Puttin' Up Beans
 

Yesterday I put up 6.5 lbs of beans, roughly half Contender and half Provider. That made an even dozen pint jars with none left over. That makes 34 jars on hand. We always put up extra beans in the fall in case next spring’s bean planting fails for some reason. That happened one year so we’d rather have extra on hand than run short. There will be one more wave of beans in a week or so and those will be eaten fresh and/or given away.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/uCYGEuo.jpg[/img]

good for you. you never know what this Winter/Spring will bring. its much better to be prepared and not need every last jar you put away but you can never be too certain. I would love get a few more canned I have two rows yet to be picked a frost forecast for tomorrow night. I hope they don't get frosted after I cover them. then its back warm again.

[QUOTE=GoDawgs;760141]Yesterday I put up 6.5 lbs of beans, roughly half Contender and half Provider. That made an even dozen pint jars with none left over. That makes 34 jars on hand. We always put up extra beans in the fall in case next spring’s bean planting fails for some reason. That happened one year so we’d rather have extra on hand than run short. There will be one more wave of beans in a week or so and those will be eaten fresh and/or given away.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/uCYGEuo.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

I also have some canned beans, but I don't know what to do with them. Do you have an interesting recipe?
Vladimír

I have 4 quarts and a pint in the canner as i type.
Mr Big, my family like greenbeans cooked slowly in a cast iron skillet with bacon cooking down on top of them. a little caramelization on the bottom of the pan. boom! they eat them all. I never have left overs then. canned beans work almost as well as raw greenbeans. During the Winter you make do with what you have not always what you want.

You can always make a refrigerated pickled bean salad by marinating them in an Italian or Greek style salad dressing adding some onion, etc. Or you can make a brine from a pickled bean salad canning recipe and just marinate in the refrigerator instead of canning.

[QUOTE=clkeiper;760155]I have 4 quarts and a pint in the canner as i type.
Mr Big, my family like greenbeans cooked slowly in a cast iron skillet with bacon cooking down on top of them. a little caramelization on the bottom of the pan. boom! they eat them all. I never have left overs then. canned beans work almost as well as raw greenbeans. During the Winter you make do with what you have not always what you want.[/QUOTE]
I was just thinking about next years garden yesterday,what type green bean does best around here?Pole or bush?I'm going to cut back on my number of tomato plants as I always plant more than I should.We love string beans and so does our grandchildren who we babysit.We don't do any canning but sure do miss those fresh home grown vegetables during the winter months.

CJP, we grow bush beans but that said... grow whichever you want. I just don't have a trellis system set up for beans. We grow provider, contender? Jade and goldrush for a yellow bean. I do one row of romas for a custom order but I also use or sell the extras. I don't grow any string beans, I grow only stringless beans.

[QUOTE=clkeiper;760211]CJP, we grow bush beans but that said... grow whichever you want. I just don't have a trellis system set up for beans. We grow provider, contender? Jade and goldrush for a yellow bean. I do one row of romas for a custom order but I also use or sell the extras. I don't grow any string beans, I grow only stringless beans.[/QUOTE]

Thanks will pick up a few different kinds of bush beans

I have had better luck with pole beans. They keep going throughout the season and take up less area. The kinds I've tried also grow larger beans, easier to pick, and don't get nipped by rodents.

I started out buying some seed from Johnny's - Fortex, Carminat, and Monte Gusto. Three colors of similar style (filet) pole beans. I like them all but some crossing has occurred between the green and purple. They taste the same anyway.

For a bush bean, Velour was similar to these, but not as big. Nickel was decent. Pauldor was a bust...it makes a tiny yellow bean. The seeds are only half the weight, so it shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was.

I also planted a wide variety of bean swap beans. Le Vigeronne sp?, Rattlesnake and one of the Kentucky names were interesting. For the most part I went back to ones I had wanted in the first place.

For storage, they are blanched and frozen. They do hold well and mostly are pan fried just like fresh, but from a mostly frozen start in the pan.

[QUOTE=JRinPA;760263]I have had better luck with pole beans. They keep going throughout the season and take up less area. The kinds I've tried also grow larger beans, easier to pick, and don't get nipped by rodents.

I started out buying some seed from Johnny's - Fortex, Carminat, and Monte Gusto. Three colors of similar style (filet) pole beans. I like them all but some crossing has occurred between the green and purple. They taste the same anyway.

For a bush bean, Velour was similar to these, but not as big. Nickel was decent. Pauldor was a bust...it makes a tiny yellow bean. The seeds are only half the weight, so it shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was.

I also planted a wide variety of bean swap beans. Le Vigeronne sp?, Rattlesnake and one of the Kentucky names were interesting. For the most part I went back to ones I had wanted in the first place.

For storage, they are blanched and frozen. They do hold well and mostly are pan fried just like fresh, but from a mostly frozen start in the pan.[/QUOTE]

I have been looking up the difference between pole and bush variety and am leaning on pole.I'll make a trellis and have it about 6 feet off the ground.I was thinking of trying 2 or 3 different kinds and just letting them grow together.Thank you for your imput.:yes:

I have plenty if you want to try what I like. Not guaranteed true but it is what I'm planting again next year.


For poles this year I made both 4 pole teepee type, helped by some trellis netting, and at home for seed saving purposes I did 4 single poles with three seeds each. Some were bamboo, all were pushing 9 foot and I had to prop them back up after heavy winds when they put beans on up top. I figured that would happen.



Big learning point was, they can't climb the smooth single pole bamboo well. Less well even then I hoped. Some got up and slid back down later under their own weight. So, if you want to use bamboo, you have to put some "climbing sticks" on as well. I used 1/4" x 2ft waterspouts off the pear tree, and tied them to the poles so as the bean stalk twists around it can grab something grippy once per rotation.

I pulled and picked my last two rows of beans that I have covered and nursed along for a whole month... I managed to eek out another 18 quarts of beans. yeahaw!

Good haul.


We just cooked the last pan of what I picked a week or so back. There may be more over there, I haven't checked the comm garden beans since. I don't know how many quarts it was, but it was two heaping 10x20 flats yielded from a few seeds stuck in the base of each windward row corn stalk about when they were harvested. Then I did a weave on the stalks so they didn't fall too early. Eventually the bean weight folded them over the string weave and when I picked there were a whole lot more beans than there appeared to be. Very easy trellis to build, that.

[QUOTE=JRinPA;760265]I have plenty if you want to try what I like. Not guaranteed true but it is what I'm planting again next year.


For poles this year I made both 4 pole teepee type, helped by some trellis netting, and at home for seed saving purposes I did 4 single poles with three seeds each. Some were bamboo, all were pushing 9 foot and I had to prop them back up after heavy winds when they put beans on up top. I figured that would happen.



Big learning point was, they can't climb the smooth single pole bamboo well. Less well even then I hoped. Some got up and slid back down later under their own weight. So, if you want to use bamboo, you have to put some "climbing sticks" on as well. I used 1/4" x 2ft waterspouts off the pear tree, and tied them to the poles so as the bean stalk twists around it can grab something grippy once per rotation.[/QUOTE]
Sorry I just seen this,yes that's very kind of you of you to offer.I have some fencing I use for my cucumbers that I was thinking for the pole beans.Any type you have extra of I would love to try.Would you need a SAE?

No, I'll just mail some, PM an address. They'll probably need a small pouch type for beans.

cjp, I was going to pm you a pic but I guess you can't PM pics here. So I'll post them here. There are the bags of beans I had saved. The purple ones, though I'm not sure what they are (not true Carminat, possibly a mixup and were something else entirely when I saved the seed) were impressively large and good tasting. And we did blanch and freeze some of those purple. Those are some purple ones cooked up yesterday.


I don't think you could go wrong with any of them, but the ones I marked green shelling are the only ones that get the shell turning a bit tough if they get a little too old for frying up.

Those look very good.This is the first time I’m growing these,I’m looking for bamboo poles to use.Thanks again I hope I have good success!

They should grow great in OH. I do like to start the seeds in soil blocks and transplant a few days after they sprout, just because I'm not a responsible waterer and want to make sure they are good starts spaced as I want. But they will shoot up right after a good warm rain.

Bamboo is strong but they might need some help. With smooth 1-2" bamboo I would put climbing sticks on the side. This past season was three beans each on single poles and they grew up in a nice twirl. But the monte gusto had a bamboo pole instead of a wood/log pole and had trouble climbing and/or staying up. Beans need a little texture to grab. So that is why I used zip ties to add some whippy straight branches to the bamboo. Pear tree watersprout trimmings.

[QUOTE=cjp1953;762565]Those look very good.This is the first time I’m growing these,I’m looking for bamboo poles to use.Thanks again I hope I have good success![/QUOTE]

If you use bamboo, being very smooth, there are a few methods to get a rougher surface so that the vines don't come slipping down.

I don't have any tall branches to use for making a teepee. Do you think the cheapie bamboo sticks from wally world would hold up in high winds?

I once bought a ready made bamboo teepee but gave it to my former growing partner, now in no where land. I also gave him something from Gurneys that looked like an umbrella with strings hanging down. I really don't feel like re-inventing the wheel so will probably plant along the fence again. I unwrapped a ring of green wire fencing and tied it to the pickets to give beans something to grow on (peas went in a container, did meh).

I've asked this before, but any idea how close you can plant to garlic? I read garlic makes beans stunted. Not sure about other legumes.

That pan fried bean dish looks very tasty!

- Lisa

The best sticks I have used are the tops off the arbor vitae row I cut down. Most I cut to 8-10ft, the base being 3-4" and tapering to the tip. I reused them multiple times for trellises and teepees and still am using most.

I never had enough so I had also got some bamboo that was being cut down at someone's property - found that through Craigslist. I don't know how popular bamboo is out in Nebraska but around here someone will think it is a good idea, then up and move, leaving a spreading mess. It is not something I would purchase when there is plenty around that people want gone for free.

First thing I would do is check the local ads/facebook marketplace/craigslist suitable material and not be afraid to float an add asking for such. Put a flyer up at the post office - natural bean poles wanted - bamboo or light long branches.

I honestly don't know what they sell at walmart when it comes to bamboo. If you give it some triangles it should be strong enough. A single bamboo pole stuck in the ground (cantilever) is not going to be real strong and is going to want to snap just at or below ground level when loaded with beans and the wind is up. I went to my old standby last year (after some poles broke) of sinking a rebar right next to the post, and zip tying the pole to the rebar. I got them back up and I don't even know if I lost any beans, but next time I will put the rebar in when I sink the pole.

This is what I was re assembling each year until last year when I just tried single poles and 4 pole teepees. The trellis works great, but the owls didn't work at all. My pole beans got hammered that year at the comm garden. Most people had bush beans in early, and the bean beetles were hot and heavy just as my pole beans started to finally produce. Then the next year, not nearly as many bean beetles.

Another good use of a pole is use your corn stalks. Get seeds at the stalk base a few weeks before picking, or transplant sprouts a week before the ears are ready. I did not seed last year until after they were picked and got a decent haul, but 3-4 weeks earlier would have made more. The only help I gave them was a few florida weaves. I have tried before to plant beans earlier while the corn is growing, but it didn't seem to work well. Maybe I'll try that again sometime but I like corn rows clean to walk through, not tangled in bean stalks.



I don't know about the garlic. I haven't tried it particularly close at the same time. I grew pole beans right after garlic in my garlic bed a couple years back. I can't recall if they were seed or soil block sprouts but they had to go in pretty soon after the garlic came out around July 1. They grew, they had beans. So I don't know, regarding the companion planting relationship.

I just saw a pic of that or I wouldn't have even remembered it. That is a tomato cage (CRW cage) in there, one or a few lashed together.

Thanks to all for the advice on staking poles for my beans.Don't think bamboo is going to be my choice.Cost is very high and I think tree branches would be a better choice plus I live near a huge park where trees are always down and there are no shortage of branches.I never gave that a thought until now that I want to grow beans.

I consider myself extremely lucky that I have a friend with about 100 acres of woods within walking distance. I can harvest all of the rock maple saplings that I want. I cut them at 11 1/2 foot lengths, with the bottom diameter at about 3 inches. They will last for about 4 to 5 years before replacing. In return, I haul out the trash left on the land by high school partiers.

I once had a stock of 120 poles, which translates to 30 four-pole teepees, which again translates to 720 pole bean plants. I'm at the age where it's getting to be quite the chore.

If pole beans weren't so tasty, compared to bush beans, I likely wouldn't be doing this. ;)