Unfortunately I haven't really received an answer to my question. I plan to space them how far apart each plant should be spaced. OK. I would prefer to use a window box, so however many gallons the thing has to be to plant 4 green bean plants without overcrowding them, please specify the dimensions of the window box and what size it has to be in gallons. 6" deep, 6" long and 6" wide. I assume since I'll be planting 4 bush green bean plants and this is how many I want in a container without overcrowding them after I thin them, that I should plant double the amount of seeds with the number of plants I plan to grow since I'll be thinning them out to the strongest plants later? First, the idea of thinning to leave just the strongest plants is silly. What criteria determines which plant is strongest? Sometimes the little weaklings go on to do impressive things once they reach their stride, and the rapid growers peter out and become weak, but I digress. If you will only be planting 4 bush bean plants it isn't really worth your time. You will, at best, get 1-2 light side meals from that amount. Bush beans are usually planted with 3-6" spacing. Root system crowding/competition is pretty much never a limiting factor for them, instead sunlight exposure is. If you plant them too densely the ones in the middle shaded by the sunny side ones become the primary limiting factor. In a container you have the luxury of rotating it for sun exposure so you can plant a little more densely than in the ground. In a trough style container you can go even more dense since the mass of leaves is only as wide and the narrow container. If it were me and I was using a container 30" long by 6" wide by 6" deep I would place 20 bush bean plants into that space. That's 3" per plant. I would also fertilize with a 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer such as Miracle Grow 24-8-16. Don't count on the myth of beans/legumes using atmospheric nitrogen when growing in containers. Heck, half the time you can't even count on it when growing in the ground. With a trough shaped container this amounts to 2 rows of beans and I would rotate the container every day or every other day to get both sides adequate light.

Here's an idea for the beans -- do as you say, pick clean, water, do a rain dance or two, and hope they start over on HALF of your plants. On the other half, leave them and let the beans dry, and at least you'll be certain of having dry beans for chili this winter, even if you don't have lots of quarts of canned green beans. My broccoli is also inedible because of the heat and drought. If you keep broccoli from going into full flower and setting seed, it will keep on sending up side shoots (trying to reproduce). You can keep cutting (not to the ground, just the heads and then the side shoots, as mentioned above) and hope that the cool of fall will improve the flavor of the side shoots that are produced then-- it does do that most years for me, also in zone 5. Good luck!

zeedman wrote: "My recommendation is that before offering the seed, you perform a germination test. This would only take a week or so. Wrap 10 seeds in a wet paper towel, and place that in a plastic bag, in a warm location. If sprouts emerge, at least some of the seed is good; if not - or if only a few - I wouldn't offer it." ----------------------------------------------- I whole heartedly agree! That is what I do anyway. Even purchased seed can fail to sprout! I pre-sprout nearly all my seeds that way, spacing them on the paper towels so they do not touch. I fold the paper towel over the seeds carefully and then slide the bundle into a recycled bread wrapper or a large storage bag. Put a piece of freezer tape or similar type tape on each bag with the seed ID, date and expected germination dates. Place them in a dark, warm place and check every day or so - they usually sprout quicker than they do in the soil. If the paper towel is stuck to the seeds because the sprout has grown into it, just wet the paper again and tear the whole thing off and plant it. The paper will disintegrate in a short time. Then you will know how many viable seeds you have and can properly space them when you plant them out. You won't have to replant and wonder if a bird or critter got your seeds. Also you will see emergence a lot sooner. :) ~sweetannie4u

Did you let the seeds dry in the pod? Or are you picking them fresh for eating? Before they dry, my favas are green as well, even though they were planted from brown seeds. As they start getting older in the pod and dry, they turn brown. Jill