by Lisa Giroday, Sandra Lopuch and Sam Philips | Bush beans: prolific, easy, good-for-the-soil beans, they are now in season and running wild in gardens across the city. Once you grow them, you will never go back. They are a great staple crop that requires little care, are so easy to grow, don’t require trellising, and fix nitrogen into the soil (good for the leafy growth in plants). Our favourites to grow are the Dutch Heritage, Dragon Tongue (beautiful, yellow and purple striped (juicy when at peak, but also good as a dried bean) and Maxibel Filet; a classic green bean with a huge yield.

When growing, it’s a good idea to sow bush beans in a few successions from mid-May to early July for a continuous yield. If you do have bush beans growing in the garden right now, beware of aphids – they love attacking bush beans!

As mentioned, bush bean yields are so prolific, as in they drip off the plants. So you may need to consider pickling (here is a recipe we posted last season that will come in handy). Eat bush beans sautéed with olive oil, lemon, chili flakes, salt and pepper alongside salmon with dill. If you have so many that you’re considering freezing, make sure you blanch them first!

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Victory Gardens is a team of local urban farmers for hire. Lisa, Sandra and Sam help transform tired or underused residential and commercial green spaces into food producing gardens. Their goal is to challenge the way communities use space and to participate in the change needed to consume food more sustainably. For the rest of the growing season, they’ve hooked up with Scout to share some cool tips and tricks on how to get the best from of our own backyards.