I'm trying to decide on a variety of green bean to grow this year. Last year Kentucky Wonder did, well, wonderfully for me. But some of the ladies and babies in the house complained about the strings.
So I am looking for a high yield, stringless, pole habit bean to grow. Any suggestions? High yield is important because I will only have about 24 feet of trellis to grow on.
-
lorax
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1316
- Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:48 pm
- Location: Ecuador, USDA Zone 13, at 10,000' of altitude
Have you tried Rattlesnake? They're striped (so not strictly a "green" bean) but they're also virtually zero-strings even when they're older, faboo flavour, and extraordinarily prolific (last year, I put an entire Christmas feast's worth of these beans on the table; they were the harvest of 2 plants).
Like mentioned, Rattlesnake beans are pretty prolific and form a pretty flat pod with small beans inside. At least that is how they have grown for me.
My favorite bean for production and quick growth is the Japanese Yard Long varieties. I've grown both the purple hull and the green hull beans and they are both great producers with high yield. The purple hulled remain purple when cooked unlike some purple hulled beans that turn green once they are heated. I pick these beans when they are between 20-24 inched in length.
My favorite way to fix them is to cut them in about 8 inch lengths, drizzle a bit of olive oil on them, add some sea salt and black pepper and make sure they are well covered in the seasonings, then grill them. DELICIOUS.
My favorite bean for production and quick growth is the Japanese Yard Long varieties. I've grown both the purple hull and the green hull beans and they are both great producers with high yield. The purple hulled remain purple when cooked unlike some purple hulled beans that turn green once they are heated. I pick these beans when they are between 20-24 inched in length.
My favorite way to fix them is to cut them in about 8 inch lengths, drizzle a bit of olive oil on them, add some sea salt and black pepper and make sure they are well covered in the seasonings, then grill them. DELICIOUS.
-
PunkRotten
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1989
- Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:48 pm
- Location: Monterey, CA.
I don't enjoy the flat pods as much as the traditionally shaped ones. Just an aesthetics thing. Now I'm leaning toward the JYL ones you mentioned.gumbo2176 wrote:Like mentioned, Rattlesnake beans are pretty prolific and form a pretty flat pod with small beans inside. At least that is how they have grown for me.
It sounds dumb, but I just don't like the way the flat podded ones feel in my mouth.
PunkRotten wrote:How long do the vines grow on the Rattlesnake beans?I have Rattlesnake and Kentucky wonder beans plus bush beans.
I put them in the ground in late August and it is now getting cooler in my neck of the world. They are vine beans and they are only about 4 ft. up on the trellis but they are starting to fade now. I've probably harvested close to a 5 gallon bucket worth of beans since they started producing. I've got them on about 18 ft. of a 24 ft. trellis. I'll plant some more in the spring for a summer crop and I know they will do better as far as growth in warmer weather.
The last 2 spring/summer seasons I've had little luck with the Kentucky Wonder pole beans for some reason. I get lots of vine growth but little productivity, but other varieties grow and produce just fine in the same space. It's got me stumped.
GardenRN wrote:I don't enjoy the flat pods as much as the traditionally shaped ones. Just an aesthetics thing. Now I'm leaning toward the JYL ones you mentioned.gumbo2176 wrote:Like mentioned, Rattlesnake beans are pretty prolific and form a pretty flat pod with small beans inside. At least that is how they have grown for me.
It sounds dumb, but I just don't like the way the flat podded ones feel in my mouth.
Not only are they flat, but they have a bit of a fuzzy feel on the outside of the pod. Not enough to make me not eat them, but definitely a different feel than the traditional round podded beans.
I think you will be very happy with the yard long beans. I cut some in manageable lengths to put in canning jars and pickled some like I would snap beans. They came out fine and pack real nice in the jars since they are all straight as an arrow for the most part.
I've never frozen them, but I would imagine once they are quickly blanched and put in a cool down bath, they should be fine. I really can't eat all that those vines produce so I give a lot of them away to my family and neighbors.GardenRN wrote:Exactly! it's the fuzzy thing that gets me. I pickle the beans too, glad to hear they work well for that!
Other than fresh eating I freeze some too. Do they do ok freezing?
However, I did just purchase a new 21 cu. ft. frost free freezer a few weeks ago so maybe more of the garden produce will stay put this summer.
Oh, and those yard longs seasoned to grill are also excellent just eaten raw.
-
PunkRotten
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1989
- Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:48 pm
- Location: Monterey, CA.
gumbo2176 wrote:PunkRotten wrote:How long do the vines grow on the Rattlesnake beans?I have Rattlesnake and Kentucky wonder beans plus bush beans.
I put them in the ground in late August and it is now getting cooler in my neck of the world. They are vine beans and they are only about 4 ft. up on the trellis but they are starting to fade now. I've probably harvested close to a 5 gallon bucket worth of beans since they started producing. I've got them on about 18 ft. of a 24 ft. trellis. I'll plant some more in the spring for a summer crop and I know they will do better as far as growth in warmer weather.
The last 2 spring/summer seasons I've had little luck with the Kentucky Wonder pole beans for some reason. I get lots of vine growth but little productivity, but other varieties grow and produce just fine in the same space. It's got me stumped.
How many vines would you say you got on the 18 foot of trellis? And form this you have only harvested a 5 gallon buckets worth? You say they are at 4 feet vines now, in the Spring/Summer what would you say their vines lengths would grow to then?
PunkRotten wrote:How many vines would you say you got on the 18 foot of trellis? And form this you have only harvested a 5 gallon buckets worth? You say they are at 4 feet vines now, in the Spring/Summer what would you say their vines lengths would grow to then?
I planted the Rattlesnake bean seeds about 4 inches apart and left them like that. With the shorted day length, cooler temperatures and suns direction across the yard plus 50 or more days from planting to the first harvest, that's not too bad for this time of year. We've also been edging in the upper 40's to low 50's at night off and on for a few weeks now. So, their growing and producing season is pretty much over for now.
Like I mentioned in a prior post, I haven't grown these in the spring/summer so I am assuming they should fill out my 6+ ft. tall trellis.
-
PunkRotten
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1989
- Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:48 pm
- Location: Monterey, CA.
Alright thanks for sharing that info. Do you have any experience with Kentucky wonder beans? What are the vine sizes on them? I planted some bush beans first time this Fall. The weather is affecting them but they have some flowers now and beans are forming. But I don't think I will expect much from them. I plan to try them again in Spring, but was curious about a Pole variety as long as it is not too big.
I grew a pole kentucky wonder last season. Planted in the spring. The plants did GREAT! I'd never grow anything else if the rest of the family wasn't such whiners about the strings. Personally I couldn't even tell they were there. I think everyone else is over chewing their food lol.
The vines got about 12' long. I had an 8 foot tall trellis 12 feet long. I planted one seed every 4". Maybe even a little closer. They grew fast and furious. I was picking about a pound of beans every day, sometimes it would slow to every other day if it hadn't rained in a while. I picked the beans at about 4" long. Tasted great, froze well, and canned well.
Hell now that I just spilled that I feel bad for not growing them again. Wish everyone else in the house could get past the strings.
The vines got about 12' long. I had an 8 foot tall trellis 12 feet long. I planted one seed every 4". Maybe even a little closer. They grew fast and furious. I was picking about a pound of beans every day, sometimes it would slow to every other day if it hadn't rained in a while. I picked the beans at about 4" long. Tasted great, froze well, and canned well.
Hell now that I just spilled that I feel bad for not growing them again. Wish everyone else in the house could get past the strings.
Like I mentioned in my second post, I've had little success with the Kentucky Wonder variety. I've gotten huge vine growth, beautiful foliage, and little from them for the past 2 summer seasons. I'll not grow them again and will settle on bush beans. I had a lot of success with the bush beans I planted in late summer this year.PunkRotten wrote:Alright thanks for sharing that info. Do you have any experience with Kentucky wonder beans? What are the vine sizes on them? I planted some bush beans first time this Fall. The weather is affecting them but they have some flowers now and beans are forming. But I don't think I will expect much from them. I plan to try them again in Spring, but was curious about a Pole variety as long as it is not too big.