erdnuss Take a look at the online catalogue linked below. It has lots of pole and other beans, and most of the descriptions include the length of the vines for pole beans. I'm ordering pole limas, Fortex, and a pole wax bean from them this spring to add to my Smeraldo Italian pole beans saved from last year. Pole beans are much more productive over a longer period of time than bush beans. Enjoy! You'll want all of them if you could grow them! Here is a link that might be useful: Vermont Bean Seed Company

I don't have pole beans, but I have bush. I can send you 3-5 of each bean on my list sense you only want to try them. You can check out the beans I have for trade, here... http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch/missvillainess Or if you just want to send me a SASE, that's fine.

The red podded yardlongs have a firm texture, and somewhat of a nutty flavor. They mature later than some of the green-podded types (especially those with black seeds), and seem to prefer more heat than many of the green-podded varieties. The yield is good, but slightly less than the black-seeded varieties below. I enjoy them in part because they keep their burgundy color when cooked. There is wide variation in green-podded varieties. The black-seeded ones I've tried are generally earlier, more tolerant of cool weather, bear heavily, and have tender (even delicate) pods. One of the black-seeded varieties (with dark green pods & purple tips) has the strongest flavor of those that I've tasted; it goes by several names, including Asparagus Bean and Liana. Green-podded / red-seeded varieties seem to benefit from longer seasons, be firmer & often sweeter as a rule, have very long pods, and yields ranging from medium to somewhat heavy. Pods can be anywhere from very light green to deep green. There are many more discussions of yardlong beans on both the Bean Forum, and the Asian Vegetable Forum.

Old joke about peas and why many home gardeners don't waste space on them - "plant half the garden and you get half the peas you want". Don't know if this will help but here goes. I plant a 50 foot row of Alaska every year for 2 of us. Get plenty of fresh eating and enough to freeze 8-10 pints. I honestly don't see how you can plant any less then your whole bed but if your soil is in good condition and you trellis well you can plant closer and I also recommend the use of a nitrogen fixer to increase production in a new garden. Peas are quite cold tolerant - even a light snow - so early planting is no problem. If you get a late hard freeze a light cover of row cover or old sheet works fine. Beans - consider bush instead of pole. In zone 5 you can also get away with a bit of a later planting date for green beans if you use bush instead of pole beans and in a 2 foot wide bed with the peas planted back by the trellis a row of bush beans would fit in the front. That way you can have both. Good luck.