As a gardener just under four years, I planted pole beans without alot of enthusiasm for a grand harvest. I was pleased that I'd actually got the courage to plant them, but kept my expectations low because I did not want to be disappointed (anybody been there?).
In the last few years, I'd grown Bush beans that grow compactly (reaching about two-feet tall) and they don't require support like a trellis. Pole beans on the other hand grow as climbing vines that may reach 10 to 15 feet tall. Therefore, pole beans require a trellis or staking.
I planted the Kentucky Wonder Pole beans in late May and started to see some growth in mid-late June.
My beans grew like crazy, and my lessons learned is to trellis pole beans as soon as they are planted because most gardeners think they will get around to something in the garden, but before you know...things start to grow/mature out of control. In this case, Don and I trellised them in late July (I believe), with an arch that was not as high as I'd liked, but COVID-19 made it difficult to find cow panels (higher and stronger panels) to create the desired effect. However, our efforts paid off because even the 7-8' trellis that was about 4.5' wide helped to give the pole beans a place to wrap its tendrils and continue to flourish.
Here's some info on the variety of bean that I planted:
Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean.
Purchased from Seedsnow.com (received approx 20 seeds) for $.99
Sowed the beans May 31, 2020.
The Kentucky Wonder is an heirloom pole bean plant with high yields and a dark green color! Delicious heirloom pole bean with heavy yields - that's for sure! It's an all-purpose bean that tastes great fresh, can be frozen or canned (when the pods are young). For stringless and most tender beans you should really harvest when they are young and only 4" or so. I waited a bit longer than that, and you can tell in the video by the indentation of the seeds in some of the beans. It's possible that these may be stringier than the most tender beans.
My TakeAway - The Long and Short of Pole Beans
I learned to plant with the expectation of harvest - a bountiful harvest. In the future, I will anticipate more positive outcomes, because just as the pole bean is long, so should be my willingness to stretch when gardening. God placed in me the heart to grow food, and I need to trust that whatever learning lies in store in my trusting will prove to benefit me in the long run. #Growbean #Greenbeans #polebeans #gardening #harvestinggreenbeans
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