Pole vs. Bush Beans

[897tgigvib]

Last year, I grew 44 varieties of Beans!

This year it'll be about that many kinds, but the number that I have is now 77 kinds.

A friend traded me for all the kinds their neighbors at Tierra Verde have that I did not yet have.

Bean collector here.

For the best eating green Beans, I noticed nobody mentioned any of the real Appalachian Beans. They come with names like SALLEE FAMILY WHITE SEEDED GREASY. Those turned out to be at least 4 distinct kinds. One was actually a White Seeded Creaseback Greasy Semi Cutshort! Another turned out to be a White Seeded White Podded Cutshort. One of them made pods that ripened by dying. Don't think I'd grow that one again, but I did save the seeds from it because I don't want to contribute to its extinction. One particular plant was just like the White Seeded White Podded Cutshort, except its pods were filled with Yellow seeds, all of them on that plant. None of the seeds in the envelope were yellow. Either that's part of the variety's nature, or a mutation, or the bumblebees and carpenter bees were at it.

Nobody mentioned McCaslan. I grew a Sallee family version of that variety they'd been selecting for decades. Huge long meaty pods. Old time Appalachians pick their beans full sized and string them. It's a family thing around the bowls of beans. I also grew a White Seeded Kentucky Wonder similarly selected since around WWII or before when the government gave away bean seeds. These are basically Kentucky Wonders with white seeds that cook up like Limas. They are amazing prolific of huge long meaty pods in clusters of up to 10! I also grew a half Runner from Appalachia that was like a miniature 4 foot version of the McCaslans.

There are also the Missouri Wonders that make fat meaty pods and soft quick cooking pintos. I grew 2 kinds of Italian Wax Pole Beans too. Both make almost identical pods and plants, but one has pale brown seeds, the other has white seeds. These are a huge soft and tender bean pod, flat, few seeds per length, almost do not need cooking. Extremely beautiful in the garden to have all the yellow pods hanging there.

Then there are the Purple Podded Dows. Holy cow! They win all the growing contests! In fact, don't plant them among other beans else they will dominate them. Yep, they sprout in cooler soil first, make a vine first, and nobody catches up to them.

Now those are all fresh pole beans.

Haven't yet mentioned the fresh bush beans...

 

[897tgigvib]

I have some fresh bush beans too.

One of them is a selection of Bush Blue Lake that Shumway sent me free years ago that they called "Experimental Bush Bean". They are really great. Very productive of Creasebacks half as long as the longest pole beans, and quite quick to be ready. Like the Bush Blue Lakes which I also have, they are difficult to disengage from the pods for seed. But these seeds are more beautiful up close. White also, but with a tender veining visible. Also long shaped, but with the added bonus of being good soup beans if you soak them and cook them awhile extra.

Another goodie are the Tendergreens. These are smaller podded and produce for a longer time, to the season's end. Bush, but not determinate. By season end there were a few short runners that do not need staking. The few runners drape over the other plants, so plant them in double or triple rows to make a patch.These make beautiful tortoiseshell colored seeds, maybe call them dark pinto. Don't know how they'd cook up.

Tennessee Green Pod. Nice brown seeds for a great Chile. Almost a half runner, in fact one plant grew 4 feet, but most were like Tendergreen. Nice tender filled fat pods that come all season.

Bush beans pods are not as big as the pods of most fresh eating pole beans are. Half the size usually, or less.

And then, there are the Dry Beans!

 

[so lucky]

I read somewhere that Blue Lake Pole bean is the standard bearer for green beans. As they were developed, all the white seeded bush beans were hoping to be that good. Blue Lake Bush didn't meet that standard. Tenderette, Jade, Derby and many others have been improvements on the Blue Lake Bush, but not necessarily better than Blue Lake Pole. Contender is an old white seeded bush bean that is very popular. It has a short maturation date, and withstands hot weather well. Just isn't a very good taste or texture, according to many people. I have used Jade and Derby for years, but this year, my back won't cooperate with my need to bend over to pick beans, so I am going to plant Blue Lake Pole.

 

[897tgigvib]

Dry Beans come in Bush and Pole also.

Most Fresh Beans can also be used as dry beans, and most dry beans "can" be used as fresh beans if you pick them at the right stage and string them, and don't mind or enjoy the stronger or milder flavors.

Dry Beans are grown basically the same, but ya do some different things come harvest. Ya let them grow and dry on the plant if possible. Rain might cause you to need to pick them a bit early to finish drying inside.

Dry Beans tend to come in more beautiful artwork on their seeds! Ok, there are store bought pintos. Yep, some Red Kidneys, black soup, and Black Turtle, and maybe you see some Yellow Azufrados.

Ooh, there are some beauties out there maybe you've never seen! Purple with golden circles, large purple, small deep purple, pastel with a red eye and faint blue swirls, grey blending to white flecked between, a deep deep red kidney, I'm going by memory because my seeds are in the other room...white with red splotching, eye shaped markings with contrasting colors...

And then there's FLOR DE MAYO

Can't get those in stores. I think they taste too good for stores to carry. These are a rare Cutshort Dry bean, that is also VERY good as a fresh bean. But best of all, as FRESH SHELL BEANS nothing compares. The sweetest beans right out of the pod, picked just before the pod thinks about drying, beginning to yellow a bit, but still soft. Sweet like fresh peas! Leaves a sweet after taste too! These are a full season pole bean. You'll need your season to last to october 1st if you start them may 11th.

Dry beans take a full season. Especially the pole versions. For northerners I heartily recommend the Bush dry beans!

Some bush dry beans can ripen dry beans surprisingly fast. Eye of the Tiger wins the fast award. (I am working on an even faster version of these!). These are a golden brown bean with beautiful circular chocolate stripes on them. White and red if picked in the shell stage.

One called Indian Woman Yellow bush dry bean is the most productive, and almost as fast as Eye of the Tiger. These will fill your jars. Another good one for northerners. Or southerners. Tolerant plants of some shade too.

Beans are fun! There's more to them than you may think.

 

[897tgigvib]

Oh, sorry to hear about your back. Sure hope it gets better. It might be helpful if you can have some beds raised to a comfortable height for the lower growing things at least.

 

[so lucky]

Oh, sorry to hear about your back. Sure hope it gets better. It might be helpful if you can have some beds raised to a comfortable height for the lower growing things at least.

Thanks for being concerned. I do OK with normal bending and work; it was just the prolonged stooping for picking bush beans last year that got to me.

 

[digitS']

Okay, Bean Collector Marshall . . .

. . . tell us about cross-pollination with all those beans in your garden.

Is it a problem?

Steve
who sits on a stool, upside-down bucket, or plastic crate for aaaallll sorts of garden tasks.

 

[momofdrew]

Oh, sorry to hear about your back. Sure hope it gets better. It might be helpful if you can have some beds raised to a comfortable height for the lower growing things at least.

Thanks for being concerned. I do OK with normal bending and work; it was just the prolonged stooping for picking bush beans last year that got to me.

I use a little rolling seat that my family bought for this old lady... I dont need to stoop

 

[897tgigvib]

Cross pollinating Beans is one I have not been able to do.

I have tried, but I am no surgeon. I disected a few flowers. Bean flowers are more complicated than Orchid flowers.

The little unpollinated bean, the ridge of the outer edge is the stigma, and that's the length of the bean. Looks like, as the immature pod grows it pollinates itself by growing, and automatically rubs a pinched area that has the pollen.

Bean pollen. I think it is liquid or suspended in moisture.

Can you do it? Let me know. Meantime, I'll let them self pollinate, and if a carpenter bee or a bumble bee can cross one, that's cool!



Cross pollination by insects on Beans is so rare for me that when I see a bee vigorously working a bean flower I cheer it on!

I would love to cross Mount Pima Purple with Hidatsa Shield, or White Greasy with Tendergreen...

I have a visual of a team of surgeons, scrub nurses, bright lights, surgical equipment, all around a Bean plant working to transplant some pollen!!! I'm pretty sure it's been done. They talk about Kentucky Blue and some others as being the result of crosses. Rare. Difficult.

 

[swampducks]

My favorite beans to grow for the past few years have been the bush varieties Jade and Masai. Nice yields of long thin beans for several weeks, or at least till my frost hits as I'm lucky to get one crop in zone 4. I have tried some of the others in the past, can't be sure but I think they were kentucky blue or wonder or something similar, didn't like them, got big and fat too fast. I hate chewy beans. I tried pole beans once and they didn't even sprout.

Last year I decided to try a third variety, slenderette but mixed it up with the other two so have no idea which one was the one that did poorly last year, one of the 3 plantings was sparse. But I've had good results other years with Jade and Masai so I always get them. This year I am also going to try Provider bush bean and this time plan to have worded stakes ready to put next to each bed.