Vegetable Gardening (42 page)

‘Royal Burgundy':
This attractive purple-podded bean also has a purple tinge on its leaves, stems, and flowers. It matures in 55 days and turns dark green when cooked.

Pole beans: The long and tall crop

Many pole bean varieties share the names and characteristics of their bush bean counterparts. Pole beans mature more beans overall but start a week or so later than bush beans and produce only a handful of beans per day, which makes them great for small families. Pole beans keep producing beans until frost, in all but the hottest summer areas. You also can plant them in summer for a fall crop in warm areas.

In the following list, I mention the pole beans that also have bush forms, plus some other well-producing and attractive pole varieties:

‘Blue Lake':
See the bush variety in the preceding section.

‘Emerite':
Think of this variety as a green filet bean (see the later section "Other beans") on poles. The tender, pencil-thin, 4- to 5-inch-long pods are produced 64 days from seeding.

‘Fortex':
This variety produces extra-long (11-inch) pods that are stringless, tender, nutty, and savory. A French favorite, this productive green bean matures 60 days from seeding.

‘Goldmarie':
This early yielding, wax pole bean variety produces 8-inch pods 54 days from seeding.

‘Kentucky Wonder':
See the bush bean variety in the preceding section for a description. ‘Kentucky Wonder' also is available in a wax pole bean variety.

‘Purple Pod':
This unique purple-colored variety grows on a 6-foot-tall plant. When you cook the bean, its color changes from purple to dark green. It matures 65 days from seeding.

‘Romano':
See the bush bean variety in the preceding section.

‘Scarlet Runner':
This beautiful, vigorous pole bean is actually in a different species than other pole beans (
Phaseolus coccineus
). It produces attractive scarlet red flowers, large hairy pods, and bean seeds that are edible 70 days from seeding. The pods can be eaten when young and the bean seeds are edible when dried. This variety tastes okay, but it usually is grown as an ornamental for its attractive flowers and colorful red and black bean seeds.

The versatile shell and dried beans

Shell and dried beans are some of the most versatile beans to grow because you can eat them at the snap, shell, or dried stages. Eaten at the shell stage (fully matured seeds in the pod, but the pod is still green) or dried stage, you're eating the seed inside the pod. These seeds come in colors from white to red and can even be striped and spotted. Dried beans are great baked and in soups and chowders.

Most of the varieties in the following list are grown for their dried beans but also taste good at their shelling stage, too. They're the dried beans that most people are familiar with eating, and they're the tastiest to grow. The days to maturity represent the time from seeding to dried bean harvest. Most of these varieties are bushy plants:

‘Black Turtle':
This small black bean matures 85 days from seeding and grows best in warmer climates. Each pod produces seven to eight beans, which are often baked as well as used in soups and casseroles.

‘Blue Speckled Tepary':
This Southwest variety grows great in hot, dry conditions. The brown seeds with red speckles mature 90 days from seeding.