Vacations have a tendency to curb the style of garden planning, both from the standpoint of care and of using – or losing – the products. Bush snap beans are an exception. They grow quickly and can be planted and harvested before or after vacation or both. Ordinarily the crop matures in seven or eight weeks from seeding. True, beans are tender to frost and will not come back as well as sweet corn after being nipped on a snappy morning. On the other hand it takes only a few days for them to get above ground and one can plant reasonably safely two weeks after average date of last killing frost. And one may take a chance a week earlier. It does not pay to plant beans too early for they do not grow as well as peas or radishes when temperatures are low.
In much of the North, a July 15 planting will likely come through and seedings may even be made as late as August 1, according to the local climate.
Most bush snap beans are being bred for “concentrated ” maturity to save labor in picking. This is really no disadvantage for the home gardener or if landscape lighting would bother the growth rate. One can make as many plantings as desired, say, two weeks apart.
Beans are fairly tolerant of acidity in the soil, though limas are less so than ordinary bush snap beans. They do well in a wide range of soils, light to heavy. Adequate general fertilizing for the whole garden is sufficient for beans. But do not be misled by the old adage, “That land is so poor it won’t grow beans”.
Recent breeding has given us a magnificent new crop of varieties of green snap bush beans.
Bush beans are planted in rows 30 inches or three feet apart. Eight seeds per foot usually gives a good stand. The yield of bean plants is not as greatly affected by planting too thickly or too thinly as is sweet corn. There is considerable capacity for adjustment to spacing.
Many people harvest beans without having done anything about diseases and insects. But sometimes the enemies are destructive. The seed corn maggot may destroy the plant before the beans are up. Some plants get above ground but have lost their growing-point, these are often called “snake-heads”. There is not much to do about the maggot except to plant when the county agricultural agent proclaims (or reveals) the maggot free period. Shallow planting favors quick “come-up” which helps against maggots but this is not so good when the soil is dry. Planting a bit thickly is also useful. Spergon, dusted on the seed, helps control root rot. Anthracnose (rust) and bacterial blight are best controlled by buying disease-free seed. Most seed offered by reliable seedsmen meets this requirement.
Another story could be written on the widely diverse groups of beans that are available – the horticultural, beloved by New Englanders; the pole beans, for rich quality and prolonged picking; the limas for toothsome richness; the white and scarlet runners for beauty, as well as the green shell use, and others beside.
