Tips for growing green beans
Food & Cooking Tips
Growing
Green Beans.
How does your garden grow? How about a complimentary
$500 Home Depot or Lowe's
Gift Card to make things a bit greener?
Green beans are the second most popular home garden vegetable after tomatoes. It's easy to see why. They are relatively easy care and give off a good yield.
Green bean growing basics.
Green bean seeds like
warm soil. Don't plant any seeds until all danger of frost has passed
and the soil temperature remains above 65 degrees. Green beans also like
well-drained and fertile soil and soil that has not recently been planted
with beans, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce or cabbage.
Garden experts also suggest that you
move your green bean plantings to a different spot each year. This helps
prevent their roots from picking up any disease from the dirt which could
lead to root rot.
The size and configuration of your garden will be the determining factor
of the type of green bean you grow. There are two types, pole
beans and bush beans.
The secret to a productive
garden and a happy gardener is planning. You don't want every green bean
in your garden to become ready to pick at the same time. No matter what
type of vegetable you're planting in your home garden you want to stagger
the plantings.
In order to have a continuous supply of green beans throughout their growing
season stagger the plantings. Plant seeds every two weeks until mid-season,
but not past August. Try to find disease resistant seeds if possible.
In order to help
ensure your success if the soil is very dry in July-August plant the seeds
at a depth of 1 1/2 inches to help them maintain adequate moisture.
Depending on the variety of seed you choose the growing season is between
45 and 75 days.
Sowing Green Bean Seeds.
Green beans like well drained
and fertile soil and lots of sunshine. You can fertilize the area before
you plant the green bean seeds with a 10-20-10 following manufacturer
instructions, or you can add fertilizer directly to the furrows as you
dig them.
Planting Bush Bean Seeds
When planting bush beans you
can sprinkle the fertilizer directly into a 2 inch deep furrow and then
fill the furrow up half way with soil. Place green bean seeds to a 1 inch
depth. Cover the seed with dirt to fill the furrow . Plant the seeds 1-2
inches apart in rows that are 1 1/2 to 2 feet apart. Water well. When
the bean plants reach 3 inches height, thin them to 3 inches apart.
Planting Pole Green Beans
When
planting pole beans you will want to plant them on hills or mounds. These
mounds should be 3 feet apart with rows 3-4 feet wide.
Place a stake in the center of the mound and place 3 or 4 bean seeds around the pole one inch deep in the soil. Water well and keep the seeds moist. You should see the seeds start to sprout within 7 days.
Green
Bean Growing Tips
As green beans can suffer from fungus brought on by too much moisture
(on the plant itself), make sure you practice wide row spacing to keep
the moisture levels on the plants down.
Water them at least once a
week during very dry periods. It's especially important to make sure you
keep them moist as they start to blossom. If the plants are too dry they
will drop their blossoms.
The secret to
increase your green bean production is to keep picking them. The more
you pick, the more will grow.
Green bean garden pests.
The Mexican bean beetle is an enemy of your green bean garden as are aphids and leafhoppers. Manually remove any beetles you find and check the undersides of the leaves. If you see eggs remove the leaf. You can consider treating with rotenone dust or a non-toxic insecticidal soap.
It's always best to check with
your local agriculture service agent for advice if you have any questions
related to particular garden pests or pest control for your area.
Stir-Fried Green Beans with Pork & Chilies
This spicy green bean recipe is taken from Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery book. She says in her cookbook that she got this recipe from a "long-toothed lady with a food stall ensconced right in the middle of the Weekend Market in Bangkok." We make this colorful and spicy dish when we're in the mood for something with a bit of heat. We would highly recommend you get fish sauce for this recipe.
Different varieties of green beans
I remember the first time I heard the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten use the term haricot verts I couldn't think what it could be. Knowing how Ina loves French cooking I knew that it must be some fabulous French ingredient I'd never heard of. Well, imagine my surprise when I leared that haricot verts were green beans! True haricot verts are very thin, crisp and tender green beans.
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