Common Bean

Common bean grows best in full sun with fertile, well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Seed is direct-sown or raised and transplanted once the first true leaves appear, with plants spaced anywhere from six inches to three feet apart depending on habit. Pole types need six to twelve feet of space and a trellis or other support to climb, while bush types stay compact and need no staking. Because the plant fixes nitrogen through a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria and also partners with soil fungi that aid water and nutrient uptake, it enriches the soil it grows in rather than depleting it.

No significant pests or diseases are typically reported for common bean under general garden conditions.

Snap or green beans should be picked regularly while still young and tender, which keeps the plant producing more pods through the season. Beans grown for drying are instead left on the plant until fully mature before harvest, after which the dried seed can be kept in storage for later use.

Culinary: Common bean is eaten as immature green pods, as fresh shell beans, or as dried mature seed, and it ranks among the most important legumes for direct human consumption worldwide. As dry seed it supplies a substantial share of its weight in protein along with minerals, fiber, thiamine and folate, making it a dietary staple that complements cereal-based diets for large populations, particularly in Latin America.

Cultural: In the southeastern United States, common bean was historically grown by Native American farmers as one of the 'Three Sisters' alongside maize and squash, climbing the maize stalks while the squash shaded the ground. The crop later became associated with Southern cuisine after being cultivated on southern plantations as a food ration for enslaved people before the Civil War.

Common bean was domesticated roughly 8,000 years ago in the Americas from wild ancestors classified as Phaseolus vulgaris var. mexicanus and var. aborigineus, whose range extends from northern Mexico to northwestern Argentina. Genetic evidence points to two separate domestication events, one in Mesoamerica and one in the southern Andes, both tracing back to a common wild ancestor found in Ecuador and northern Peru. From these centers the crop spread north into the American Southwest by about 3,000 years ago, reaching eastern North America by roughly 800 years ago and Tennessee by about 700 years ago.