Cooking With Beans: Tepary Tips and Recipes

By Sharman Russell
Published on July 1, 1983
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PHOTO: FOTOLIA/SJHULS
Tepary beans are drought-resistant, easy to grow, and delicious in stews and soups.

Most modern gardeners have likely never heard of the tepary bean. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Indeed, even a search through MOTHER’s seldom stumped editorial reference library couldn’t provide much information on the legume.] The truth is, however, that this little-known plant — Phaseolus acutifolius — is among North America’s oldest agricultural crops: The naturally heat-, drought-, and pest-resistant bean has been identified in strata that are at least 8,000 years old! It served as a staple food for generations of prehistoric native Americans, and — by 1701 — was the principal crop raised at the mission Nuestra Senora de los Dolores in New Mexico. In fact, it was there that (according to one legend) the bean got the name by which we know it today . . . because, when the arriving Spanish asked a group of Papagos what they were planting, the Indians responded, “T’pawi, ” meaning simply, “It’s a bean.”

However, while the original residents of the Southwest have long taken advantage of the tepary’s hardiness (the Papagos and Pimas, among other tribes, still raise the bean), it enjoyed little respect from the Spanish — who believed it to be a degenerate version of their own favored legume, P. vulgaris — and is all but unknown to today’s commercial and backyard growers. There are a number of good reasons to change this policy of neglect. For one, the tepary has produced yields of up to 700 pounds per acre without irrigation . . . whereas most conventional dry beans won’t even survive in arid areas without supplemental watering. (And when both crops are irrigated, the t pawi’s yields can equal or exceed the national average of 1,400 pounds per acre for the more popular legumes.) With water shortages and summer rationings occurring all too often over the past few years, the tepary could prove to be an excellent choice for many southwestern gardeners . . . and perhaps for folks in other regions, as well. And cooking with beans is a way to satisfy your soul as well as your pocketbook.

Growing Beans: The Tepary’s Needs

Phaseolus a cutifolius is traditionally a two season bean, with the first planting being made in early spring and another in midsummer. (The Pimas sowed their teparies when the mesquite bushes leafed out and again when the saguaro was harvested.) The seeds should be planted two inches deep, eyes down, and two to three inches apart . . . with each row one and one half to two feet from its neighbor. (Folks who plant by the moon generally agree that the second lunar quarter is the prime bean sowing time.)

It’s best to cultivate your tepary patch regularly, to keep down weed competition, at least until the blooms appear. Note, too, that these are pole beans, which will require some sort of support (a wire or string fence would be a good choice). And, though teparies will grow under very arid conditions, they’ll generally produce better — as noted above — when watered. The legumes have a reputation for adaptability, however, so, to find the optimum amount for your location, you might want to vary the waterings given to different clusters of plants in your first crop and note the results.

If you’re in the mood for experimentation, you could try to duplicate the early native Americans’ method of cultivation. Using a digging stick, such farmers would sow three to five seeds, three inches deep, in hills spaced six to eight feet apart. The Papagos often planted their teparies at the mouths of arroyos, waiting till after those gullies had been flooded with the early summer rains. These areas are usually moister than the open desert, and they’re also rich in the nutrients and trace minerals washed down by the seasonal torrents.

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