Great Yields, Terrible Manners: Antisocial Climbing Beans

The little secret about the soil here at Bunyonyi is that it’s tired, basically. Our land simply can’t cope with beans that refuse to climb, because the poor ground has been overworked for years and is losing its fertility bit by bit. Nobody lets their fields have a proper rest either; there just aren’t enough plots to go round.

Back in our grandparents’ days, climbing beans didn’t even exist here. They turned up later, and like any good tale, they brought both blessings and complications.

On the plus side: brilliant yields. People couldn’t get enough of them. But here’s the catch nobody warns you about: these beans are terribly antisocial. They refuse to share a plot with Irish potatoes or maize, unlike the old mixed farming days, so this fussiness has actually contributed to hunger in the community. No cosy farming arrangements allowed when climbing beans are involved.

And then there’s the sticks! Someone has to fetch and haul them, which is backbreaking and surprisingly costly, munching straight into whatever profit you were hoping for. If you’re lucky enough to live near the lake, papyrus can help you tie the poles (as our volunteer’s video shows) while everyone else makes do with banana fibres instead.

Growing these fussy beans is quite the commitment, mind you. It starts with preparing the land, then planting, then staking (the all-important canes protect from ground pests and rats), then weeding, and finally the long wait for harvest …