I learned the hard way a few years ago that we get a light frost around Sept 18 and sure enough it happened again. Seems very related to the full moon. Fortunately my husband heard the frost warning and we covered things. It's funny. He went for tarps which we used on the pepper plants but they needed to be removed the next day and it was already pretty hot underneath. I used Agribon fabric on cucumbers. The vine that didn't get covered died from cold but that light garden fabric protected the rest of the plants. It's hard to believe. We have an unheated high tunnel which has only been thru one winter. I have so much to learn. The spinach was great all winter but lettuce didn't make it thru the cold nights. This year I'm trying hardier varieties that are suggested in Eliot Coleman's books. Basically, it still gets as cold inside as it is outside at night but warms up a lot during the day so the ground never freezes (I'm in NH). I'm not sure how many extra weeks before and after the regular growing season you can get out of things like eggplant that prefer warm weather. I talked with a market garden who does use a heater sometimes to get an early start on tomatoes.

The leaves look like some Datura species. A picture of the branching could help. Most (or all?) Datura species are quite toxic, so I would be carefull with small kids

I would grow a Sword Bean. But it takes about four months to form pods. The pods are a foot long, 3 inches wide, and 5/8 inch thick and the plants can reach 30 feet tall. You have listed several varieties that have limited potential to reach your objective. Blue Lake is the only pole bean in the list. Here are some varieties that are more likely to please. Emerite - pole bean with exceptional sweet flavor. It is a reasonably rampant grower easily reaching 12 feet high in 80 to 90 days. Musica - a very rampant pole bean that will reach 16 to 20 feet tall under optimum conditions. It makes beans 11 inches long by 1 inch wide by 3/8 inch thick. You ask about growing them the fastest and use of chemicals. Beans are rampant growers in high quality organic soil. The best I've seen is composted rabbit manure. If you want to grow really tall bean plants, then you should get a pot that will hold a minimum of 15 gallons of soil and fill it as much as possible with composted manure (2 parts) and peat moss (1 part). This mix will be low on nitrogen so you will have to add a nitrate source. I use chicken manure for the extra nitrogen because I have it available. Given circumstances, you might be better off getting one of the commercial fertilizers like Miracle Grow. Your major limiting factor will be light exposure. Beans grow in direct proportion to the amount of light they receive. If you want to skunk the competition, get a good grow light and put it on the plant 24 hours a day. Last suggestion is to plant at least 3 beans. At least one of them will grow a bit faster than the others. You can then pull out the slower growing plants and keep only the largest one. DarJones

Wow Claire...that before photo is amazing. You can really see where everything has changed. I can see that retaining wall so differently. The hoop and the pathway make such a difference. It looks like a different property! I guess that was before you put a shed in too? You get a lot of bloom on that rose bush. Very pretty. It is a pretty shade of red too. I really like your front yard. I like the large front window on your house and it looks like you have shaker shingles? One of my favorites...very Cape Cod too. Is that Miscanthus Morning light? What are the pink flowers? I have a rock border like that along a few beds in my back yard, because I really do like a casual rock edge. No it is not confusing. I can see the path and the hoop and now it all makes sense to where everything is placed. So why is your backyard so different? I have a large pile of broken pavers that I am going to use inside my borders for access and that will be one of my first projects in the spring, too. I will be moving a lot of plant material around then so it will be the right time to do it. LOL....that is funny about the cat. We don't have a cat so I was just guessing. I didn't realize catnip meant catnap..lol. I can see your photos perfectly and had no trouble viewing them at all. As for the stone company...I forgot you were on the cape. I probably won't be going down there for stone. [g] Thanks for sharing all your photos! Paige...I am always amazed when someone takes down a tree. I assume it had to come down. I say that because I have a large Norway Maple that I hate but I just don't have the courage to take it down. It is also a pretty expensive project from what I have heard. I would love more sun. Do you have any photos of your new beds? Anyone else have some of their projects done?