I'm growing the dark violet Blauhilde from Gourmet Seeds, and today had the first bean, which had good, strong taste. Pods start out green, but turn dark violet as they mature. Stems and leaf veins are dark violet. Flowers are violet. Pretty. Planted the seeds in situ 6/2/08.

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.

Ky Wonder Bush is what I've always planted. A good tasting bean. THIS year I brought Top Crop bush. I really don't care much for the flavor, although it's a good producer. I've them over three times now.

Ppod, you got creeps in your garden too? Gotta hate those bean killin creeps.

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.

Triumph de Farcy Filet Bean. It's a bush bean that produces small tender filet beans that are great raw, cooked, frozen or canned. Produces early. Usually I get a first huge crop and about 10 days later I get a huge second crop then it continues producing until the frost.

Sorry for my ignorance here, but what are creeps? I thought perhaps they were insects. *shrugs shoulders*

"what are creeps?"
I wondered the same thing.

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.

I can't find seed but I bought some Malibu beans at a market a couple of years ago and they were the best! They were stringless and had a wounderful taste. Grown in Georgia.

Peggy,

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.

Trionfo Violettos, a purple bean that turns dark green when cooked. Produces long beans early and keeps on doing so for weeks. Vigorous climbers. Dark brown bean (seed) inside.

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.

I absolutely love Uncle Steve's Italian Pole Bean. They produce well and all season long. They have a buttery taste and great texture. Plus, they're pretty:

{{gwi:94497}}

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

Here is a link that might be useful: Sandhill Preservation Center

Fortex. This is the first year I've grown it. My first reaction from the first bite was that I think I've found a new favorite green bean. It is tasty and tender. It kind of melts in your mouth. I highly recommend it.

Randy

"what are creeps?"

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.

C'mon, ya all know what creeps are! Those unseen monsters creeping 'bout in the night cutting the bean stems, so the beans croak.

OMG I WAS RIGHT!?!!

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

We just had our first picking of beans for supper last night! :) My gawd... beans are what I garden for!

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.
{{gwi:94498}}

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...
{{gwi:94499}}
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 grow KY Wonder bush, love the flavor. I also grow brown bunch beans which I love the flavor of these two. The seed come from our local nursery Mayos garden center. Here in the south most folks like white half runners, not me, bean too big in them and the pods are rather tough. Mine have come and gone so I'm on my second planting of KY Wonder and I've planted purple hull cow peas. They are delicious to!

The best and most prolific I have ever grown is Rattlesnake...Unbelievable......

bella trix - those look just like what I was speaking of. Green beans with purple splotches. I think I need to give the Amish lady where I buy my seed (for years) a good talking to. First I plant yellow wax last year and get something like Uncle Steve's, this year I plant Kentucky Wonders and get the wax variety (not the green as expected).

Hi Peggy,
Yes the Triumph De Farcy are a filet bean aka haricot verts. They are wonderful perepared as you described. I orginally thought they were only good as a fresh bean but have found them to be a great all around bean, a huge producer and very easy to grow.

Thanks Moosemac,

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.

Thanks Peggy, I'd like to try growing them. Not many, just a few plants to try them out. I'll e-mail you.

I grow an old pole bean called blue ribbon. I like a meaty bean with a lot of bean in it. They have a delicious old time bean taste and are very prolific. By putting on a vertical trellis, I can grow a lot of beans in little garden space.

Hi everyone, this spring I planted KY wonder pole beans and Blue Lake bush beans, after being nibbled on by deer earlier in the season and more recently by the japanese beetles we've picked two batches of both so far and they are both still producing... I planted a second round of pole beans ( tobacco worm ) and they are just starting to climb so I hope they will be ready when the bush beans stop producing... I cook mine slow ( an hour or so ) in a big pot with some ham and baby yukon gold potatoes until the green beans are tender ... with some corn muffins on the side... soooo good ! A good old fashioned country dinner , its the best !
{{gwi:94500}}

For pole beans we grow Emerites (after trying lots of others); for bush beans Nickels. Both are prolific and delicious and stringless, but Nickels can be a bit difficult to germinate, at least in our garden.

I don't have much to say about the green beans, since mine aren't really going yet and I can't remember what I planted anyway. But I wanted to just comment on the adorable toddler eating beans. I'm so jealous. I think my 5 year old hasn't touch a vegetable in about 4 years - unless you count ketchup.
Stacey

Something interesting happened to my Kentucky Wonders. I have two tepees of them. One of the tepees began to sag toward one side. Everytime I saw it, I promised myself I'd straighten it up. Well, several days passed and that's when I saw something that deserves comment. I went to pick some beans from that sagging tepee and there were so many I had to put them into my t-shirt. The other tepee only had the usual daily handfull.

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.

Are Kentucky Wonder Bush reliably stringless?

TIA
LAS

Contender and Derby

I'm with flowergirl70ks! Contender has long been my old stand by! Must be a Kansas thing! LOL...........

Is Emerite heirloom or hybrid?

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.

I haven't grown many varieties. Last year I grew Roc d'Or, which is a yellow wax bean. It produced a lot of beans over a long time. This year I tried goldrush (also a yellow wax bean). Roc d'Or was definitely tastier and more prolific. I will probably do Roc d'Or again next year.

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

--McKenzie

"Is Emerite heirloom or hybrid?"

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.

I've grown Contender, Derby, top crop and Ky wonder before - but for the past 4 or 5 years, I've choosen Provider. It produces for over 4 weeks... They just keep flowering and producing like mad.. So this market gardener will continue to stick to provider for the shear quantaty it produces... Not to mention the wonderful flavor. They also stay really tender at a large size which happens often enough. we do miss the small ones from time to time.

We always grow Jade bush beans which continue to produce beans for many pickings, but this year we are also trying Kentucky Blue pole beans. It is apparently a cross between KY Wonder and Blue Lake. Although a cross, Territorial Seeds lists them as open pollinated. Very productive! The beans have a very good flavor, though I do not cook them for a long period of time, so I cannot attest to their flavor when cooked in that manner. Just a few minutes in the steamer for us, a nice coating of olive oil and some salt. Yum!
I will be curious as to their freezing suitability.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kentucky Blue pole beans

We picked over 2 pounds of Emerite pole beans yesterday from 11 plants. That seemed like great production to me. We had picked a few earlier and it looks like there will be lots more before long. Zeedman's description of "very round, straight, and consistent in size" is what we found, too. Most every bean was close to "perfect". Glad to hear they freeze well since it looks like even with only a few plants we may have more than the two of us can eat fresh.

This post was edited by naturegirl_2007 on Mon, Aug 19, 13 at 21:33

Are Kentucky Wonder somewhat flattened (not wide though)? Mine don't look round (cross section) like the Bush Blue Lake. Since they're Burpee seeds, I'm wondering if I got mislabeled packet (has happened with tomatoes). I just got a handful and overcooked them last night b/c I was trying to cook edamame at the same time, so I can't tell flavor.

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

Nash are wonderful for our area, which tends to be hot, windy. Literally hands full of beans when picking. They keep producing and are wonderful fresh, steamed and canned.

Fortex pole beans. They are sweet at any size and are long, too.

Rattlesnake, hands down. 10 out of 10 for flavor.
25 feet this year will easily be 150 next year.

"Are Kentucky Wonder somewhat flattened (not wide though)? Mine don't look round (cross section) like the Bush Blue Lake. Since they're Burpee seeds, I'm wondering if I got mislabeled packet (has happened with tomatoes). I just got a handful and overcooked them last night b/c I was trying to cook edamame at the same time, so I can't tell flavor. "

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.

Thanks, I am trying to pick them young so no strings. And they were in the pot in the boiling water, edamame was in steamer basket above, that's why the beans ended up overcooked (to my taste, I like things pretty underdone, except edamame LOL) after 5 minutes at a hard boil.

JADE! All of the Amish in my heavily Amish populated area grow it and we have for four years. It stays tender much longer than all the popular varieties and has great green bean taste. We freeze 20 gallons a year and eat fresh every night wjile in season(June to October in WNY). JADE!!!!!!!!

Bean "Festina" from Park Seed. Discontinued, and cannot find another source. Does anyone know where I can get some more? Buttloads of stringless, delicious beans, a dozens plants yielded far more than two people can eat, had to blanch and freeze for beans all winter. IMO, superior in taste and yield vs Blue Lake and Contender and KY Wonder.

Please, where can I get more seeds?

It doesn't look like you can, sorry. Only West Coast Seeds (Park's seed source) and Whillite Seed imported/offered them. You might contact one of them for explanation. I did find one link that explained their hybrid relationship to Bush Blue Lake - lists them as a modified strain of BBL - so like many hybrids perhaps they just fell by the wayside.

Dave

It is a 2002 Seminis release. They no longer list it so it may be discontinued. It is open pollinated tho PVP. If anyone has saved seeds it could be kept going. The big developers keep working to get a market edge, when they develop something that sells better, the slow sellers are dropped. All beans are Op, but at least half the varieties introduced since WW II have disappeared. Lots of them to consolidation of seed companies. Bayer bought Monsanto so it may have been lost as they clean up their lists.

pickin & grinnin wins the prize in my opinion. It bears well over a long period of time. But best of all it holds well. Ever had one of those days, after a long day in the garden, when you said I wish I didn't still have to pick beans. You won't with Pickin & Grinnin because they will hold on the plant longer and taste great too.

Without a doubt brown bunch beans which I have not found seeds for in over 10 years until I recently found someone selling on ebay.I ordered and received and I am looking forward to planting in a few weeks.I had almost given up of ever finding these seeds again. I will save my own seeds from now on.

I agree with volfan that that I have never eaten any green bean that tasted better than brown bunch beans.This is the bean my grandmother used to grow in her garden while she was still able to put a garden out.I have not been able to find seed anywhere so thanks volfan for the post. I plan on ordering from the guy on ebay and hopefully I can surprise my grandma with some home grown beans

When they're young and straight from the garden, Brown Bunch has a flavor that none other equal. But, I have another fav. Though they'll work you to death, Peanut Beans. They can wonderfully well.

After reading the comments about brown bunch beans last year I decided to try them and ordered from midnight trader on ebay. After 40 years of gardening and trying a multitude of green bean varieties my quest is finally over these are the best tasting beans I have ever grown. These beans are also virtually stringless when picked young and tender and also can well but when eaten fresh are in a league of their own. From the seed I saved from last years crop I was able to plant a full crop this year and Brown Bunch Beans will be a staple in my garden for years to come. Thanks to all of you who commented on this site that put me on to these beans I would have never have tried if not for you.