Snap Bean Question

I'm growing beans for the first time this year, wax (bush), green, KY wonder (pole). I picked all of the wax beans today.
My question is, will the beans continue to bloom and bear after they are picked or are they done for the season?

If so I'll pull them and plant another crop.

Thanks

paul

As long as you keep them picked, they will continue to put on new beans. Pick them hen they are young, you will like them a whole lot better.

Bush beans generally have one flush and then they are done. They will occasionally produce a smaller crop, but most of the time that's not the case. The pole beans will continue producing as long as you continue to harvest them.

Untrue about bush beans.
I can't imagine how people think about gardening.
We had the same problem about broccoli a while back. Someone had everybody tearing out their Broccoli telling them once it made a head it was done. How stupid.

Country Gardens, aren't you being a bit harsh in your judgement? After all, everyone is not expert in all things. Lets all play nice- Just my 2 cents worth.

This message was edited Jul 9, 2010 7:06 PM

My first post was nice but no one pays attention.
Maybe they will read a post before they post.
We have been market gardening for 25 years. Planting beans every year. Never have we picked once & pulled them up!

Paul, are there still flowers, or flower buds, on the bean plants? If so, there will definitely be more beans for you to pick!

I put in a row of bush beans this year for the first time in a long time, I normally just grow pole beans -- now I remember why! I really hate having to look for beans so close to the ground, but at least I have some that are earlier this year so that is my reward.

Bush beans are a pain in the back to pick! I have a couple of varieties that do keep producing, though, and as Weedwhacker said, as long as there are still flowers you'll get more beans. But if there are very few flowers there it may not be worth the bother of keeping the plants and picking. There's always that point of diminishing returns.

I have grown bush beans here in Iowa for the last 3-4 years; I keep them picked and have green beens all summer. Why do I grow bush beans . . . cause that's what my daddy grew and I am too lazy to rig up something for pole beans to climb on.

Thanks to all for the advice, if I see more blooms I'll keep an eye for more beans.

Bush beans are easier to set up, but my back and legs really thank me when it's time to pick pole beans!!

A few years ago I found some Filet pole beans (Emerite and Ramdor from Renee's Seeds - other people recommend the green Fortex) so switched from the Bush varieties. I bought light 5 ft fencing I found at Home Depot which had a green plastic coating. It was easy to work with; I used 3 stakes and made a horseshoe shape around three stakes (2 in the front and one in the back curve), then attached the fence keeping it about 6" off the ground. I have used it ever since. No work - just weed a little, add compost and inoculant each year, plant the seeds and I have beans all summer till frost. My husband and my back both thank me!! Although I got several crops from the Bush Beans these pole beans are amazing! They never stop!


This message was edited Jul 11, 2010 3:58 PM

Gardadore, do you leave your bean fence up all winter or move it? I rotate my veggies so I can't leave the structures in the same place year after year. We make a lattice with bamboo poles and string, but we have to remake it each summer which is a bit of a pain. We grow Fortex too; it's become my favorite. I love the flavor.

Does anyone know, are there pole wax beans available?

Greenhouse_gal,
I don't rotate the beans because the fence takes up such a small space and the inoculant supposedly fixes the nitrogen in that spot plus I supplement each year. Remember the fence is in a horsehoe shape, an unfinished circle, so takes up little room and produces more than enough for two of us. But it would be a cinch to move since there are only 3 stakes to pull up and put somewhere else.

Paulgrow,
There are yellow bean pole beans - the Ramdor is what I grow. Now I understand that Renee's no longer carries it but carries another new variety, the French Gold, which I will have to buy from her next year. I see she also has a yellow wax in combination with a purple and green. Here is the link http://www.reneesgarden.com/seeds/seeds-hm/vegB.htm#bean. I'm sure you can find other yellow wax variety pole beans elsewhere as well. Fedco carries a Romano yellow wax pole bean:
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/SeedsOrderList.php?pageNum_rsSeedCat=1&totalRows_rsSeedCat=54&listname=Bean

Hope this helps!

This message was edited Jul 10, 2010 4:58 PM

Thank you

You can always save seeds for next year if you think they might be hard to get. They're also more adapted to your growing situation. My Fortex are from last year's crop, and so are my Pelandron and Fingourmet. The source for Pelandron stopped carrying them and I was very glad I'd kept some seeds!

This message was edited Jul 10, 2010 5:22 PM

If you want the best in wax beans get "Dragon Tongue Wax". They are suburb flavor. A bush bean but easy to pick. It is an heirloom variety.

Thanks I'll give em a try

I've also grown the Dragon Tongue Wax - interesting color. I don't remember if the taste was any more extraordinary than my usual wax beans at the time. But since I stopped growing the bush beans I haven't tried them again - must reconsider that!

I should also try the Fortex and compare with the Emerite. Anyone have a preference?

Thanks for the advice about saving the seeds! I should think of that but forget since we eat them all up!! I'll have to remember to mark the specific stalks since the Ramdor and Emerite came in the same package so I didn't know which was which till they produce and now they intertwine with each other!
I've never saved bean seeds. I assume I just let a few go, wait until they are pretty dry but make sure I take them off the vines before the first frost?

Gardadore, I just let the beans go at the end of the season, and then pull up the vines and shell the beans from the dried pods. I haven't bought bean or pea seeds in years. Or tomato seeds, for that matter. We don't seem to be getting quite as many beans as last year, and it may be for a variety of reasons. But I usually have plenty to eat fresh and to freeze, so I don't mind sacrificing a few to next year's crop. If I were really smart I'd mark the vines that are most productive and just save seeds from them, but I don't have the patience to do that.

Before we settled on Fortex we tried several other French filet beans and liked the flavor and behavior of those best. We probably did try Emerite but I don't remember for sure. Fortex may not be a true filet bean, though, because it can get rather long and large. Still, it's always tender even when it's gone a bit too far. We have a bush filet bean called Fingourmet that a friend brought back from France; those are truly tiny, but they're more trouble to pick of course. And we prefer the taste of Fortex anyway.

I picked contender green beans until sometime in September last year. Can't recall how many times I picked but after I thought they were done I went to the garden one morning and the vines were hanging full again. Of course, by the time I noticed them they had gotten so big and tough that we had to shell about 90% of them. I've heard that a lot of times they shut down somewhat during the heat of summer and then start producing again when the weather cools a little.

Maybe that's why mine aren't doing as much as I'd expected; it's been unusually hot here.

When my beans get too big we just cook them for a long time with bacon or ham or other fats.

Has anyone ever made leather-stocking beans, btw? I haven't done that in years but it's a no-impact way of preserving them. You just thread them through their horizontal centers and hang them to dry, and later cook them in water and with onions or some sort of fat for extra flavor.

The Emerite also can get quite long and remain tender so it will be interesting to test the Fortex next to them next year and see if I find a difference in flavor. Thanks for the input on saving them - will give that a try this year, especially for the yellow Ramdor which I cannot find anywhere at the moment. My packet was from 2009. Last year Renee's had a 50% sale towards the end of the summer so I bought a 2009 packet - glad I did since she discontinued them for 2010!

I also remember planting the Contender and being very pleased with the amount they produced!

I have a French bush bean called Pelandron that I bought several years ago. It's a chunky bean with purple splotches and markings, but it just keeps bearing and bearing and is very flavorful. The original source stopped carrying them so I was happy I saved some seed. I don't know where else I'd get them. I also brought some pea seeds back from France and have been saving them, too, because they do very well for me and have a great taste. I like Renee's but all those places are so expensive!