I'm thinking about growing pole beans next year. I want to grow Roma beans (flat Italian green beans) and lima beans. I read that a 10 foot row would yield enough beans for a family of four to have fresh green beans for dinner twice a week during the growing season. I realize that's vague but it's is a place to start thinking about how to allocate space. Does this seem realistic to those of you who grow pole beans? I grow Roma bush and Lima bush beans now. I want some of that space for other things. I have grown snap peas, yard long beans and black eyed peas on a trellis. I got satisfactory yields.
Actually, that sounds about right if you figure a serving size at 1/2 to 3/4 cup cooked. I have grown other types and since you are producing beans up the length of the vine they do produce more than a bush bean. That would of course be under good to excellent conditions weatherwise. When I grew pole beans I had to pick them every two to three days.
Thank you, Mart. That does help me with my thinking. I've had 24 hours to sleep on the problem now and I'm feeling pretty optimistic. When I measured the space for bean trellises. I've got room for two. They can be 12 linear feet instead of ten feet.
I've grown scarlet runner (pole bean) for eating for years. (I like their hardy flavor that is great with garlic and romano cheese or as pickled green beans) They always produced more than we could eat in the green stage and some for drying (soups) and replanting the following year. My single row is approximately the same length as yours and there are only two of us. My pole beans have always gotten taller than any pole and produced much heavier than any bush bean I've grown.
If room is a problem, PP--you could plant the beans on wigwams and perhaps get even more beans planted. Those Roma beans are quite popular over here and tase sweetish to me. I like them. We even have a special instrument to cut them up. I hope you have good luck growing them. I do not know about your birds there, but over here, the birds really love eating them, so I have to protect them with netting. p.s. Another little tip for the pole beans is to cut the end of the vine off once it reaches the top of your stick or wigwam. It will then produce suide shoots and give you even more flowers and beans for a bit longer time. You will get enough to eat fresh and freeze-in.
You could use the Tee Pee style and plant your beans around it and probably do better than if planted on a single trellis. Wouldn`t take much more space and the beans would produce all the way around.
Sjoerd, thanks for the tip about topping off the bean vines. I've made a note about it on my bean planting sheet. I've never heard or read about doing that before. Mart, you might be right about the tee pee style tower. I could tuck some lettuce and spinach under those towers too. Anything to save space. Jewell, there's not much better on this earth than garlic green beans. That's usually how I prepare my Roma's. Have you tried garlic green beans cold in a salad with tomato, cucumber and shaved onion with a little splash of red wine vinegar. Yum. Your Romano cheese would be heaven sprinkled on this.
Ok PP-- I grew spinach and Swiss chard under my beans this year and have grown lettuce under my bean wigwams in the past, but the plants didn't do so well. I am reckoning because of the thick foliage of the beans plants. Another thing about pinching off the ends of the bean plants --I do not do it with French climbers only the long, flat runner-type beansones like you are talking of growing. Good luck with your planting!
Like Sjoerd said, I don`t think they would do well there, but you could tuck them around the outside since most of the bean growth would be above them. Most all lettuce needs full sun.
I agree. That might be too much shade for lettuce even here in the desert where lettuce welcomes semi-shade. Lettuce is chancy here anyway. It gets hot quickly in the spring and stays hot for a long time. It was 100 degrees Sunday--rare for October. I'd planted fall lettuce, it all went bitter even though I ran out and put shade covers over it. I'm trying again now. But, an early frost could take that out in a month. I've put some leaf lettuce in a long box shaped planter that I plan on bringing indoors when a freeze is predicted. I've got a window where it might be happy.
Pricklypear, I will have to try your suggestion for green beans "yuuumm". Arizona weather is a far cry from any where that I have lived. I can't help but mention that the best and biggest harvest of spinach and lettuce I ever grew was in hot southern Idaho (no comparison to AZ though) under the shade of a locust tree . You never know what the micro climates might produce and how much reflected light might come into an area. Don't be afraid to experiment. If your soil is well prepared amazing things can happen (some years ).
Many lettuce varieties love frosty weather. Only the spring varieties do not do as well. Try iceberg or the romaine types. Parris Island Cos is a romaine type that does well in cooler weather. I usually buy several types and mix them all together in a shaker with a bit of cornmeal and then sprinkle them in a prepared bed. Its like a growing salad. Pretty too.
You are getting good advice. Still let me encourage you to trial a plant or two of lettuce under your bean teepee. It might work!
