My beans have just begun producing, and this year I planted Kentucky Wonder pole beans and Smeraldo Roma pole beans.

The Smeraldos are 10 days earlier than the Kentucky Wonders, so they're the ones I've harvested so far, and I must say that they're absolutely delicious and productive beyond my wildest dreams! They make very wide long pods that are melt-in-your-mouth tender when cooked for 20 minutes, with not a single string anywhere. A large gathered handful serves two people generously. If you like the very beany taste of Roma beans, I can't encourage you enough to try them next year. I'll certainly grow them again for their productivity, texture, and taste.

I have Fortex pole beans on my list for next year, probably to replace the other standard pole beans but would like some other suggestions. What's done well for you?

Funny how some like beans more green like Festina with little cooking. I like them to melt in your mouth and then an occasional batch of an extra meaty one like Stringless Green Pod.

KY Wonder is late and about to begin flowering. Grew KY W last year; tender even with large seeds in pods, and good strong bean taste. Was also late last year, but was more insect resistant than the other beans. Planted 6/2/08.

Neckargold, Jeminez, and Rattlesnake from Sandhill Preservation are chugging along w/immature beans. Planted 6/2/08.

Everything's late this year, and many beans were killed by creeps, the second sowing (6/11, 6/25) faring no better than the first.

Some years back, I grew the beauty, Marvel of Venice, huge, vigorous, but pods were tough as burlap. I think she was a shellie, producing very broad, long pods w/lots of seeds. No good as a snap, though, but excellent as a shellie or dry, I assume. I grew it before I learned about shellies from all the good folks here.....

Cooking Ky Wonder: Cut them into 2-inch lengths and sautee them uncovered with garlic and sea salt for about 3-4 minutes till tender and brightly green. I find that adding liquid, like tomatoes, spoils the dish.

Am growing only pole beans.

Meanwhile I am getting floods of black seeded asparagus beans. Last year Rattlesnake was the fastest to produce, this year it's the yardlongs. They are tender for a long time and tasty too, and apparently unmolested by the creeps.

I don't think I've eaten eonugh variety of green beans to have an opinion on which is the best. However....I'd like to ask Moosemac if the Triumph de Farcy Filet Bean is similiar to haricot verts. I had those recently and they were delicous steamed and sauteed in garlic and a little olive oil. So, I'm growing them this year but haven't eaten any yet.

How are those haricot verts vines growing? Are they a strong growing vine? Are they bush or pole? I've been thinking of those too. I had some last year and loved them but couldn't find the seed around here.

Last year, I planted a yellow wax bean on the same trellis; I got a green bean with purple splotches on that half of the trellis. Did they cross? I'm not sure but both tasted good.

Sandhill Preservation Center sells the seeds.

Unfortunately, the woodchucks and voles in my garden also love Uncle Steve's Pole beans. After relocating 11 woodchucks, I am now on my 4th planting. Hopefully, I'll have beans soon.

Bellatrix

Randy

Haha, joking. I suspect it was a typo on Ppod's post. I wonder what Ppod meant by it too.

Usually the noun "creeps" is a slang term for weird creepy guys that creep you out and give you the creeps. I thought the idea of weird creepy guys creepily sneaking through gardens, like gnomes, and furtively harming bean plants was funny.

*runs to store to purchase decorative figurines of garden creeps*

My old reliable is Improved Tendergreen. It's neither the best tasting (fresh cooked) nor the most prolific, but I've found it to be the best of the varieties I've tried afa holding up well to blanching and freezing.

The best bean I've ever tasted in my life was the scarlet runners my grandma used to grow in Calgary, AB. Both my father and I have tried to grow them here in Saskatchewan, but they don't taste anything like Grandma's, so we've given up. Bean flavour must be highly dependent on soil.

The most prolific and tender green beans (I only grow bush, btw) I've grown have been Provider; you can quite literally pick them by the handful every day for over a week. Gold Mine yellow beans have done the same for me and they're incredibly tender. Neither have been as good for freezing as my Improved Tendergreen, though. If I know our summer is going to be busy and we might be traveling here and there, I always plant Royal Burgundy because I've found they hold best in hot weather.

I guess I haven't found that perfect bean yet. I tend to plant a combination to cover my bases each year. This year I bought a new green to try - Matador - forgetting I still had some other seeds to use up. I'll be planting them next year.

And just because I can't resist...

Our daughter has always hated green beans, then last night she watched me pick them from the garden, trim and wash them. She ate every one on her plate and asked for more!

I just picked my 1st haricot verts today so we'll eat them tomorrow night. They don't taste very good raw but they certainly are delicious cooked.

Hi Aulani, these beans grow on a rather smallish sized bush. I'd be happy to send you some seeds. Just say the word.

Here's my question. Do you suppose that the sagging tepee received more sun because it was sitting at an angle? Each tepee has always received equal amounts of water and fertilizer. Just wondering.

BTW, I left the sagging tepee the way it was since it isn't really falling. It has rained once and it hasn't sagged any more. There was lots of baby beans on the sagging tepee day before yesterday. Not that many on the upright one.

TIA
LAS

This is my first year growing beans. I'm growing Kentucky Wonder (heirloom) pole beans, and they are growing well and producing a lot. Taste is good too.

How is Emerite compared to Kentucky Wonder.

They are both bush types, but I found that Roc d'Or benefited from a little bit of support.

--McKenzie

Some bean varieties (such as "Jumbo") are occasionally described as "hybrids". They may have originally begun that way, but all beans are stable varieties before they are offered for sale. At that point, they are considered to be "open pollinated", or OP. "Emerite" is a commercial OP cultivar. An heirloom is just an OP variety which began outside the seed trade (generally within a family or region) and has stood the test of time.

I love both "Emerite" and the white-seeded "KY Wonder 191". "Emerite" is firmer, sweeter, and very slow to develop fiber. The pods are very round, straight, and consistent in size... which along with the firmness, makes them very good for freezing & canning. It has very good cool-soil germination, and does best for me in cooler summers.

In contrast, "KY Wonder" will develop strings, and needs to be picked when young.. but I love the rich, beany flavor. The vines are exceptionally robust & branch heavily, so the yield from a single picking can be very high. It has fairly poor cool-soil germination, so I need to plant it later... but it has better heat tolerance than "Emerite".

Along with "Fortex", I generally grow one of these three as my main pole snap. I also grow several Romano-type flat-podded beans (mostly heirlooms) and they are very tasty, but they tend not to freeze as well. "Garafal Oro" is my favorite.

Macky77 had mentioned "Improved Tendergreen". Before I became a pole bean addict, I grew them for many years, and still consider them to be a great bean for those who prefer a bush variety. Like "KY Wonder", they need to be picked early... but the pods are good sized, borne abundantly, and freeze well.

Some good "green beans" are purple podded when fresh, but turn green when cooked. Last year, I grew a flat-podded purple heirloom ("Czechoslovakian") and in a summer of record heat, it out-produced all of my other snaps - by a wide margin. This year I am growing "Grandma Robert's Purple Pole" (thanks Fusion), and am very impressed by it. The pods are round, straight, have firm texture, and are borne in considerable numbers. I might be adding it to my permanent snap rotation.

We do like the BBL, but I can't wait to try some of the other varieties mentioned in this thread!

Yes, KY Wonder start out flattened, especially when the pods are young.

I would think that if the beans were cooked along with edamame, that they would be under cooked... or the edamame over cooked. Edamame needs to be be only lightly cooked - for about 5-7 minutes, depending upon the variety & the amount prepared.