[QUOTE=efisakov;656586]
I am growing beans for the first time. We would like to add them to a salad raw. So, string beans would be preferable. I am growing tendergreen bush improved, taste and production is fine. My DH does not like it for a reason that its pods [COLOR=Red]does not have smooth skin[/COLOR].
Please help. I need few names of the bush and pole beans that have smooth pods.
Thank you.[/QUOTE]
If you are open to growing pole varieties, I could suggest a couple that are really good raw. Goldmarie is a pole wax, with very long flat pods (up to 10-11"); very sweet & tender raw. I sliced some of the pods thinly into a summer salad, but for the most part, just enjoyed eating them fresh. The "filet" beans are round-podded, stringless & were bred to be picked when long & thin. Fortex is probably the best tasting of the pole filet beans, but Emerite is more reliable (and IMO more productive).

Favorites of mine too. Here are (left to right) Fortex, Trionfo Violetto, and Goldmarie.

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Xj_-sIQHoC71zHzzdzxjtlVo1NcRQFNthM-lqVcBGJzZm4pKmRXDVdvZx4bl0lH3jyrWvnJWjPP_XeL7s5qtS-c9SL4usnUAs7H9aN-RV-G_QOBQhFqXxmdmp2rxQ-qqfahz0P41w2fw1r5h92bBS5LStQ8ptXGmc-GxThB1qxHiopDSdFJSQG4G2_bJajT8lWwUPR7ulULWnkjRskVVqZk3gZTL6YHkoMPdiexAlQLEXgZuTFRYriaAEGA2aQRsAYrqOYYHLcNGwTO-OhOrstMzaiKsLu8faDBDjoJKHEfM3Gt020aAMZ5uM8lwz12otco_ww_nDwRC4BdicQtD3jYAKn495r0XUQyux81QvRD7Z_wAFgvsxO8IGlH0VGi7VDWl31KnCSv9l13vM6f4xFIe4bwmY0y7Zf1w1TrzyDjcEtHcUQIUcgtdm5dHh68U0km7yLG-Grc8-WPpDnOLc-htC4nHsahL39WKj_uuqmyK7kIKOSLh-39rKTcjOlWlw2GC1rC_iIBI9i7IRPI2hrp0XtR5KW4PN-S_BvtEPJhMllfASXqvFm33Y4Ul7KfzWKOjpsKWOSzXLyxEvQh3LpXDxyV_XIkFHd4-NeYLtBuqgcLaUNTk=w672-h224-no[/IMG]

Thank you for all recommendations. I will look it up. Some earlier posted varieties were sold out. I ordered and planted (August 1st) Blue lake bush 274 and Purple Teepee to try this year. Will order new once for text year.
Gold Marie sold by Rareseeds are yellow in color. I assume it is the same variety as Goldmarie. Have great reviews. Interesting that it was getting high remarks in Canada and Arizona.
Found these filet beans on:
[url]http://www.territorialseed.com/category/french_filet_beans_seed[/url]
thanks again

I believe Gold/Maire is the same variety, with or without the space.

Just sent you a pm.

I have some Kwintus left in an old Park envelope. Maybe I will try and grow some this Fall. I've never had a lot of success with beans. Are you supposed to soak the bean before planting? Some forums say so but I don't recall ever seeing that in the seed envelope planting instructions.

I often germinate indoors - soak or place on damp towels - before planting, particularly if I am trying to get a jump on the season or have concerns about seed viability. Just make sure the seeds aren't too deep because you want them to get plenty of oxygen.

[QUOTE=efisakov;656586]I did not want to start a new thread and was unable to find type of beans I am looking for even with the google search.
Please advise.
I am growing beans for the first time. We would like to add them to a salad raw. So, string beans would be preferable. I am growing tendergreen bush improved, taste and production is fine. My DH does not like it for a reason that its pods [COLOR=Red]does not have smooth skin[/COLOR].
Please help. I need few names of the bush and pole beans that have smooth pods.
Thank you.[/QUOTE]

Ella,

"Greasy" beans have smooth skins. You can either do a search for different varieties, and hope to find them in stock.

Or... I host a bean swap in the fall, and you can look for a posted list of everything that participants send in.

This thread is also for PhilaGardener, as a reminder that sending in a package in early January is kind of late.;)

[QUOTE=Tormato;661776]

This thread is also for PhilaGardener, as a reminder that sending in a package in early January is kind of late.;)[/QUOTE]
LOL.

Ella, definitely participate in the bean swap this winter! Two swaps back, I had nothing to swap in but postage, and I received more beautiful beans samples than I could have imagined. I grew out 20+ last year and refined my planting this year. We definitely loved filet beans. Most of the others were great but some get tough to fry up.

My favorite pole bean is probably Carminat. It is a filet bean that is purple but cooks out as green. The japanese beetles love it too - I guess the color - but that just makes it easier to kill a bunch of them at once. Fortex and Monte Gusto are similar but green and yellow. This year I went with those along with emerite filets, blue lake (black bean), la vignerone (spelling?), rattlesnake, rose, and one other great little bean I can't recall the name of - spanish girl name, the dried beans are a beautiful white to black fade.

Thank you all. It helps with the key words.
Found Mascotte French Filet Bean Seeds in Park seed. Sounds great for the containers.

This is really my first year in growing pole beans. We have always grown the bush type so I felt the need to expand. Well Lord Honey! I did not expect the vines to be battling to the death with the corn and anything else in their way. Picking beans off my zinnias and corn just cracks me up. I am sure that my neighbors are wondering what the hysterical laughter is all about coming from my garden . . . I will be better prepared next season lol

That brings a question. Are bush beans better for successive planting, so they should be pulled once production is slower? Are pole beans last the whole season?
Thanks.

For me bush beans produce in half the time needed for pole beans, so next year I'm not setting up the bean tower.

I've only grown a few bush varieties, but they all produced a bumper crop, took a break for a couple of weeks, then as long as the plants stayed healthy they would produce another good sized crop. After that, they're pretty much done.

Next year I'm sowing two batches two weeks apart in the spring, then in July after the garlic is pulled, I'll sow two more batches also two weeks apart.

This year my eight post-garlic bush bean plants are producing a large fistful every day after just five weeks in the ground. The pole beans were planted in the spring and are just recently producing beans.

[QUOTE=Spike2;661894]This is really my first year in growing pole beans. We have always grown the bush type so I felt the need to expand. Well Lord Honey! I did not expect the vines to be battling to the death with the corn and anything else in their way. Picking beans off my zinnias and corn just cracks me up. I am sure that my neighbors are wondering what the hysterical laughter is all about coming from my garden . . . I will be better prepared next season lol[/QUOTE]


Picking pole beans off your corn is two of the "three sisters".

You think you have it tough? I have one bean plant that grew up a tomato plant and then swung over to a branch on my mulberry tree.:?:

And, it was supposed to be a bush bean!:?::?:

Nothing prepares you for bush plants turning into pole plants, except for having a few extra poles on hand.

I had that happen last year - I ran out of "pension" bush beans and I filled in the end of a row with bean trade beans marked as a type of bush bean. Well, they ignored the writing and later the verbal warning I issued, and shot up the cucumber trellis in the next row. Turned out to be a beautiful pink and green pole bean. Worked great because the cucumbers caught the virus wilt in no time.

[QUOTE=efisakov;661897]That brings a question. Are bush beans better for successive planting, so they should be pulled once production is slower? Are pole beans last the whole season?
Thanks.[/QUOTE]

I find that if pole beans are kept picked clean so no pods mature, they produce all season.