to brown.

 

Tropical legumes are an important crop to grow not only for food but also for improving soil fertility.  Their roots have small nodules on them and inside these nodules they harbour bacteria that take nitrogen from the air through the plant and thus bringing nitrogen into the soil.

 

Cultivation

This bean plant will happily look after itself and needs no irrigation or even trellising as the vines will search out any tree or building for support.  It is drought hardy and simply needs to be cut back if it becomes too invasive but if they are too drastically cut back, they will regrow, but with less vigour.  The vines will stay around for several years and be productive if other weeds are kept in check.  An occasional feed of compost or worm castings will encourage productivity.

In long dry periods the vine isn’t productive but as soon as the rains fall, new flowers will form, and the vine will soon produce bundles of young, green pods ready to harvest again.

Text from the roots, Elisabeth Ferkonia (Aus.) PDC studied with Bill Mollison.




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