Fabacées • Amphicarpaea bracteata

Ground bean - Organic

"A nourishing perennial vine, a discreet companion to damp soils."

From $9.00

Packaging 6 units

10 units

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Native to North America, the ground bean ( Apios americana ) is a perennial legume that develops strings of edible tubers along its roots. A climbing vine, it clings flexibly to available supports and creates a tranquil presence in the vegetable garden or kitchen garden.

Its delicate, compound foliage, typical of the Fabaceae family, forms a green ground cover that accompanies the changing seasons. Its flowers, clustered in dense bunches ranging from brownish-pink to purple, add an unexpected and subtle ornamental touch. In cool, well-drained soil, the ground bean thrives for several years, yielding, over time, a harvest of rich and nutritious tubers.

In a harmonious garden, this plant contributes to biodiversity while providing food through an age-old practice: gently lifting the tubers at the end of the growing season, leaving enough to ensure the plant's return the following year. A hardy and valuable companion for a nourishing space rooted in the natural cycle.

Growing climate: Warm to temperate season, with winters cold enough for tubers to rest.
Sowing difficulty level: Medium (more common cultivation from tubers than from seeds).
Care required: Regular, especially to keep the soil cool and guide the plant onto a support.
Growth: Summer growth, vigorous when the soil is moist and well-nourished.

Annotation: Plant of temperate climate that appreciates moist but well-drained soils; sensitive to prolonged soil drying.

Ground bean tubers are edible and traditionally eaten in several regions of North America. Rich in starch, they can be cooked like potatoes: boiled, roasted, mashed, or added to soups and stews. Their mild, slightly sweet flavor with a hint of nuttiness makes them well-suited to slow-cooked dishes and comfort food.

The tubers can be eaten fresh after harvesting or stored for some time in a cool, dark, and well-ventilated place, like other root vegetables. Some Indigenous traditions report the use of this plant as a wild and cultivated food source, integrated into a close relationship with the land and the cycle of the seasons.