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With the arrival of spring, it’s time to start planning this year’s garden. While tomatoes are the most popular garden item, they are difficult to grow from seed as they must be started indoors, often requiring grow lights. However, the second most popular garden item is extremely easy to grow – Pole Beans!
Pole beans require little effort, minimal maintenance, and produce a large amount of food per plant (150 pounds per 100 foot row). Pole bean plants grow amazingly fast, inspiring the children’s story Jack and the Beanstalk. They will grow a noticeable amount each day, normally one “twirl” around the pole every 24 hours. They quickly form walls and eventually canopies 5 to 7 feet tall. Later in the season they produce an abundance of fruit. Unlike Bush beans, Pole beans climb so they generally can be picked while standing. Also, pole beans need only be planted once and tend to be more flavorful than bush beans.
This author recommends that your pole beans come from heirloom seeds. Heirloom seeds have been grown for at least 50 years so each generation is the same as the previous. This is as opposed to hybrid seeds which are the cross product of two different types. Hybrid seeds will revert to the dominant parent over time, meaning they change from season to season. Genetically Modified seeds (GMO) should be avoided at all costs as they require license fees to plant, certain pesticides to grow, and have never been proven safe for human or animal consumption.
Types of Heirloom Pole Beans
1) Blue Lake – Juicy, firm and tender. White seeded.
2) Kentucky Wonder – Vigorous, rust resistant. Brown seeded
3) Purple Pod – Dramatically colored, tasty and green when cooked.
(Many others types of Heirloom pole beans exist).
When to Plant Pole Beans
Pole beans should be planted after the danger of the last frost has passed. In general they are planted around Good Friday. Check your local almanac for the ideal time for your own area, typically listed by Zone. Pole beans prefer warmer weather.
How to Grow Pole Beans
Growing pole beans couldn’t be much simpler. One method is to simply plant them along the base of a fence, spacing them about 4 inches apart. Another method is to till an area about 4×4 feet and to make a teepee out of 3 to 4 poles, and then plant 6 to 8 seeds around each pole, thinning to 3 plants per pole. Pole beans take about 65 days to harvest, but sometimes young plants will produce a few beans shortly after they start to grow. Pole beans require little if any fertilizer but you may occasionally add an organic mix such as cottonseed meal, lime and bone meal.
Harvesting Pole Beans
Typically pole bean plants will flower and produce fruit for about 6 weeks continuously, and in a small garden with a few plants you can harvest about 60 beans per day, more than enough to eat. It is important to pick the beans when they are medium in size, because once they get larger they start to “go to seed”. This means the bean will toughen up and be too difficult to chew. For the beans you miss that do make it to seed, you can dry them out and save them. A plant attempts to produce seeds so harvesting the beans makes the plant work harder and it will produce more fruit. Pole beans should be picked when the plants are dry to avoid blight.
Pole beans can be rinsed in filtered water and enjoyed raw, and can also be cooked in a variety of ways such as steamed or sauteed. There is nothing healthier to eat than fresh, locally grown, organic, heirloom vegetables – and especially green vegetables. Pole beans are a great source of Vitamin A, beta carotene, fiber and complex carbohydrates. They also contain trace amounts of calcium and other nutrients.
Storing Pole Beans
The best way to store pole beans is to keep them in the refrigerator where they will last about a week or two.
Pole beans can be frozen but should first be parboiled (partially boiled for 4 minutes and then immersed in ice water, drained and frozen). Otherwise they get mushy when thawed.
Another great way to store and enjoy pole beans is to pickle them. Canning is a fourth option.
For more on growing pole beans see the following link:
