# Green Beans - your favorites?



## kyredneck

I'm 'dabbling' some with several pole bean varieties this year:

John Allen Cut Short - first time to grow, supposedly a flavorful half runner from the mountains

Missouri Wonder - old dependable flavorful canner, along the lines of Ky Wonder

Fortex - grew first time last year, outstanding delicious productive French bean, delicious even raw

Goose Bean - old local heirloom, gigantic vines and beans, good for shellies, 

Kwintus - first year to grow, very popular, extra early Italian Romano type.

What kind of beans are folks growing this year?


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## hashbrown

I 'm a fan of Blue Lake beans.


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## kyredneck

I've grown Blue Lake pole beans before; a very heavy producer, a good canner, and stringless too, but there's others I'm more fond of the flavor, even if it means having to string the beans...


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## crabapple

I like blue Lake & the half runners, also greasy beans.
I think Goose bean is a greasy bean, I am not sure.
The "Greasy Beans" have no fuzz on them, no tiny hairs like most green beens.
The bean hull is shinny & looks like grease has been rubber on them


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## jeff47041

I've always raised blue lake bush beans, so I have to crawl through the garden to get every bean. Maybe I should try pole beans

5 years ago, I raised a full quarter acre of blue lake green beans to take to the farmers markets. I also did 3/4 acres of assorted vegies to sell. It was profitable, but a whole lot of work. I did that for 3 years. I only grow our little quarter acre garden now.


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## Davarm

In the past I've grown the Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder and Pinto, we now grow Roma - they are a bush bean though. The Roma is a flat-bean that can grow all the way up to the point that the beans are fully formed and still they are stringless and tender, a real winner.

"I" think the most flavorful green bean has to be the Pinto, hands down but since they are mostly used as a dry bean you have to pick them while small or they will be so stringy and tough that you cant eat them.


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## Viking

hashbrown said:


> I 'm a fan of Blue Lake beans.


Many years ago I planted over 1/2 acre of Blue Lake bush beans, my wife canned a lot of beans that year plus I gave away a bunch. I planted them like a cover crop and they didn't need watering. Somewhere in our mess there is some Joe beans that a friend gave me years ago, don't know if they are still viable but they had been past down for over 100 years, heritage stuff. Who knows, they may be still viable, hope so.


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## kyredneck

crabapple said:


> I like blue Lake & the half runners, also greasy beans.


White Half Runners are very popular around here, my Mom and Mamaw always grew them.



> I think Goose bean is a greasy bean, I am not sure.


I've no doubt there is a greasy bean that goes by the name 'Goose Bean', but this one is not a greasy bean (see pic). Also, good info on them here:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/legumes/msg1112101325126.html?48

Mature pods turn/tint pink.


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## kyredneck

jeff47041 said:


> I've always raised blue lake bush beans, so I have to crawl through the garden to get every bean. Maybe I should try pole beans


Pole beans can be a hassle initially, but in the long run worth the trouble, imo. I'm using arched 16' cattle panels (four for now) for the first time this year as a trellis, hopefully I'll post some pictures later when the vines get up them. We used to go to the river and cut river cane for teepee type trellis.



> 5 years ago, I raised a full quarter acre of blue lake green beans to take to the farmers markets. I also did 3/4 acres of assorted vegies to sell. It was profitable, but a whole lot of work. I did that for 3 years. I only grow our little quarter acre garden now.


I've thought about doing that once or twice; decided I'm too lazy and don't wanna work that hard and it would take the fun out of gardening...


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## kyredneck

Davarm said:


> In the past I've grown the Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder and Pinto, we now grow Roma - they are a bush bean though. The Roma is a flat-bean that can grow all the way up to the point that the beans are fully formed and still they are stringless and tender, a real winner.


Yes, I agree totally about the quality of Roma 2 bush bean, excellent. We've grown them a few times over the years, they're just bad (around here) in a rainy season to get rust. A gardening farmer friend of ours has planted large plots of the Romas, lets them mature to where he wants them, then pulls vines w/beans, loads on a truck, go sits in the shade, drinks beer, and picks beans.

The Kwintus pole bean I'm growing this year is also a Romano type that also (supposedly) has that 'everlasting' Roma quality.



> "I" think the most flavorful green bean has to be the Pinto, hands down but since they are mostly used as a dry bean you have to pick them while small or they will be so stringy and tough that you cant eat them.


Wow, whodathunk? 

The dried Missouri Wonder beans look exactly like pinto beans, but the pods stay tender always up to shell out stage, and are very flavorful. But they are stringy.


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## kyredneck

Viking said:


> Many years ago I planted over 1/2 acre of Blue Lake bush beans, my wife canned a lot of beans that year plus I gave away a bunch.


Many years ago (I was younger and dumber) I interplanted Blue Lake pole beans with Silver Queen corn; it looked like it was working beautifully until a mid-July storm came through and leveled it all like a Sherman tank drove through it. Didn't get any corn, still picked all the beans we ever wanted though.



> Somewhere in our mess there is some Joe beans that a friend gave me years ago, don't know if they are still viable but they had been past down for over 100 years, heritage stuff. Who knows, they may be still viable, hope so.


If they've been sealed up and refrigerated most likely they're still viable.


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## BillM

The Indians planted the " Three sisters". 

1. Indian corn
2. pole beans
3. squash or pumpkins

They let the beans grow up the corn stalks and planted the squash and pumpkins between the the hills of corn.


They cleared fields by barking the trees all the way around and when the tree died, they hoed plots in between the dead trees. when limbs fell, they used them for fire wood or if they were too large to move, they burned them in place, often burning the dead trees with them. Over a few years they could completely clear a field. These Indian fields were prized by early English settlers.


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## ContinualHarvest

I'm fond of an heirloom variety called dragon beans. Pretty tasty and easy to grow. I also enjoy the Missouri Wonder. They make for good "Dilly Beans"


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## kyredneck

ContinualHarvest said:


> I'm fond of an heirloom variety called dragon beans. Pretty tasty and easy to grow.


Is Dragon Tongue Bush Bean the same bean? It sounds interesting.



> I also enjoy the Missouri Wonder. They make for good "Dilly Beans"


I pickled Fortex last year - superb.

Do you use vinegar to make your 'dilly beans', or do you ferment them?


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## crabapple

kyredneck said:


> White Half Runners are very popular around here, my Mom and Mamaw always grew them.
> 
> I've no doubt there is a greasy bean that goes by the name 'Goose Bean', but this one is not a greasy bean (see pic). Also, good info on them here:
> 
> http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/legumes/msg1112101325126.html?48
> 
> Mature pods turn/tint pink.


No this is the bean I was talking about, it is from the link on GARDENWEB.
It is NOT a greasy, I got confused in my old age.
Thanks for the link, I lost it when I changed computers.

http://www.heirlooms.org/greasy-cut-shorts.html
This is a great place to get seeds (IMHO).


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## kyredneck

Thanks for that link crabapple, although he no longer carries them, Bill Best is who I got the John Allen cutshorts from I'm growing this year (ordered the seed two yrs ago).

As the crow flies he's only about 30 miles from me.


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## Riverdale

kyredneck said:


> Blue Lake pole beans


This. We do pole beans rather than bush beans because of my crappy knees


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## kyredneck

....pole beans work better for crappy backs too...


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## Woody

Kentucky Wonder pole bean fan. To me, they taste like a string bean should, fresh or canned.

I'm also a big fan of any pole over bush, peas, beans, butter beans... Much cleaner and easier to harvest. I also think I get a better, longer yield, the bush varieties seem to come in one bang. 

It isn't so much the crawling around on my knees to harvest, that I can take no problem. It is the trying to get up after all that that is the problem!


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## cqp33

Mountain half runners is my family's preferred bean, they can nice and are popular around these parts. I have also planted blue lake, they are pretty good and easy to find as well.


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## LilRedHen

I plant Contender bush beans. They are stringless, so the Rooster doesn't grumble as much about helping me and are the best canning beans that I have ever raised. Now that I have crappy knees and can't kneel or squat, I just take a milk crate to use as a stool while picking. Contenders are ready to pick about six weeks from planting.


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## kyredneck

So, here's some pics of my cattle panel bean cages, so far so good.


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## hashbrown

Woody said:


> Kentucky Wonder pole bean fan. To me, they taste like a string bean should, fresh or canned.
> 
> I'm also a big fan of any pole over bush, peas, beans, butter beans... Much cleaner and easier to harvest. I also think I get a better, longer yield, the bush varieties seem to come in one bang.
> 
> It isn't so much the crawling around on my knees to harvest, that I can take no problem. It is the trying to get up after all that that is the problem!


We plant a row and a couple of weeks later plant another for that reason.


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## crabapple

hashbrown said:


> We plant a row and a couple of weeks later plant another for that reason.


My dad would put another shot of 5-10-10 on his green beans & butter beans to get new growth & another crop of beans.


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