Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Warm-Season Vegetables
Warm-season vegetables enjoy basking in long days of sunshine. The longer days and warmer soil
temperatures are what these plants need to produce the classic garden harvests of tomato, corn, and
zucchini.
Beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris )
Beans are a fabulous plant to add to the garden because as a legume they add nitrogen back into
the soil. Add beans to your crop rotation in between heavy feeders such as tomatoes and broccoli.
Harvest beans early for fresh green bean produce, or allow them to dry for long-term storage. Some
beans have a vining growth habit while others have a nonvining, bushy growth habit.
Beans are high in protein and in many cultures they make up a large part of the daily diet. On
the homestead, a stored supply of beans can make it easier to fill in the gap during times when the
freezer is a little lower on meat. Even with literally hundreds of varieties of beans, growing them is
relatively simple and easy to manage regardless of which type of beans you want. Many varieties
can even be harvested as green or snap beans early in the season, and then allowed to dry for a soup
bean harvest as well.
Beans are easy to plant directly in the garden when soil is at least 55 degrees. Plant the beans about
2 inches deep. Space them about 5 to 12 inches apart depending on the cultivar and whether you're
growing bush varieties or using a trellis for pole beans. Some more aggressive varieties may need
to be spaced even farther apart, but with vertical garden techniques you can get away with more
intensive planting.
Beans have a variable time to maturity depending on what variety you've planted, but generally you
can begin picking snap beans within 8 to 12 weeks. If you are harvesting dried beans, allow around
12 to 16 weeks until the beans have dried in the pod on the vine.
Over the Garden Fence
You can really maximize your snap bean harvest by picking your beans on a daily basis. The more fre-
quently you pick the fresh beans, the more your plants will produce. When even a few of the bean pods
reach maturity, your bean plants will stop flowering and cease production. Beans are commonly planted in
succession so you can grow a new crop every couple weeks.
Dwarf bush beans will produce beans early, while pole beans will produce later in the season. Plant
a variety so you can harvest throughout the entire summer. Beans are easy to can, freeze, and store
dried.
 
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