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Beans, Peas & Legumes

Do pole beans taste better than bush beans?

17 years ago

Although I have been growing my own vegetables for many years, I never grew beans. It could be because I think of beans as the soggy green things that come out of a can that people throw in a pan to heat up, water and all, and serve with no seasoning.

And yet, growing up in Europe, I used to like the beans my mother cooked.

So, this year, I'd like to get started growing beans.

I'd like a bean that I could eat at different stages, fresh, shelled (I've never eaten shelled beans)and dry. Tongue of Fire looks good. But above all, I'd like to find really tasty varieties.

I've never had the filet beans - are they worth growing?

I've never had wax beans, either - or flageolet beans, for that matter. Gee... I must be bean deprived!

I have a few seeds of Landfrauen beans that a friend gave me some years ago.

Could anyone put me on the right track? I'm looking for flavor here. Do pole beans taste better than bush beans?

Thanks a lot, guys.

Fran

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Comments (2)

galina
17 years ago
Fran

Berner Landfrauen is definitely a very good bean, extremely tasty. However it has one disadvantage and that is its lateness. So I urge you to grow at least one other. For example Kwintus, which will go right through the season and produce early and late. Another you might like to try is Kentucky Wonder. A yellow wax bean, Neckargold, also produces early.

You can never grow too many different tall growing beans. I usually grow over 20 varieties every year.

Do they taste better? Not necessarily, but there are many more tall varieties than bush varieties, so you have much wider choice. Often bush varieties are agri-business varieties because they can be machine harvested. High yielding and ripening all pods evenly on the same day. Not so good for gardeners who want to harvest over a long period.

I cannot promise that the tall varieties I grow and love will taste equally good at your location, because weather and soil and cultivation influences flavour, but I can promise that you will find a huge choice of tasty beans amongst the tall varieties.

They may need trellising, but it is so much easier to pick standing upright, than having to bend and stoop.

Good luck
trisha_51
17 years ago
i like pole beans better because they are up off the ground and cleaner, and easier to pick. i grew up on bush types, green and wax, now grow only poles because of the space issue. Kentucky type varieties are great. A purple variety we grew a couple years ago was fantastic. Couldn't find the seeds last year, but this year i'm growing them again. And when they get too big, i just shell them, cook them with the others, and enjoy them!
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Hope you don't mind if I start at the bottom and work up? :) Growing kidney beans worth it? No, not IMO. Takes too much space for any worthwhile production. Plus they need to dry on the vine so all that space is locked up well into fall. Canning info? That is the Harvest Forum here for all the canning info you need. How-tos are readily available there. Seeds or plants? Seeds. They do much better than trying to transplant. Bush beans don't usually need any support. They are bushes and support themselves. But I guess you could use tomato cages if you needed to for some reason. I wouldn't. Pole beans don't require heavy duty support unless wind is a real problem. If so you can use clothesline or even wire but the string has the advantage of being disposable at season end. If you are concerned just double the string. But many other more effective types of support are available too. Check out the Beans and Peas forum here for more ideas and even some support pics. Hope this helps. Dave
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If you installed metal t-posts, you could attach Johnny's Hortonova trellis to the T-posts and have a good strong support for your pole beans. You'll have a stronger set-up if you support some of the T-posts front and back, especially posts at end of rows. Re-bars pounded into ground right up against T-posts will do the trick and help prevent T-posts from leaning/falling over in a storm. I've used the Hortonova netting and have been pleased with it. Johnny's also have it in smaller length, plus a similar product called Trellinet . I like the 6 x 6 inch holes that are large enough for my hands when harvesting. (Hortonova/Trellinet's width = your installation's height.) Home D. has T-posts (garden Dept.) and re-bars (w/cement and the like). You'll need a small sledgehammer (cement dept), and cable ties (electrical dept) for attaching the netting to the posts.
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I've seen this tendency fo the first time this year since I was trying to grow older heirloom bush beans. A lot of older varieties appear to make runners and will grow up if given support. Bountiful bush for example appears to be a half-runner. It latched onto taller plants nearby and hauled itself onto a neighboring empty trellis. However, the tallest vines on this one are only about chest height. This being the case, do you like the flavor and texture of the beans your plant has produced so far? If it is just now making beans (my poles are just starting up) give it a chance and taste some. It could become your new favorite bean.
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