"wait, wait...are you saying I can put six HUNDRED plants in a 10x10 plot???" Those yields are based upon a degree of soil conditioning that is very labor-intensive... and while I have read of such recommendations, I have yet to see photos, or hear first-hand observations, proving that they would work for most gardeners. All of the digging aside, in my area, I'd be flirting with disaster if I crowded my beans that closely. Personally, I wouldn't recommend it. Most bush beans - when healthy & mature - have a footprint of 1/2 - 1 sq. ft. or larger. 100 plants (1 per sq. ft.) should be a safe bet; I've successfully used 6" between plants w/ 2-foot spacing between rows, which is close to the same thing. You might be able to get away with 2-3 plants per sq. ft. for the more compact varieties. Crowding more closely than that may work in the warm dry climate of California; but in the cooler, wetter Northern climes, it could lead to severe disease problems. I'm not saying that it wouldn't work... just that I wouldn't put all my eggs in that one basket, unless/until small-scale trials proved it to be successful. In a post above, I had mentioned "seed efficiency". To put that in perspective, large kidney beans are somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-60 seeds per ounce. If planted at the recommended bio-intensive density of 600+ for a 10' X 10' plot, you would need between 10-16 ounces of seed to plant... so you would need to buy (or save from the previous season) a pound of seed. Assuming you harvest 24 pounds of dry seed (which is, keep in mind, the best case scenario), it would represent a return of between 24/1 & 38/1, depending upon seed size. Most gardeners would get much less than that, since the maximum is for experienced gardeners, on well amended soil. In contrast, my observations are that large-seeded bush beans, given the 6" plant/2' row spacing I mentioned above, are easily capable of a seed increase of between 50/1 - 100/1. Small-seeded types will tend to yield about the same weight/plant, but at an even higher ratio of increase, well over 100/1... so in terms of cost effectiveness (if purchasing seed) small is often better. Pole beans can do better still; the "Striped Cornfield" I grew this year (@45 seeds/oz.) produced a return of over 500/1! My results were obtained by mechanical tilling, with leaves & mulch turned under each season. Using these numbers, the same kidney beans - if grown in 5 rows in the same 10' X 10' plot - would be 100 plants. This would produce between 5 & 10 pounds of seed minimum... with only 2 ounces of seed required for planting, the average in a packet of beans. Also, at this spacing, the plants have sufficient air flow through the foliage to minimize the chances of disease during prolonged periods of rainfall. Having tested that theory in some very bad years recently (such as in 2008) I consider these yields to be realistically attainable, year after year. I don't doubt that my spacings could be improved upon; it is something that I often experiment with. Most likely, there is a happy medium somewhere between row spacing & high-density plantings which will produce the best yield, for a given area, with the littlest possible seed. That "happy medium" should take into account the expected annual variations in climate, since what works well one year, might not work the next. With soybeans, I have had some success with closely-spaced double rows, with standard row spacing between the pairs... so that may work for bush beans as well. Given the observations I have made on over 100 bean varieties over the years, I expect the optimal spacing will vary widely, depending upon variety, climate, and soil fertility. So there is really no "one correct answer" for bean spacing... just starting points for personal experimentation. Keep in mind, John Jeavons' bio-intensive recommendations mentioned above pertain to bush beans only. Pole beans are not suitable for wide bed planting, due to shading. However, you can have the best of both worlds using pole beans. Planted in a single row on the North side of the bed (where they would not shade shorter crops), they take up a relatively small footprint. A high-yielding pole variety could give you 3-4 pounds of dry seed from one row in that same 10' X 10' bed. You could use the majority of the bed(s) for other things, and still get a good crop of beans. My apologies for all of the long (and probably dry) posts, but as an amateur researcher, I just wanted to share some "bean science". Just wish this was on the Bean Forum.

LOL I'm just a farmers daughter from the Allegheny Mts. all my grandma did with beans was can them! Although Dad liked his fried fresh in butter and onions and eaten with gravy on top. I liked them canned and my 8yr old loves 3 bean salad, the baby age 2 likes any bean, anyway. As for my book, STOCKING UP it was printed by Rodale Press (think organtic gardening or farming magazine) mine was copywrit 1973. And I bought it on Ebay. In it, it has a list of what vegetable varieties are good for what; canning, freezing, pickling whatever, and where you can buy them; Henry Field, Burpee, etc.... For example, for dried beans they recommend a whole list, but I can look at this list and find McClasan Pole and it is sold by R.H. Shumway , a seed company from Rockford, IL. or White Wonder from Henry Fields. Its interesting. This book has chapters on storing different fruits & veggies, whether by canning, drying, or underground storage or pickling, as well as chapters on preserving meat and dairy and seeds, nuts, and grains.

To add a little more to what Dorothy said, the symptoms you describe are almost always a result of too much moisture. If you had said the beans had rust-colored spots, that would be a disease called Rust, and a fungicide would be the preferred treatment. Your description of yellowing leaves with tiny gray spots could be any one of a number of bacterial or fungal diseases that hit plants which have been too wet. The most likely candidate in this high humidity is powdery mildew. The first symptoms of powdery mildew on beans is usually faint spotting on the leaves that turns into a gray, talcum-like growth that spreads from leaf to leaf and can cover the whole plant. As the PM worsens, the leaves yellow and you also may see some dwarfing of the plants. You can treat your plants with sulfur or with any fungicide listed as safe (on the bottle label) for use on beans. One way powdery mildew spreads is by you touching the plants and inadvertently spreading the disease from leaf to leaf or plant to plant, so be very careful if you are touching the plants. If I have PM issues, I usually wait for the leaves to fall off and then pick them up and dispose of them without touching the plants. There are a couple of other reasons that bean leaves turn yellow, but they are less likely the cause of the current problem. Those other reasons would be nematodes (generally only an issue in sandy or sandy loam soils and generally not an issue this early in the growing season) or spider mites, but I'd be surprised if you had spider mites right now since they tend to be more of a problem in hot, dry, dusty weather. If your plants are not too far gone, you can save them from PM and other fungal diseases by applying a fungicide approved for use in edible crops. Just follow the product label's directions and keep your fingers crossed. As long as your plants are still producing new growth at the top, they should not be too far gone to save. In case you are new to vegetable gardening, you should know that it is always a wise idea to avoid touching plant foliage that is diseased and/or wet because doing so helps spread the disease from plant to plant. Dawn

I thought the same thing Annie. I've never liked anything more than maybe toasted almonds on green beans, but this might be worth a try! When Guy made them, it didn't seem to be that labor intensive, although, they make everything look so damn easy! Let me know if you make it. I may make it for Christmas. Gina