Nice!

Potassium deficiency permitting, my bush beans just gave me the second picking. But my pole beans won't be ready to harvest until the weekend.

Worst year I've ever had with snap beans, bush and pole. I can't figure out why either, cool spring, 10 inches of rain in two weeks then another two inches a few days after that:( Bush snap beans, Contender, were looking pretty at about two inches tall then started dyin' after that, looks like root rot, pull'em up and no roots. I had three sixty foot rows planted. I pulled'em all up today and planted Black Crowders. My Louisiana Purple Pod's leaves started yellowing at the bottom and is headin' on up the vine and the same with the Rattlesnakes. I have gotten a couple of messes of the purple pods and maybe a gallon or so off the bush beans. And, enough cryin' for one day. Glad to hear others are doin' good!!

I may have to move to Georgia.

Jim

I tried planting Red Peanut, a half runner, alongside of each row of potato onions. This seems to have worked quite well for using the space. The onions had a great head start before I got the beans in. Now that it's getting hot, the beans afford some shade for the onions, which are about to die down.

Red Peanut, available through Sandhill Preservation Center, is a prolific producer. The beans develop strings, but I don't believe this is a tender podded bean. They do toughen up if you don't pick them soon enough. As with any bush bean I've grown, the pods are no where near as large as our favorite pole beans. Still, they are very early (50 days or less) and tasty. My wife has declared this one a winner.

Our pole beans are a couple weeks behind, due to the earlier rains. I did a large planting of Cherokee Striped Cornhill bean, which is an extremely vigorous pole variety, tender podded and with large pods. This one, in particular, is practically jumping up the poles. Tennessee Cutshort, as usual, is vigorous and doing well.

Other beans I've planted, which are not yet producing are: Goose Bean/ Ma Williams, Long Cut Olde Timey Greasy Bean, Black Greasy, Childers Cutshort, Cooper Running Snap Bean (from Chao~GW screen name), Ralph's Italian Heirloom and Barksdale.

George
Tahlequah, OK

iam3killerbs

That first bean picking is SO good, isn't it? Tender and slightly crunchy if picked at that stage. We sure enjoyed ours last night!

bamagrit

Well, I don't count my chickens or beans before they're hatched, particularly this year with the cool wet weather much of the country's had. Conditions are ripe for all kinds of diseases to get started, so I feel for you! For the first time ever, I had a tomato plant fail that I'm pretty sure was the result of a mysterious disease or condition that got started because of the cool wet weather. I'm hoping my melons will make it to the production stage, since they've already got something affecting the leaves.

jimster

Parts of Georgia are great for gardening, no doubt due to the nutrient-rich red clay that blankets much of the state. I remember being really struck with the lush green vegetation surrounding Atlanta the first time I flew in to go house-hunting. There was almost solid greenery as far as the eye could see from the air. It appeared to be, and actually is, a place where green things just grow!

Clay requires some attention, but for me, it hasn't required anything but mulch for the last five years to keep the surface moist and add to the topsoil layer. I fertilize lightly to replenish what the plants use but don't think it needs much.

macmex

July is likely to keep many of us very busy picking pole beans! Sounds like you planted a LOT!

I'm in GA, too and ws thrilled with my first picking of Fortex. I put them in a bean medley (sp?) and the family could pick out which ones were the Fortex they tasted so good. My vines are struggling, however, and I've only gotten a few ounces alltogether, but those few ounces are supurb!

Have about 1 Kg of snap green runner beans (IWK) in the fridge, waiting for the next meal. I also discovered that I was picking the 'gold of bacau' that I am trying the first time, way too early. It starts yellow in the edges, green in the center, but it can get very long before it goes all pale yellow. I have not gotten one with seeds yet. I also have kentucky wonders and purple peacocks. We picked some of the KW, purple peacocks can still grow a bit more. The Garafal oro's are tiny babies, and I have lots of them!

I hope to get enough beans to pickle this year, it is looking like we might.

I picked 20 gallons of Blue Marbut beans yesterday. I've had beans to eat for about 2 weeks now. All of my pole beans this year are exceptionally lush with the exception of Uncle Walt's Vermont Cranberry. They are growing, just not as vigorous as I expected them to be. I have a total of 6 rows of pole beans each 100 ft long.

1 row of Tobacco Worm
1 row of Insuk's Wang Kong
1 row of Blue Marbut
1 row with half Old Time Pink & White lima and half Herndon Lima
1 row with half Neckargold and half Uncle Walt's Vermont Cranberry
1 row with 10 to 20 feet per variety and a total of about 10 varieties planted. I am using this row to multiply seed.

the rows are separated by 50 to 80 feet in my garden to reduce crossing.

Darjones

We planted our 1st garden this year and it has done very well. 2 rows of half-runners, 2 shelleys, and 1 row of peanut beans. The peanut pods are turning red. When are they ready for harvest? Same question for the shelleys?