Bean | Phaseolus vulgaris, Fabaceae

Gayle Chong Kwan, Bean, collage, 2011

Beans are one of the longest-cultivated plant and are a very significant source of protein throughout the world as they have significant amounts of fibre andre. This can help lower blood cholesterol. Beans are also high in complex carbohydrates, folate and iron.



We cultivate all kinds of herbs, such as basil, parsley, chives, marjoram and savory, though mainly we plant French
beans. Ilona Gross, Waldland, Bezirksverband der Gartenfreunde Berlin-Treptow e.V.
 
Parsley is used in almost all dishes and for soups, whilst savory is essential for French bean soup. 
Ilona Gross, Waldland, Bezirksverband der Gartenfreunde Berlin-
Treptow e.V.

My father moved from Columbia to Berlin almost 20 years ago and we got the garden just two years after we applied for it. We have a lot of beans over here, plus herbs, carrots and basilicum. I like
to spend my time in the garden studying and playing music with my friends even if we are the only ones of our ages. The
others are mostly older, more of my parents’ age. They know and meet a lot of people here in the colony, though some can be a little bit conservative and a little strange with immigrants and
homosexuals. Some of them are the ones with the German flag waving on their plot, but not all of them. The others are
just proud to be German. 
Anna Paulina Solano Miller, POG, Bezirksverband Charlottenbu
rg der Kleingärtner e.V.
 
The garden opened in 2004 or 2005 but we got our little plot only last year. I had just had my baby and I had a lot of free time, so we decided to start cultivating. We have different kinds of
beans, strawberries, potatoes, beetroot and some herbs… All vegetables are healthy. It is great to have a green oasis
inside the city. I grew up in the suburbs of Berlin where there are a lot of green areas and I missed them. 
Hana Gunkel, Bürgergarten Laskerwiese e.V.
 
Japanese consider it very important to have 30 different kinds of food every day. The government encourages the nation to have lots of different foods, to keep a balance between vitamin C and proteins, carbohydrates and fat. I learnt at school that each food is
categorised into 5 or 6 groups, like fish or meat, or beans or milk, and the government says that having these different types of food everyday is ideal.
Miki Ito, Hand in Hand, Bezirksverband Berlin- Süden der Kleingärtner e.V.
 
When bean stew gets burnt, put the pan, with the lid on, in cold water for about 10 minutes. Then put the food in another pan and season accordingly.
Margrit Kissling, Waldland, Bezirksverband der Gartenfreunde Berlin-Treptow e.V.

I like to spend my time in the garden studying and playing music with my friends

Paulina with some friend playing music in her allotment

My father moved from Columbia to Berlin almost twenty years ago and we got the garden just two years after we applied for it.  We have a lot of beans over here, plus potatoes, carrots, cherries, basilicum, melissa and camomille. I like to spend my time in the garden studying and playing music with my friends even if we are the only ones our ages. The others usually are older, mostly my parents' age. They know and meet a lot of people here in the colony, though some can be a little bit conservative and a little strange with immigrants and homosexuals. Some of them are the ones with the German flag waving on their plot, but not all of them. The others are just proud to be Germans.

Anna Paulina Solano Miller, German-Columbian, POG, Bezirksverband Charlottenburg der Kleingärtner e.V.

Prinzessinnengarten

Other students and I with my family opened this place in July 2009. I wanted to become a father and have a job where I had not to work too much and could bring my kids with me. So, after living few years in Cuba, that has a very intense model of urban agricolture, I tried to do quite the same in Berlin. We cultivate all the different kind of vegetables you find in the supermarkets, but we use organic seeds to show our children how they grow and how better they are. Then we try to have a huge variety of kind for each vegetable. So we have 15 kinds of potatoes, 20 different kinds of tomatoes, 7 different kinds of carrots, 25 different kinds of ments, and some exotic things like 6 cm long beans from Africa. Some of the old women got cultural connections growing vegetables when they where young in Russia or Turkey or somewhere else. They have brought seeds or even plants with them from there, which they knew from their past, and which they wanted to have here as kind of piece of home. Many people have Turkish, Danish, French, American, English, Palestinian, Arabic, Indian, Swedish or Iraq ancestors. We have a very open system, so you do not have to become a member to partecipate.

Robert Shaw, British-German

In Germany we are not aloud to cultivate and sell herbs for medical purpose, so we do not cultivate any kind of these but we have got some things which are more for health. If you got a cough you can take a thyme tea or we have healing plants like comfrey.

Robert Shaw, English-German

Indigenuous people use some bushes for their health, but I do not know them. The same for our Chineses immigrants that have many traditional medicines using plants. However when I am sick I take fresh honey, ginger and garlic. They make me feel better.

Emma Rugg, Australian

We have rugbrød that is a very dark bread which is very healty because it is rich in whole grain and dietary fiber and contain little or no sugar, and is thus considered by many Danes as a healthy alternative to whiter types of bread. I never tried to bake it myself because it is a very long process, but my father does and it is always nice to come home and have the homemade smørrebred.

Ida Davidsen, Dane

I could find mangos in Berlin or kiwi from New Zeland, however they are not very fresh and it's not very good for the enviroment to buy foods that have been travelling half the world. So I do not like to buy them.

Emma Rugg, Australian

There is a popular Australian story that became a cartoon where a little koala - Blinky Bill - eats leaves from eucalyptus trees and these leaves have some medicinal benefits as his appendix can neutralise the toxins of the plants.

Emma Rugg, Australian

Prinzessinnengarten

Kinpira gobou cooked by Miki | Kolonie Hand in Hand

The ingredients for kinpira gobou

<材料>　　

ごぼう ２００g　 にんじん１００ｇ　鷹のつめ１ヶ　　　

サラダ油大さじ１　料理酒大さじ２　醤油大さじ３　みりん大さじ２ 　砂糖大さじ１

かつおだし少々　水少量　白ゴマ少々

<Ingredent>    

200g Burdock root   100g Carrots  1 Dried red chilli     

1tablespoon  Sunflower oil    2tablespoons Rice wine (Sake)   3tablespoons Soy sauce  2tablespoons Mirin   1tablespoons Sugar 

Pinch of fish stock   50ml water   Pinch of  Sesame seeds

Miki cooking

 

<作り方>　

㈰ごぼうとにんじんは皮をむき、３～４ｃｍの長さのせん切りにして、１５分程水に放してアク抜きをする。

アクが抜けたらさっと水洗いしてざるに上げ、水気をきる

 ㈪鍋にサラダ油を熱し、鷹のつめさっと炒めてから、　ごぼう、にんじんの順に入れて炒め合わせる。

㈫㈪がしんなりしてきたら酒、かつおだし、水、砂糖、醤油、みりんの順に加え、汁気がなくなり、

ごぼうの食間が残る程度まで炒める。　

㈬器に㈫を盛り、ゴマを振りかけてできあがり。

<How to cook> 

㈰Peel the skin of burdock roots and carrots and then thinly sliced about 3 or 4cms long. Soak them in water about 15minutes then dry and wash in a colander and shake off the excess water. 

㈪Heat the oil in a preheated fying pan or saucepan. Add the chilli, burdock and carrots and star-fry about a couple of minutes.

㈫Add the rice wine, fish stock, water,suger, soy sauce and Mirin and star-fry another minute until the juice is reduced.

Do not overcock  otherwise the vegetables will lose their crunchiness.    

㈬Sprinke with sesame seeds after serving. 

Kinpira gobou is ready!

Video by Giulia Giannola


http://gartenkolonie-hand-in-hand.de/wp/