Beans are among the easiest plants to grow on the small farm. Even if your soil lacks nutrients, beans can overcome this because they fix their own nitrogen in the soil. Beans are traditionally planted alongside corn and squash in what's known as a "Three Sisters" configuration because the beans will replace some of the nitrogen that the corn and squash use.
Everyone's familiar with fresh beans, but dry varieties are a useful storage food for the small farm or homestead. You'd be surprised how much better they taste than dry beans from the supermarket. You can even cook up a batch and pressure can them for your own "canned beans."
