Right now I am eating green beans just about every night.  Which is fine by me because I love them.  Plus, my wife is a really good cook and she knows about 100 different ways to prepare them.  The beans I am eating now are a bush variety called “Contender”.   I grow Contender every year because it is a reliable bush that produces tons of flavorful, firm podded beans that are three to four inches long.

Contender Bush Beans are very productive and tasty green beans for your spring garden

Beans are a staple all over the world.  In places where meat is scarce or expensive, beans provide the protein needed for healthy bodies.  Because of their high nutritive value, people have been growing them for about as long as there have been people.  According to the National Gardening Association almost 40% of all gardeners in the U.S. grow beans.  There is good reason for that; they taste good and they are good for you.  Plus, they are good for your garden too.  All beans are legumes which means they have the ability (with the help of the bacteria rhizobia) to turn atmospheric nitrogen into a soil based plant soluble nitrogen that will improve your soil.  Because of this, beans are often grown as a rotational crop to replenish the nitrogen taken up by plants that are heavy nitrogen feeders.

I space my beans about 4" apart in a single trench

There are basically two kinds of “green beans” that we grow in our gardens; pole beans and bush beans.  Pole beans grow long vines and do best if supported on a fence or trellis.  They are very prolific and usually take the heat better than bush beans.  It is not uncommon for some varieties to continue producing in the Texas heat well into July.  Generally, pole beans are grown as “snap’ beans or dried beans.  While you can pick them young and use them as a green bean, many varieties must be “snapped” and have the “string” that holds the pod together removed before eating in this manner.  Bush beans on the other hand, are designed to be eaten pod and all.  Bush beans are generally planted a little earlier than pole beans and they stop producing once daytime temps are in the 90s and night time temps stay above 75.

The simple little flowers forming on your bush mean that you will have beans in about a week.

To grow bush beans simply place the seeds in well worked soil once it has warmed up to around 70 degrees.  I planted mine on March 31 and picked my first “mess” on May 20.  Beans should be spaced at about 4” to 6” and planted 1” deep.  Since my rows are 33′ long I dig a trench with my Cobrahead hand hoe, scatter and cover.  If you are planting smaller quantities you can quickly plant an area by scattering the seeds and then using your finger to  push them into the soil past the first joint on your index finger.  If conditions are right they should sprout in 3 to 4 days and grow into small bushes that are about 18″ tall.

Beans develop quickly and it is not uncommon to harvest your first beans 45 to 50 days after planting.  Since most bush beans are designed to be eaten pod and all it is best to harvest them before the beans begin to fill out.  The longer they stay on the vine the tougher the pod gets.  Also, many of the beans from bush varieties do not taste all that great.  So, to get the best green bean experience possible pick your beans when they are young.

My raised beds are 3' feet wide and 33' feet long. I plant tomatoes on the cattle panels in the back and bush beans in the front. The nitrogen fixing quality of the beans ensure that my tomatoes have plenty N available

Very few vegetables are as easy to grow as beans.  They do have a few pest issues that you need to watch for.  There are several beetles that love the foliage and a few more that will even drill into the pod and eat the beans.  A regular, weekly application of BT or neem oil will repel many of them.

Beans are an important source of protein all over the world.  They may have also been the reason you became a gardener.  Do you remember your first horticultural experiment?  I am willing to bet that it involved a bean, a paper towel and a Dixie cup.  Watching that little bean sprout was our first introduction to the mystery and miracle of life.  So, if you love growing things from seed, be sure and thank your first or second teacher and beans.  Both of them are probably more responsible for your love of growing things than you realize!