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Plant To Plate: Green Beans

By Annette Codding

    Time is flying by lately, and I just realized that it is time to plant a lot of our cool weather crops.  But there is just enough time to get in a crop of green beans before the first frost.  It’s always best to keep that date in mind when planting.  But you know that no one really knows when the first or last frost is coming.  So plant those seeds if you think it will work.  Worst case scenario, you waste some seeds.  No harm done.
    Most green bean plants will give you some beans within 60 days.  The planting chart from the University of Florida IFAS says that we can plant beans through September in the Central region, but like I said, it’s worth trying to still squeeze in another harvest.  Soaking the seeds overnight will help with a quick germination.  Then keeping the beds well mulched and watered will let the bean plants grow to their best potential.  Starting with good soil that has been amended with compost will help a lot too.
    My favorite bean to grow is a bush variety called Contender.  Whether it is a non-heirloom or heirloom, store-bought or gotten from a friend that saves seeds, this one always yields a nice harvest.  There are no GMO green bean seeds on the market, so there’s no need to worry about that.  The contender variety produces a lot of 6” straight beans over several weeks.  The more you pick, the more the plant produces.
    I used to think that you had to give green bean plants plenty of room, but I have found that they don’t mind being planted close together.  I usually plant the seeds 4” apart, but some packets and resources say to plant them 2” apart.  You can also get more yield out of your area if you plant two rows 12” apart, with a walkway in between the next area.  This works well in good soil.  If you have poor soil or are just starting out in sand, then you may need to stick with single row plantings.
    The green beans germinate really fast, just within a couple of days.  It’s really neat to plant a few extra that you can sacrifice as educational material.  The day that the bean seed starts to emerge from the soil, it is neat to pull it up and really study the growth and what is happening there.  You can gently split the bean seed and see the two first leaves neatly folded inside.
    Each day for the next three or four days you can pull one and lay it out to admire nature.  Lay it in the same spot each time, take a picture, then you can flip back through the photos to “watch it grow.”  This would also be a good way to experiment with different soil or growing conditions.  It’s fun to watch the differences in the growth.
    Green beans are relatively easy to grow and there are only a few pests as far as I know.  Rabbits will be the first ones that you have to watch out for.  Unfortunately, they come at night most of the time, so rabbit fence or a light floating row cover may be necessary.  A .22 and a flashlight work okay, but only if you actually get out of bed and go hunt.
    Worms are the next pests that sometimes show up.  There are little ones that roll the leaf back over onto themselves.  They are easy to kill be just pinching the rolled leaf.  You can also spray the plants with Bt every couple of weeks.  Be sure to get under the leaves too, as that is where a lot of worms hang out.
    Aphids sometimes get on my green bean plants, but I find that this is mostly when the plants are stressed or overgrown or weak.  You can get rid of them by wiping them with your hands and smooshing them or with a hard blast from a water hose.  I never really do this because I feel like it just causes more stress to the plants.  Instead, I mostly leave the aphids alone.  A balanced ecosystem will have all kinds of things, good and bad.  And if everything is healthy, then the good will eventually take care of the bad.  It’s important to plant things that will attract good insects.  An abundance of flowers in the garden is how I handle most pests.  It really does help.
    Once your green beans are ready to harvest, it’s important not to tear up or damage the plant when picking.  I always want to get as many harvests as possible, so I am careful when picking the actual green beans.  Pinching each green bean off the stem instead of pulling it will keep from accidentally pulling the plant up.  It also keeps you from pulling off any younger beans that are still growing.  Don’t miss beans by only looking at the plant from the top down.  Most bush bean plants will produce them in clusters under the leaves.
    Another really cool thing is to see all of those new beans, in all of the growth stages, right down to a bean flower.  A lot, if times you can see several beans all on the same branch.  Another great learning experience for youngin’s in a garden!
    Harvest your beans in the morning, but after the dew has dried up.  Most garden veggies are best when harvested early, and the plants stay healthier when they are messed with while dry.  There is less chance of spreading disease this way.  Use a basket, bucket or your shirt, anything works.  Then bring them on into the house and give them a quick rinse and get them cool.
    My favorite ways to eat green beans are fresh from the plant while standing in the garden, sautéed with some garlic and onion, good old cooked green beans, and pickled green beans.  Of course, you will want to can any extra that you have so that you can enjoy green beans when they aren’t in season.
    Green beans fresh from the garden are crisp, tender, and almost juicy.  They have such a lovely green flavor.  If you pick them young enough there is no string to deal with.  I like to use a pencil sized green bean for sautéing.  The older ones may need to be cooked longer to make them tender.  Almost any size works for canning or pickling, although the prime ones are best.
    There are so many uses for this very versatile veggie.  It’s one of the easiest to grow and widely liked and consumed.  Even a few plants in pots can give you enough harvest for a meal every few days.  If you are wanting to put up a lot, then be sure to plant long rows and plan on picking every three days at most.  My mom always says that green beans will work you to death.  That’s okay, I love eating pickled green beans!
    I hope you have some beans planted already, and if you don’t hurry up and get some seeds in the ground.  It may not be too late.  Who really knows what the weather is going to do?  We may not have a frost until Christmas!  Until then, get going with your fall garden and plant something good!