Happy Earth Day, well actually it’s Earth Night at the moment! The day has gone so quickly and been a busy one. I’ve updated some things on this blog a bit, and hope you like the changes and new resources available to you.
My mother was a much better gardener than I will ever be. I approach my garden with a feeling that it’s going to grow just fine, an air of confidence, and find myself challenged at times by it as the season goes on, while my mother would approach it with humility, always meekly saying “oh, I probably won’t get many tomatoes this year” or whatever the crop happened to be that was on her mind at the time, only to have more than she could handle by the end of the season.The first garden I recall from childhood was a plot in the backyard, it seemed huge at the time, but really the space was rather small. Still, it had a nice yield at the end of the season.
I remember the pole beans Mom would grow, being so curious about how the beans climbed up those poles that my Dad put in the garden. There were three tall sticks tied together at the top, similar to the picture below, and at the base, the seeds were planted, which grew and climbed up the stakes to the top, and provided beans throughout the season. There were a few 3-pole groupings in a row, and since I was small, they seemed very tall! Mom always told me that the difference between Pole Beans and Bush Beans was that that pole beans provided beans for a longer period of time.
Personally, I’ve never grown pole beans, have always opted for the bush variety as they look better in the area where I plant. My only “pet peeve” is those little cut worms that enjoy my garden so much, I have to make sure the soil is clear of them before planting my beans, they seem to especially love the thick, juicy bean seedling stems. Sometimes I start them with a small paper cup around the seed-in-soil with the bottom cut out of the cup as those little guys usually snip the plant close to the surface. There is nothing more delicious than vegetables from the garden.
By the way, if you have a large enough container, you can grow beans this way on your deck or wherever your container garden is on your property.
What kinds of beans have you grown in your garden?
This year I have opted for pole beans, scarlet runner and blue lake. I hope to have plenty of beans throughout the season.
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:15 amThank you, Keewee, for stopping by, please do let us know how things go.
I have Bush Bean seeds left from last year, and they will do fine for a long time, so will be planting them again, but maybe in another area of our property that has been cleared.
Happy gardening!
April 24th, 2009 at 12:28 amHi, enjoyed your little story. Mine is very similar. My Mom could grow “anything”. People from the neighborhood would come by just to see what new item she was planting for that season. As for me, well I use to be the “gofer”, you know, go for this, go for that. Not much of a gardener then, I would take a seed, put it in the dirt, turn around and forget where I planted it. I never really paid much attention when Mom and I were in the garden…at least thats what I thought. Now, this year is the first time I have my own garden and pots with a variety of tomatoes, peppers, beans, and well, a little bit of anything and everything. I’m happy to say that Mom’s green thumb has rubbed off on me…but I still get on the phone and call her when I get stumped. I have 4 bean bushes and they are doing nicely except for the darn worms and tiny hoppers that just won’t leave them alone. It’s been exactly 53 days since the seeds germinated and I have a few beans on them. I’m a little confused as to when to harvest the beans. I’m getting the impression that it’s just a matter of “cooking” preference. My question is this, how small can a bean be cut for eating? And, how long can I leave a bean on the vine?
June 28th, 2010 at 1:46 pm