COSTA MESA : Beans Bask in Nature’s Benevolence

As it has been for thousands of years--regardless of technology--the fate of farmers is firmly in the hands of an ever-fickle Mother Nature.

Two years ago, a cool, overcast summer made a smooth farming season for C.J. Segerstrom & Sons and their four large Orange County lima bean fields. While it took longer than usual for the broad, flat beans to dry out, Ted Segerstrom said, they were spared the harsh heat that can leave them dried and cracked.

Then, last year, an invasion of egg-laying worms left many of the fragile beans unusable, their pods stained. “People like them, and bugs do too,” Segerstrom said.

Now, this season, Providence has again smiled on the Segerstroms’ 180 acres, as unexpected rains left the ground moist and inviting for the crop that earned Orange County the nickname “Beanville” before freeways and tract homes replaced farmland.

Because of the rain, Segerstrom said, the fields will not need to be watered for the entire season, which runs from roughly mid-April to mid-September.

“That’s kind of historical for us; it’s probably the first time in 50 years we haven’t needed to irrigate for the season,” said Segerstrom, whose high-profile family began growing the crop in the World War I era.

The family, which built South Coast Plaza, maintains the fields with vintage tractors, a bow to the tradition and history of the crop.

Segerstrom said his family stands to save $15,000 in water costs because of the fortuitous rain showers that left the land too wet to furrow at the season’s start. The delay in furrowing gave the rain a chance to soak in and leave the soil rich and moist.

The four fields--two in Santa Ana, two in Costa Mesa--produce about 6,500 bags of beans annually, each bag holding 100 pounds, Segerstrom said. About 800 of those bags will not make it to markets because of damaged or immature beans.

While nature has been unusually kind so far this year Segerstrom knows that could change. A return of the rain near harvesting time could leave the plants moldy or interrupt the vital drying process. Or particularly brutal sunshine could sap their strength and dry them too much.

“So far, so good, right?” Segerstrom said. “I can’t predict the weather. They are up and out of the ground, so everything’s fine. For now.”