Vegetable Gardening (41 page)

Some bean varieties can be harvested at all stages. However, most bean varieties are best harvested at one particular stage — snap, shell, or dried — depending on their breeding (see the later section "Keep on pickin': Harvesting your crop" for details).

Just for fun in this section — in addition to the bush, pole, and dried beans, I also list some other bean relatives that are tasty and have novel colors and shapes (they're unique). The days to maturity for all these beans represents the time from when you plant the seeds in the ground to when you harvest them. Bean appétit!

Bushels of bush beans

Bush bean plants generally are less than 2 feet tall and produce handfuls of beans at their one main harvest of the season. Depending on the variety, the beans are green, yellow, or purple. Most
pods
(the part of the bean that you eat)are 6 to 8 inches at maturity, but you can harvest beans that are flavorful sooner. If you need lots of beans all at once for canning or preserving, grow bush beans. Selecting among the various types is really just a matter of color and experimentation; try one and see if you like it. Here are a few of the most reliable varieties to grow:

‘Blue Lake 274':
This big, meaty, green bean variety matures high yields (about 12 pounds for every 10 feet of row) in 55 days — even under adverse weather conditions. It also comes in a pole bean version.

‘Derby':
This disease-resistant green bean is an All-America Selections winner (see Chapter 4) and features extra-tender pods and high yields 57 days from seeding.

‘Improved Golden Wax':
This disease-resistant, yellow-bean variety produces broad, flat golden pods 52 days from seeding.

‘Jade':
This heat-tolerant green bean produces huge yields of pencil-straight beans 60 days after seeding. It produces high-quality beans later into the season than other green bush beans, allowing you to extend your harvest time.

‘Kentucky Wonder':
This classic green bean's round, green pods are produced prolifically on sturdy plants 57 days from seeding. It also comes in a pole bean variety.

‘Nash':
This heavy yielding, disease-resistant variety grows well in the heat, so it's a good choice in hot-summer areas. Its green pods mature 54 days from seeding.

‘Provider':
This variety has great disease resistance and can grow in adverse weather. Its green pods mature 50 days from seeding.

‘Roc d'Or Wax':
This variety produces long, slender, round, bright yellow pods on sturdy plants in 53 days.

‘Roma II':
This Romano-type bush bean has tender, flat pods and high yields earlier than Romano (53 days after seeding). The pods are slow to develop seeds and strings, so they stay tender longer.

‘Romano':
This long, flat green bean is an Italian classic and also comes in a pole variety. The pods are known for their strong flavor and ability to stay tender even when they're large. This variety matures in 60 days. ‘Romano Gold' and ‘Romano Purpiat' are yellow and purple varieties, respectively, that grow similar to the original just with different-colored pods.