At the market, it is possible to buy different types of beans, including picked beans. Photo: Tamara Čalošević
High beans impress with their taste
June brings not only colorful and fresh fruit to the stands, but also legumes. These are more sought-after crops in the markets, but are not as popular among pests as cabbages.
“Are these green beans?” a passer-by stopped with interest at one of the market stalls in BTC and assessed the contents of the baskets with a glance. Beans of all shapes and colors were distributed in them. “The greener beans take less time to ripen. The way it grows is not really different from the normal one,” the saleswoman explained to us Teja. “We also know high and low beans. If it is tall, it is necessary to put poles on which it can climb. This is not necessary when it is low, because it grows like a bush,” she added.
Tall beans differ from short beans not only in the way they grow, but also in taste. “He’s really special. It has the thinnest shell, the most buttery. Very rarely anyone uses it for soup or beans, mostly it is used for salad,” Teja described it, pointing to a bag full of dark seeds.
The uniqueness of the species is also reflected in the price. Today, a kilogram of green beans costs 10 to 14 euros on the BTC market, and 6 to 15 euros for green beans. “Now it’s the beginning of the season, then the price drops. The long beans are the ones that are more expensive.’
Is shelling beans a chore? “First we pick it and then we peel it,” said the interlocutor, showing how quickly she gets the seeds out of the pod in a few seconds. “Such fresh seeds should be consumed within two to three days. But if you want it dry, you have to wait until the beans are completely wooded. Peeling such beans is more complicated and takes longer,” said saleswoman Teja. They also need to read the seeds, as they can crack or be attacked by caterpillars.
In addition to beans, the offer in the markets is also richer for peas, which are more durable. “We started planting peas and beans at the beginning of March, the first in the field and the second in the greenhouse,” a seller told us at the central market Klemen Dovč from the farm Dovč. He added that they didn’t have any problems with pests, because “they don’t attack them so much, they prefer cabbage plants”. Like beans, peas grow in pods. “You can feel the grain. The larger the grain, the fuller the pod, the harder the pea. If the grain is smaller, it is sweeter,” explained the interlocutor.
Among the fruits, strawberries and cherries were joined on the stands by local blueberries, currants and raspberries.
