Hello beloved CSA Members. The question has come up for me time and time again: What is the difference between peas and beans? I have asked everyone with whom I have come into contact on the farm, and have not yet received a quite satisfactory explanation. Determined to unravel this mystery for myself and share what new insights I may find with all of you, I turned to the internet.

As it turns out, etymologically speaking, the name "peas" derives from the latin pisum, which is also conveniently its genus name (pisum sativum=peas). Bean, as a designation, turns out to be somewhat more difficult. The Fabaceae family contains all of the legumes, plants with podlike fruit that fix nitrogen in the soil (including both peas and beans). Generally speaking, bean can designate just about any edible member of the Fabaceae family. Most specifically it refers to the Phaseoleae tribe (which seems to contain just about every type of bean I can imagine). Just to confuse things, cowpeas, black-eyed peas, and pigeon peas are all in the Phaseoleae tribe (beans). Neither coffee beans, cocoa beans, castor beans, nor jelly beans are actually beans, but we refer to them as such because of their resemblance to the fruit.

If you are wondering why legumes are so present in my mind, you will be happy to know that we harvested over eighty pounds of green (and gold and purple) beans last week, and another fifty pounds of edamame (which you hopefully had the chance to enjoy last week). For practical purposes, if you are wondering about the legumes in your share over the next few weeks, they are beans. Peas are a cooler weather crop, and we harvested the last of them in April. Peas also have tendrils, appear to be better climbers, and have delicious edible stems and leaves (pea tips) which are a delicacy in spring salads.

Of course you may have perceived an ulterior motive in my unabashed diatribe on legumes. I confess it is true. Legumes are particulary valuable and absolutely necessary because of their role in making nitrogen an available nutrient to all living things. Nitrogen, at seventy-eight percent, is the most abundant gas in the earth´s atmosphere. It is also a necessary nutrient for all living things. It is present in all amino acids, the "building blocks of life," as well as in chlorophyll molecules in plants. Ironically, plants and animals are unable make use of the nitrogen in the atmosphere directly. For this we are dependent on bacteria called rhizobia that "fix" the atmosheric nitrogen in a form that we can use. Legumes are essential in this process because they provide a home for rhizobia in little nodules on their roots. The legumes receive a source of usable nitrogen in return for carbohydrates that they supply to the rhizobia.

This beneficial relationship extends to the soil. When the legumes die, the nitrogen that they have helped to fix remains in the soil. In sustainable farming, where we are concerned with the soil not only nurturing our plants today, but continuing to be able to do so indefinitely, legumes are of utmost importance. When you stop by the farm, you might notice our corn is growing quite tall and actually beginning to develop cobs. Fresh corn is one of my favorite summer foods, but it is also a heavy feeder on the soil. Mary suggested that we undersow the corn with soybeans in order to replenish the soil with nitrogen depleted by the corn. So beneath our beautiful stalks of corn, you will see the humble soybean performing its tireless, life-sustaining duty.

I hope you will appreciate the legumes in your share this week − if not for their ecological significance, then at least for their delicious, fresh taste.

Leguminously Yours,

Matthew, RJ, Mary, Lauren, and Paige