garden news-planting our beans

GARDEN NEWS-PLANTING OUR BEANS

this is what a fully planted bed looks like
in this case it was our recently planted squash in this 30 ft bed
this is half a row of zucchini and half a row of yellow squash
to the right is some recently planted jalapenos
to the left is some of our recently planted kentucky blue vine beans 


this is what an empty 30 ft bed looks like before we prep it
we pull back the drip lines and replace them if needed
we rake the bed off to remove debris and weeds etc
we added a generous amount of compost
for beans we will add a small amount of organic fertilizer
since they fix nitrogen in the soil

this is all forked in with a broad fork
then its raked smooth
most rows have 3 rows of drip tape that has drip holes every 6 inches
to the left of this bed is some celery and to the right is some of our leeks

we plant a lot of beans in our garden 
all of the beans that we grow are donated
we have 3 30 ft rows planted with these beans
plus a few extra smaller rows

yep lots of beans

in our main garden we plant our beans along trellises which are cattle panels that are 16 ft long
the beans are trained up to go up the trellis making it easy to care for and pick the beans

on our long rows we planted
emerite or french beans which can be eaten whole 
kentucky blue vine beans which can be eaten whole or snapped
this one nor the other two dont have the string that you have to pull off
blue pole beans which are similar to the kentucky blue beans

we plant the beans first in six packs
then transplant them into the beds 
in between the transplants we will plant bean seeds in the ground
this allows us to have another wave of beans that mature about six weeks after the transplanted ones mature
sometimes if we have an extra row available we will plant another crop in about a month

in our front garden we have a large teepee frame
around the teepee are pots that we plant beans in 
this year we are planting the christmas lima beans that taste so good
they are my favorite beans


kids love the way they look that calico look

by the late summer this teepee will be covered with the christmas lima beans
the kids in our fall programs love to sit inside the teepee

on a trellis in one of our front beds that runs from one end of the bed to the other like an arch we are planting long beans or asian beans
these beans get about a foot long
they like hot weather
these will run along the trellis and hang down over the bed of swiss chard to help keep it shaded in the summer
these beans are good right off the vine
we put them in salads
some folks cook them
when plant them in my garden they never make it home since i eat them as i am gardening

also we have a few other spots we plant beans
in the kids garden is a trellis that we planted  several heirloom donated beans and rattlesnake beans
in other spots are beans we got from the seed swap that we planted
these beans we mostly harvest as dry beans although they can be eaten fresh as snap beans

here is a look at our curly leaf kale which we have 90 foot of rows
we donate all of these kales
to the right is our bed of leeks
to the left is some of our emerite green beans
thats a sweet pea that planted itself so we left it 

the folks we donate to always enjoy the fresh green beans that we give them
so do all the volunteers who sometimes snack as they harvest

i am frequently guilty of this

the organicgreen doctor