Harvest Canned First Beans This Season

[Rabbit]

As suggested in an earlier post about green beans I planted some Contender bush beans. I found some seeds at the local dollar store and bought the last few packs they had three for a dollar. Sure beat the price of ordering them online and paying shipping and handling. Even though the seed count was inconsistent and sparse I managed to tuck three half rows in an out of the way place in my garden and they are producing like crazy and I will be able to save seeds for next year.

I did not give up on the rattlesnakes and they are very vigorously filling up the trellis and should have beans soon. Last year I had a terrible time growing beans and my pantry suffered and I hope to make up for it this year.

Everything else is looking good and can't wait to empty the potato pots and see what I've got. I'm being patient and have not even reached in to steal a few. The plants look good I just hope nothing is in there eating them up.

Happy gardening everyone.

 

[20Gauge]

We are having a bumper year on lemons.... I am not sure what happened, but it seems it was a combination of low winds and heavy pollination at just the right time.

Normally we have heavy spring winds that keep down the amount of flower / buds to pollinate.

 

[lonestar09]

It looks like a double crop of limes for me this year. I was already getting limes growing on the trees about the size of a marble for most. Then over the last 2 weeks we had about 4 inches of rain and next thing I know the tree is covered in flowers. Very happy about this.

 

[Martinhouse]

Rabbit, if your Rattlesnake beans are blooming at the same time as your Contender beans, you might want to look up info about cross-pollination before you save any seeds from either of those.

 

[LC]

or rabbit could just destroy the Contender's after they are finished and save Rattlesnake seed later in the season. Good Contender seed is available but good Rattlesnake is difficult to find. OF course if you saving all of your seed that changes things. Prevailing wind, distance and tallplants in between all affect the situation. Good luck.

 

[Martinhouse]

LC, that's a good point about saving the last Rattlesnake beans for seed. I always tried to save some of the earliest for seeds as I wanted seed that might give me results as early as possible. I still think this is a good policy, especially if growing seasons become so undependable. It really is worth noting, though.

Mostly I always planted things in alternating summers, to avoid cross pollination. When I did that, I just planted enough for two years' worth of harvest.

Here in Arkansas, my Rattlesnake beans would grow vines 12 feet long and grew across the chicken wire top of my covered garden after they'd gotten to the top of the vertical trellising. The overhead beans hung down for easy picking which I reached by lining up a row of upside down garden pails and stepping from one to the next.

If I kept them watered during the hot dry part of summer, Rattlesnake beans always put on a second growth of fresh new leaves and then a nice, although lighter, second growth of beans.

 

[AlaskaSue]

Wow! I am still looking for the first green beans to SPROUT in my garden - AND the pintos . But the ‘taters are starting to pop out of the dirt.... This is my typical planting week so I’m a bit ahead of the game at this point. Still have seeds to go in: carrots, beets, more rutabagas, kales....and I’m STILL looking for onion sets.