Beans are one of the easiest vegetables to grow. The large seeds are simple to plant, making them a good choice for a first planting experience for a new gardener or child.
Before buying a packet of bean seeds, decide what kind of beans you want to grow. Will you use them for fresh eating? Freeze them? Dry them for use over the winter? Do you like green beans? Yellow wax beans? Lima beans? Navy beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, great northern white beans? Seed packets will tell you which beans are best for fresh eating, shelling or drying. Some are good for all three.
Consider also if you want to grow bush beans or pole beans. Bush beans grow about 18 inches tall and are planted as a row crop. Pole beans require some kind of structure for the beans to climb upon. Pole beans mature a little later than bush beans and some gardeners plant both types for a continuous supply.
The pole bean climbing structure needs to be taller than you might think – the vines may grow six or seven feet! It must be very sturdy. The weight of the vines and the beans is tremendous. Add the weight of rain water and the force of wind during a storm and a flimsy structure will have your beans lying in the dirt. A traditional way of supporting pole beans is to lean tall stakes together teepee fashion. Another option is to space poles along a row and string strong rope between the poles for the beans to climb on.
Beans are planted after the soil warms and dries, because the seeds are prone to rot if planted in cool, moist soil. Production and growth is enhanced when a nitrogen inoculant is added to the seeds at planting time. This is an inexpensive powder that is sprinkled in the row of seeds before they are covered with soil. The inoculant is a bacteria that multiplies in the soil and causes the beans (peas too) to form nodules on their roots that enable the plants to pull nitrogen from the atmosphere and change it into a form usable for plant growth.
Once plants have germinated, a light mulch can be placed around them, not touching the stems, to control weeds and hold soil moisture.
When pods reach picking stage, bush and pole beans should be picked at least every other day to ensure that production continues. If beans pods remain on the vine, the plant will figure that it has accomplished the goal of every annual plant – to reproduce itself by forming seeds – and will stop production. However, if a few days go by and the beans get way too big, don’t give up on them. Pick all of the overly large beans and if you’re lucky, production may re-start.
Beans grown for dry use are left on the vine until the pods turn brown and the beans rattle inside.
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