I want to can about 36 - 48 pints of green beans this summer and fall. What kind of beans should I plant?

Question

- and how many plants should I have? I'm not sure if I should do a pole bean or a bush bean, either. I've grown french beans, but never canned any beans.

Answer 1

Good evening Blackbird,





I hope you had a great day. Runners/pole green beans will yield twice (2x) as many beans as bush green beans. The bushes also make it easier for snails, slugs, cutworms, and other insects to hide under. They will attack or eat any bean which touchs the ground. Grow, plant, fertilize, and treat the pole green beans the same way you did your french beans.



I have nine (9) fruit trees and a 20x20 ft vegetable garden. We give family and friends a big basket full of fresh and dried fruits and quart jars of difference types of vegetables as gifts at Christmas time. We have been canning, drying, and picking like this for years. They love to see us coming.



A ten (10) foot long roll of pole beans, properly planted (sun and fertilized) will easily yield 40 pints to green beans. You will have to pick and can every 7 to 10 days, depending on weather.



Tips: Try planting a few purple green beans to mix in with your green beans. You have less problems with insects. Caterpillars do not want to be seen against a purple background. This makes it easier for birds and wasps to find them. Also plant some basil and dill. These herbs draw wasps which attack the enemy insects, especially caterpillars on your plants. You can also use the herbs for cooking and canning.



http://www.ehow.com/how_4487462_grow-purple-beans.html

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-701&va=purple+green+beans



WARNING about canning green beans:

If you have never canned green beans before, beware of "Botulism". It is NOT SAFE to use the water bath method on green beans. You MUST use a pressure canner.



You and your family have a beautiful week. Peace, from Los Angeles.

Answer 2

If you have the space why not grow all three types of beans. Plant one row 12' long spaced at 12" apart. You'll have a variety of beans all winter. They each produce beans just as long as they are planted in well drainingoil, fertilized 1/2 strength each week and never let them dry out in the hot sun. The more you pick the more will grow. Your local garden center can answer your questions on the starts you purchase. Use a soaker hose to water on a timer to keep the water off the leaves to prevent mold and mildew on the leaves and kill the plant.

Answer 3

One good thing about virtually ALL beans is that you can easily make a trellis and grow as many as you want, practically, as long as you keep renourishing them with compost or non-organic fertilizer over the year.



What we do is put two poles at opposite ends of the garden, then put string taut between them. (Three of four, depending on size of your garden. Then, hang strings down and the beans will start growing up.) This is very cheap, saves a lot of space and money, and then you can use other space for the bush beans. Pole beans, when you pick regularly excel with this method, or have for our family and for my wife's father, who taught me this Scottish trick.