Check out Renee's cookbooks, too. I've darn near worn mine out. They are so handy to have in the summer when you're at the, "What the &#%$&%$ am I going to DO with ALL these veggies!?!" stage.
Most productive superior greenbean?
Wow, lots of good stuff i'm hearing about Fortex.
I ordered a pound of fortex seed from Territorial. The girl who took my order said she'd grown them and really liked them too.
Oh, that's great, Calalily! I think you'll really like them. If you can keep after them and pick them while they're still small and slender they're a real gourmet treat, but even larger they're delicious.
Farerdill, you said you like bush better than pole. Which variety of bush is your very favorite and why.
1. Bush is a lot easier to grow in quantity and I am getting lazy in my old age. Sticking or trellising pole beans is a pain for me, even tho I have settled on posts with overhead wires and drops as the easiest method for me.
2. My standby is the Contender but some of the newer cultivars are very good like Kentucky King, Valentino, and Espada. I also plant the Mountain half runner as a compromise in flavor between pole and bush beans. More difficult to pick tho.
Wow! Calalily. You wil be doing a LOT of beanpicking if you plant that whole pound this year. I am thinking more along the lines of a 6-8 foot row and I will be full of beans.
Sharon, good point. I usually do about an 18' row of Fortex and I freeze and freeze them. Of course I also have a row of Pelandrons, and last summer I had Fingourmet and Fin de Bagnols, too, but I wasn't especially impressed by them. The last three are all bush beans.
A couple of summers ago I planted a double row of white coco shelling beans, because I wanted to try them in my cassoulets. I got barely a quart from all those beans and decided that canned cannellini beans would work just as well in the future!
Farmerdil, that's not one. That's a bunch!!
PNWMountaingirl, we grow for market. I also planted a pound of Maxibell and a pound of Tavera beans. They're bush beans, they sell really well but it kills my back to pick them!
I hear you about the hurting back and totally sympathize. Am glad to have the room for pole beans and am really anxious to try the Fortex this year. Fortunately for my back, I only need enough for family eating and freezing.
So, you all have convinced me to try the Fortex. Now all I have to do is find the seeds. I had already ordered most of my seeds so am having a hard time justifying S&H on a single seed packet. Does anyone know of any seed companies that might have them at the local garden stores?
This message was edited Jan 28, 2010 4:38 PM
I have grown pole beans and bush beans for years. I love the Smeraldo for pole beans. I use a Gardener's Supply bean box and eight plastic poles. When they reach the top, they start back down. I get a bunch of them all summer long. I basically do container gardening - pots, 3x3 boxes, 4 x 8boxes, 5 gallon buckets, etc. If it will hold dirt, I plant in it. I use the tall tomato cages and plants in pots for more pole beans. I have a small back yard so "up" is good for me.
I plant my seeds about 3 or 4 inches apart on both side of the pole and put a few in the middle. They all find the pole. I do believe they like being crowded. I still had flowers on them when they were pulled in October.
I plant several kinds of bush beans - fortex, gold mine, rocdor (my favorite wax bean), heavyweight, and more. I like all of them and cannot say one puts out better than another because sometimes it is my fault. I cannot get wax beans here at my farmer's market so I always grow some of them. The last two years, I have given most of them away but this tear I am going to have canning and freezing things ready by spring! I am going to check out Renee's that you all have been talking about. I usually order from Park's, Burpee, Territorial, Cook's Garden, and a few others. I share my wealth. ):
I cover my boxes with covers we made from plastic fencing (cheap green stuff from Lowe's) attached to two wooded poles with staples. I cover the containers with these until the crops come through a few inches. That keeps my squirrels from getting fatter - and they are fat enough now. I am hoping to start my own seeds soon - if I can get them ordered. I did that a few years ago and loved it. Unfortunately, I need a bigger room for all the seeds I want to start.
Good luck bean growers - you will love them! Marilyn