May 12 Column: How to Grow Beans

Do you grow beans in your garden? They are one of my favorite vegetables because they are so flavorful and abundant enough to also give you plenty to preserve for fall and winter eating. In my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review, I share tips for successfully growing bush and pole beans. Here’s a link to it: Placement counts when it comes to growing beans.

To be honest, I prefer growing pole beans because it’s fun growing them on the arbor in our garden. Many of you have seen our bean arbor, but just in case you haven’t, check out the photo! (and remember that you can click on it to view a larger image)

I get a lot of questions asking where we bought our arbor. It’s actually 4 individual trellises that I bought in a Fred Meyer garden center many years ago. The amazing thing is that they had marked all of their trellises 50% off at the beginning of the garden season! Talk about great luck.

The year before, I had suddenly realized it would make sense to grow our beans on a support that spans a pathway between two raised beds. Once we put the bean arbor in place the next spring, I was happy to discover that a) the beans primarily hang down on the inside making it easier to find them (see photo at right), and b) you get to stand in the shade on a hot summer’s day while picking them! You know, I don’t have a lot of “aha” moments but this was a good one!

In my “Everyone Can Grow a Garden” video for this week, I take you through the steps of growing green beans. In it, there are plenty of tips from what I’ve learned over the years. Have a look:

There’s still enough time to get your beans started so I hope you’ll give them a try if you don’t ordinarily grow beans. Have a great week!