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Back to Gardening
Tips
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Green
Beans or Snap Beans |
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Seasons
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Depending on where you are from
is how you refer to the easy to raise, yummy, fresh bean. One of
my favorite summer meals is fresh green beans, cucumber salad and sliced
tomatoes. Who needs meat when you have a meal like that!!!
There are two types of beans; bush and pole. The bush are
"determinate" which means they grow to a certain size,
blossom, bear fruit and stop growing. I have discovered that pole
beans take longer to start producing but once they start will produce
and produce. I have a trellis in my garden and I plant 3 beans. I
get more from those 3 plants than I get off a 50' row. |
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Planting:
Plant beans in late April 4"-5" apart with 2 feet between rows.
They can not tolerate frost. Additional crops can be planted all
summer, even up to late August for fall crops.
Because beans are legumes, they are light nitrogen feeders which
means they "fix" nitrogen from the air and change it into a
form that the plants can use through the action of Rhizobium bacteria
that lives in the nodules on their roots. It is helpful to coat
bean seeds with inoculant to ensure that the bacteria is present in the
soil, especially in new gardens. Never inoculate seeds that have
been treated with fungicides since they will kill the nitrogen-fixing
bacteria. If you inoculate, you will not need to use much
fertilizer. If you use fertilizer, only use a very small amount of
5-10-10. Organic fertilizer such as fish emulsion is also a great
option.
To inoculate seeds, stir some inoculate in a paper bag with
seed. A few drops of moisture will help it to stick to the
seeds. Plant. If you have a problem with grubs in your garden,
sprinkle a granular insect control for grubs along the rows before you
plant. Take a hoe and stir the soil before dropping in the seeds. After
the peas are up, be careful about hoeing around the plants as peas are
very tender. When the plants are about 2" tall, it may be helpful
to hoe a small ridge along the plants to protect them and to add
support. Diseases & Treatment
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 June 26, 2004:
Blue Lake Snaps in my garden
| Bush Varieties: |
Days to Maturity |
Description |
| *Blue Lake |
55 |
Tender, delicious flavor, 6"x 3/8"
round green, stringless pods. Great for eating or canning |
| Tenderette |
56 |
5-1/2-6-1/2" round pods, disease
resistant, freezes well, excellent for home gardeners. |
| Earli-Serve |
45 |
Earliest to produce but has a short
season. Slender, 4" pods with Blue Lake color. |
| Contender |
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Brown beans |
| Kentucky Wonder |
59 |
Very productive 6-7 inch flat, pods, medium
green. |
| White Half Runner |
60 |
4" round bean with strings. Light green
in color. |
| *Mountain Half Runner |
60 |
Early maturing, heavy producer. Makes a
good "beany" bean if you like beans in the pods. I love
this delicious bean but not a favorite of my husband. Does not have
the objectionable strings of White Half Runners. Vines tend to spread out
more than some so allow extra room for each stalk. Plant 12"
apart. |
| Roma II |
55 |
High yielding, smooth, flat, medium green
pods. Tender flavor with remarkable quality. Freezes and cans well. |
| Topcrop |
50 |
6" long, brittle, meaty, light green
pods without fiber. Vigorous stalks that grow upright. |
| Royal Burgundy |
51 |
Purple round pods for the gardener who likes
something different. Turns green when cooked. Pods are tender,
stringless and easy to pick. |
| Pole Varieties: |
Days to Maturity |
Description |
| *Blue Lake |
62 |
Early, robust with 6" round, medium
green pods, resistant to mosaic rust. Cans and freezes well. |
| Kentucky Wonder Wax |
70 |
Flat, yellow, stringless pods |
| McCaslan |
65 |
7" slightly flattened, dark green pods. |
| Kentucky Wonder |
62 |
Long, brittle, stringless pods with white
beans. |
| Shell Varieties: |
Days to Maturity |
Description |
| Red Kidney |
95 |
Big, red bean, meaty and extra sweet. Great
for chili. Let pods mature and dry on stalk. Shell. |
| Pinto |
90 |
Excellent dry, white bean with hearty
flavor. Good for bean soup! Let pods mature and dry on
stalk. Shell. |
| Horticultural or October |
54 |
5-1/2-6-1/2" pods. Stringless in
snap stage; turns white w/crimson spot when allowed to mature and dry on
stalk. Shell. Great for soups. |
*My favorite varieties
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®
Hertzler
Farm
and Feed Inc.