I grow Scarlet Runner and Blue Lake pole beans; and we eat them as green beans, fresh or frozen. So, they’re available all year. The great thing about pole beans is that they produce continuously from early summer until almost first frost.
No one here has mentioned my favorite type of green beans: oriental long beans (first tried out in Chinese restaurants). They have a great taste, as well as nice texture, and freeze nicely, too. Until this year I’ve only grown one variety, Oriental Wonder, which is good and has lovely blue flowers, but does not have a long season. The plants also develop yellow coloration, which looks like bean mosaic; but I’m not sure if that’s what it is or some natural color variation. This year I found another variety called Yard Long Noodle King, and I’m growing them alongside the Orient Wonder. So far they are staying green, while the other ones are already yellowing. It will be interesting to compare them for the whole season.
I’ve been wondering how long my Blue Lake pole bean would produce. It would be great if they would continue all summer. Do you do anything special to keep them producing? Thanks
I think that disease can be an issue with Blue Lake beans. I used to grow them in a three-year rotation, and they would die out long before the Scarlet Runner beans did. Since I changed to a four-year rotation, they last almost as long as Scarlet Runners. It also helps to pick the pods while they are still fairly small, with only small seeds inside. As Fusion_power said, it might help to fertilize, something that I do occasionally.
Not disease, nematodes. Most bean varieties are somewhat susceptible to nematodes. I am growing Alabama #1 for seed this year because it has proven nematode tolerance.
My garden spot is small but I will start rotating each year as much as I can. I got lucky and watched the video of Old Alabama Farmer and he said to pick every other day which seems to work well. Apparently if the plants grow mature beans the vines reduce production. As a bonus he demonstrated what the ideal bean maturity was for snapping. Now that my Heavy Hitter okra is fruiting well the picking every two days works well for them also.