Bean Planting Time

We eat a lot of green beans. They are a vegetable side dish or part of a vegetable blend or in the soup at least 3 times a week, often more. I decided to maximize our bean production this year by planting them along the entire length of a wooden fence we share with neighbors.

That meant germinating a lot of seeds. I started them in cardboard or newsprint tubes full of potting soil. They were big enough to plant last Friday, but it got too cold Monday night to think about it. It is hard to protect climbing plants, and these are pole beans. Kentucky Wonder pole beans truly live up to their name- flavorful, fast-growing in this climate, and producing for a long season if you keep them picked. The flowers drop in the heat of late July and August, but they'll get their second wind when the heat breaks and keep right on going. I did make the mistake last year of planting them in front of a South-facing brick wall. Do not do this. The vines got cooked and did not recover well.

Here are the plants in the ground. Some of the roots were already penetrating the tubes, so I buried the entire tube with the roots. It gives you a way to hold the plant conveniently while planting, and judge the proper depth for the roots, and protects the tender roots from injury while you refill the hole. Works for me.