Beans & peas
Bush beans (snap)
Two windows: late Mar to Apr, again late Aug to Sep.
- Outside
- Direct late Mar to Apr, again late Aug to early Sep
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- About an inch a week; deep soak, more once pods set
- Harvest
- May to Jun, then Oct
Care
- Water
- About an inch a week, in the early morning, wetting the soil 6 inches down; skip any week that brings half an inch of rain, and step it up once flowers and pods set.
- Sow
- Direct sow, never transplanted: late March to April in warmed soil, an inch deep and a few inches apart, no thinning. A short row every two weeks through spring; the fall round goes in late August to early September.
- Feed
- A shovel of compost or castings worked in at planting is all it needs; the plants fix their own nitrogen from there. Skip any extra feed, since too much nitrogen buys leaves at the expense of pods.
- Ready
- Pick every other day at pencil size; a pod left to swell tells the plant to stop setting. Spring rows pick from May into June, then the heat holds them; the fall round fills through October ahead of the mid-November frost.
- Trouble
- Flowers held or dropped through the mid-June to early September gap: normal heat behavior, and the fall rows set again as nights cool. A plant that droops at 4 p.m. and rebounds by evening is handling the heat; one still wilted in the morning needs a real soak.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 5–10 gal bag.
- Water
- Daily in the heat, twice a day in a heat wave, until it runs from the drainage holes; spring and fall bags are easy, but give the bag afternoon shade all the same.
- Feed
- Top-dress with compost monthly; every watering leaches the bag.
- Sow
- The Texas container guide puts green beans at a 2 gallon minimum; a 5 to 10 gallon bag holds eight or nine plants for a legitimate picking.
Snap beans run twice here: spring successions picked until the June heat stalls them, then a fall sowing that fills through October.
Growing
Direct sow once the soil warms in late March, an inch deep and a few inches apart; beans resent transplanting and never need it. Resow a short row every two weeks through April, the county's spring cadence, each round bearing hard for a couple of weeks before handing off. The last spring picking comes as the mid-June heat moves in and flowers hold instead of setting. The fall round goes in late August to early September with a fast variety, the county capping fall warm-season sowings at about 60 days, and fills pods through October ahead of the mid-November frost.
Varieties
The Texas sheet names Blue Lake, Derby, Early Contender, Tendercrop, Tendergreen, Topcrop, Greencrop and Goldencrop Wax for bush rows, with Kentucky Wonder as the pole option. For the fall round, read the packet's days to maturity and take something at or under about 60 days, the county's rule for late sowings.
In the kitchen
Steamed or charred whole while truly young. The fall round is the keeper here: it picks straight through the salsa season, when a side of blistered beans earns its spot next to the pico bowl.