Fresh green beans straight from your own garden, how yummy. But before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor you need to get them in your garden.
Snap beans can be grown quite easily and you can choose between bush or pole varieties. I find that I like the bush varieties better because I don’t need to worry about putting up poles or a fence for them to climb on. If you do go this route make sure your fencing or poles are on the north side so as not to shade your crops.
I find that I do best if I plant bush beans 3 times, approximately two weeks apart. Then I have a continuous crop of fresh beans to either eat or put up for winter. I have to admit I sometimes grow some pole beans as well because I like to let them dry out and use them for soups.
Both types of beans need to have care taken when harvesting. You will want to wait till your plant is dry to handle it when you carefully pick your beans. Use care when touching your plants if they are wet, it is easy to spread disease that way. That is the reason you should water beans in the morning so the sun can dry off the plant before it gets dark out.
Beetles and aphids are going to be your biggest pest to have to worry about. Watch your plants carefully and if you see any pick them off. If you get too many you will want to look into some commercial products to combat them so you don’t lose your crop.
Another difference between the two is that you should pick bush beans before they are mature and pole beans as soon as they are mature. With both varieties, you want to pick often and not leave any mature beans unpicked. This will ensure your plants continue to produce.