growing season. In the arid Southwest, to encourage dormancy, do not irrigate in winter. For information on blanching for white asparagus, see "How to Grow a French Garden" (page 9).
Asparagus beetles are generally the most serious pest. If you keep the bed free of beetles from planting time onward, you can keep them out with floating row covers. If the bed is already infested, fall cleanup helps remove some of the breeding adults: apply the formulation of Bt made to control asparagus beetles. A fungus disease called asparagus rust is an occasional problem associated with very damp weather. Cercospora leaf spot can be a serious problem in the Southeast. Plant resistant varieties, such as 'Jersey Knight' (if asparagus rust is a problem) and 'Jersey Gem' (for cercospora problems). If numerous, gophers can be a serious problem. Plant the crowns in wire baskets to protect them. Perennial weeds can take over and crowd out a bed of asparagus in a single season, so be sure to remove any weeds as soon as they appear.
Harvest the spears by snapping them off an inch or so above soil level. No harvest is recommended the first year. In the second year limit the harvest to three weeks. From the third year on, the season lasts six to eight weeks, depending on the weather. With effort, you can lengthen the harvest season. Harvest your asparagus normally for the first two weeks. Then select two or three spears per plant and let them develop. Identify them with twine and continue to harvest the new spears. The spears you leave to mature will nourish the plant while you continue the harvest. Stop harvesting when the new spears emerge thinner than a pencil. To prevent stressing the plants, fertilize them with fish meal after the harvest. In mild climates cut down plants in the fall when they turn brown; in cold climates wait until early spring because the stalks help maintain a snow cover.
Varieties
Purchase asparagus as seeds or one-year-old rooted crowns, which are available as bare roots in early spring. Local nurseries generally carry varieties that are national standards or are particularly well suited to your area. The new hybrid, all-male plants are a great development since they are usually twice as productive as female plants.
'Argenteuil': old French variety, traditionally blanched for white asparagus, available only as seeds
'Jersey Knight': large, tender spears with purple touches, adaptable to a variety of climates, high yielder, high tolerance to fusarium and rust diseases, all-male plants available bare root
'Purple Sweet' ('Sweet Purple'): old variety with sweet, tender deep burgundy spears; available as bare root plants
'UC 157': developed for moderate- and mild-winter areas, USDA Zones 5 and up; large, flavorful spears; fusarium-tolerant, rust-resistant; predominantly male plants, available as bare root plants
How to prepare: Bend a harvested spear into a circle; it will snap at the point where it gets tough. Use the tender top part of the spear and discard the tough lower section. Most aficionados favor the simple approach to cooking asparagus; they like the stalks steamed or boiled just until tender and served with salt, pepper, and a touch of butter. Leftovers can be served with a vinaigrette the next day or put in an omelet for breakfast.
French cooks usually peel asparagus before cooking it. Peel off the skin with a knife or vegetable peeler up to where the stalk becomes tender. When asparagus are dressed, the accompaniments are most often hollandaise sauce, lemon butter, or a vinaigrette. Asparagus are also used in quiches, crepes, salads, soups, soufflés, and timbales. When cooking purple asparagus, simmer them in an inch of water with ¼ cup lemon juice or vinegar to help maintain the color, or they will turn green.
BEANS
(haricots)
BUSH AND POLE BEANS
Phaseolus vulgaris
The bean most closely associated with France is the haricot vert, the famous thin French filet-type string bean. Another famous French bean is the flageolet, a rich-tasting, white to light green shelling bean shaped something like a squat kidney bean. The flageolet is eaten either fresh-shelled or dried. Standard green beans, yellow wax beans, and all types of dry beans are also used in France.
How to grow: Whether bush or pole, beans are grown as annuals and do well in most climates. Plant beans after all danger of frost is past. All beans need full sun and a good, loose garden loam with plenty of added humus. Sow seeds of bush beans 1 inch deep in rows 18 inches apart. Thin seedlings to 2 inches apart. Pole beans need a fairly strong trellis to climb on. Plant the seeds 1 inch deep, 6 inches apart, in a circle 6 inches away from the pole. If your soil is fairly fertile, no extra fertilizing is usually needed. If beans look pale midseason, fertilize them with fish emulsion. To prevent mildew the plants are best watered deeply and infrequently at their base.
In some areas bean beetles can be a serious pest and get out of hand quickly. Beans suffer from their share of other pests, including beanloopers, whiteflies, aphids, and cucumber beetles. For information on controlling these problems, see Appendix B (page 98). To help prevent diseases like anthracnose and leaf spots, plant resistant varieties, use drip irrigation rather than overhead watering, and don't work with the plants when they are wet.
Bush Beans 'Roc d'Or'
dry beans
Haricots verts 'Vernandon'
Harvest snap beans when the seeds inside are still very small and the pods are tender. Make sure you pick all the young beans as they come along. Varieties of the French haricot vert are eaten very young and are best when the bean is 1/6 inch wide at harvest. If allowed to mature past this width, the beans can have strings and be tough. Flageolets and other shelling beans should be harvested when the pods fill out noticeably but before they get dry. If they get too mature, allow them to dry for winter use.
Varieties
Haricots Verts
'Fortex': 60 to 70 days; pole; stringless; rich, sweet taste; may be picked young at 6 to 7 inches for filet beans or allowed to grow longer
'Nickel': 60 days, bush, extremely tender mini-filet beans; harvest at 4 inches; resistant to white mold and brown spot
'Triomphe de Farcy': 48 days, bush, rich dark green pods, pick at 5 to 6 inches
'Vernandon': 55 days; bush; tender, slim pods full of flavor; pick at 6 inches or less; resistant to anthracnose and bean virus
Flageolets, Horticultural, and Other Shelling Beans
'Chevrier Vert' ('Early Chevrier'): 65 to 75 days, bush, classic French flageolets, serve fresh shelled to savor the flavor
'Coco Nain Blanc' ('Coco Nain Blanc Precoce'): 60 to 80 days, bush, one of several French white beans that are traditionally used in cassoulet, about the size of a kidney bean but rounder, vigorous and high yielding
'Flambeau': 76 days; bush, small, mint green flageolets; flavor similar to lima beans; served fresh or dried
'Tongue of Fire' ('Tierra del Fuego,' 'Horto'): 73 days, bush, horticultural bean, ivory and carmine pods hold 7 to
