Have you already planted your beans? Or maybe you are getting ready to soon? Here are a few things to consider! Plus, let me introduce some of my favorite varieties that we grow year and after year.
But first....did you know beans have a super power? They can fix nitrogen from the air into the soil! It is still one of my favorite things in the garden, after all these years, to pull up a bean plant and see the white nitrogen fixing nodules on the roots. This is why legumes can be planted as a cover crop to add fertility to the soil.
I like to plant my beans as soon as possible so they can grow before the extreme summer heat sets in- but not too soon or the seeds will rot in cool soils instead of germinate. (If you live in a more moderate climate, then you have more wiggle room for planting beans. )
I have especially found that white seeded varieties have a tendency to rot in cool soils. That is one reason I have stuck with the variety Provider bush bean all these years. It is a purple seeded bush bean that germinates well in coolish soils and produces good early yields of green beans.
How to plant beans:
1. Wait for soils to warm consistently to 65-85 F. Confession- I do not go out and take my soil temp. Instead I wait for mid May and then go for it. For those of you in the Valley you can advance that by a couple of weeks or wait for Mother's day to plant.
2. To inoculate or not? By inoculating legume seeds with a Rhizobium bacteria you jump start their natural nitrogen fixing ability. It is a simple process and inoculant can be purchased at garden stores or online. For eating crops, I usually skip this step but for cover crops it can increase your total nitrogen gain.
3. Plant bean seeds twice as deep as the seed is big. For most beans that is 1/2-1 inch deep. Beans are vigorous germinators and will easily push through garden soils when conditions are right.
If you want to start your beans in trays or pots, that works too. If they are in small cells, plant out when just a few inches tall since the roots will quickly outgrow their space. My mother in law has a great method of planting 5 or 6 bean seeds in gallon pots. She stuffs wool in the bottom few inches of the pot covered by potting soil. When it comes time to transplant she puts the whole thing in one hole and the beans grow in tidy clumps. The wool helps retain moisture for the roots and add organic matter to soils.
4. Beans can be planted closer together than you may think. I generally make a shallow trench along a drip tape and sprinkle seeds every 3-5 inches and cover with about 1/2-1 inch soil. Planting along an irrigation line ensures my seeds stay evenly moist during germination.
5. Cover seeded area with row cover to keep birds and squirrels off the seedlings and retain moisture during germination. I usually leave the cover on for almost a month.
Dry Beans vs Snap Beans
Did you know many dry beans can also be eaten at the fresh snap bean phase? And many snap bean seeds can also be stewed up.
If you are saving your bean pods for the dry seeds to eat, be sure to allow the pods to dry fully on the plant and harvest them later in the summer after they have turned brown. Keep an eye on them because too much exposure to moisture later in the fall can cause the seed to mold.
Fresh snap beans are best harvested frequently to encourage more production. If you forget about the plants for a few weeks all the energy will go into seed production and you won't see many new pods developing. I have also successfully planted new rounds of beans in mid to late summer to get fresh plants going that will produce far into the fall.
Have a look below at some of our favorite fresh and dry bean varieties. These are standards I have grown for many years and bring reliable harvests!
