There will be no planting outside today, in this January weather. Rather, we’ll be storing holiday decorations, eating the last of the fudge and gazing out of the window at the landscape. Not-yet-gelled plans for the coming growing season will continue to swirl in our thoughts.

While tackling those chores, consider stewing a bean that is perfect for every Shepherdstown soup pot. The navy bean is considered a mild-flavored dry bean. That is, the bean is removed at maturity after drying and beginning to rattle around inside the pod. It is in good company with such other beans as the pinto and black turtle.

The navy bean is one of many bean varieties in the large genus of annual vegetables in the pea family, called “Phaseolus vulgaris” or just plain ole “bean.” But this bean is not actually that common. After all, the navy bean has served as a food staple of the U.S. Navy for a little over a century, beginning when the service was investigating sources for easily stored, low-cost nutrition. This creamy white (not navy blue as you might expect) bean is small sized, so it is often referred to as the “Navy pea.”

Not to talk politics in this forum, but the U.S. Senate finds this flavorful bean so delicious that they have their own soup recipe focusing primarily on this ingredient. This specialty soup is served in the Senate’s cafeteria every day. You can find this recipe online at senate.gov. Navy beans are also the bean of choice for baked beans and pork and beans, in no small part because they don’t mush-up when cooked.

Navy beans are a low-fat, quality source of protein, vitamins and minerals, and a cholesterol-lowering dietary fiber all-star. What better food item to dish up on a cold, dreary winter day? And just as important, navy beans remain inexpensive, whether in canned or uncooked dried form.

Try growing this leguminous plant in your own garden. Navy bean plants have the knack of acquiring nitrogen from the air and fixing it in the soil, which make them ideal for improving a garden’s growing conditions. Dried store-bought beans can actually be used for growing your own crop.

Short-vine (pole supported) or bush cultivars are commercially available. Select which one to grow, based on the space available for cultivation. Choose a sunny, well-drained location in your garden for this field bean. Don’t plant until the fear of frost has passed. Plant 5-6 seeds in each mound, with intentions to thin the number of plants out, when the seedlings are several inches tall. The time from planting until harvesting the beans takes less than one growing season.

For greater insight into the cultural practices of growing common plants, google Cooperative Extension publications online.

Kristi Hendricks is a graduate of Shepherd College and West Virginia University and a Master Gardener with the Virginia Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at belowthejames@yahoo.com.