Wow, just got the 1st farmer's market price survey for the year and last week in Hartford green beans were selling for $1.50/lb. I don't even know who has them yet, wondering if these were trucked in for auction and bought in bulk to resell? Peaches and nectarines had to have been.

I sold out of green beans at $1.50/lb last year for the brief time I had them, was going to charge more this year. I grow without chemicals, last year green beans were on the Dirty Dozen list but not this year. Not worth it to me to sell at that price - I'll freeze them all for us before I sell them for $1.50/lb and pay $2 for 12oz in the frozen food section next winter!

Wow last year we got 60 a bushel we may price them at 50 and if they don't sell smile while we eat them!

For the last 2-3 years we have been getting $3.00-3.50 a pound. For the time it takes and the wear and tear on your back, it should be more like $10 a pound! Whenever we had beans, we always sold out (40 to 60 pounds). This year, we are back into the hot and dry pattern and no matter how much water you pour to them, they just don't produce as much. I have pretty much cut them off and we probably won't sell any this year unless it is this fall, when it cools off.

Jay

we've been getting $4/lb. not worth growing and picking otherwise.

We're expecting more rain this weekend, but going to be 90 again pretty much all week. Pole beans are starting to run and BBL are starting to flower so we'll have to see how they do. Lower leaves looking a little yellow - I didn't manure that bed, thought Low N was OK, but pH is 5.4 and Low P, Medium K as well. Potatoes did well there last year. Do beans need a little fish emulsion if I have to water next week?

Growing in raised beds so not too hard on the back, I'll need a stepstool for the KWs though!

Beans need better fertilized ground than potatoes, and you CAN manure them. I've actually sprinkled the seeds and covered with composted manure. Grew great.

Beans at my market are going for $2.50 per pound. I'm not growing or selling them this year, let others with younger backs do those.

We did plant green beans in our greenhouse one year and got them much earlier, but still too hard on back.

Going to be hot this week but maybe I'll seed a 2nd crop in more heavily-amended part of bed for Sept crop. I hate to move all the hay mulch and haul more manure in 90-degree heat, but will top dressing help older beans at this point? Or better to just water with fish emulsion since I will probably have to water midweek if we don't get a good amount of rain today (had 1/2" on Wed but only brief though heavy downpour Sat AM)?

I know I'm going to have to repeat fish all summer if I go that route but since I will probably have to water once a week from now on (things look like they are getting back to more "normal" weather pattern) it would be easier than top dressing right now.

If they are producing now, then not much will help. Pole beans might be helped more since they are a continuous production. Most all garden produce need a minimum of 1" of water per week, if you are not getting it from nature, you need to be watering. That's 1" on each plant, I'm not sure exactly how many gallons that would be. I know I've seen somewhere the conversion, but don't remember where.

BBL are just starting to flower, KW not yet but they're planted together (BBL in front) so I'd water them together (though I guess I can do plain water first on the BBL). I have been looking at weather.com monthly page for totals to see if we've been getting close to 1" per week this month, that's why I watered last week and am thinking will need it soon now but I don't always trust that site since I was positive we had had close to 1/4" on each Tues and Fri in addition to over 1/2" on Wed so there was the 1" but now they're saying we got less than 1/10" on Friday and not much more than that during that brief downpour yesterday so I just have to see if it rains today.

Tomatoes and peppers I let go til they show a little wilting but I'm afraid to let green beans go too long (a week) without a good watering, don't think 1/10" a day is doing much but running off the hay mulch. I usually give smaller plants about 1 qt - 1/2 gal at a time (since I have to haul water by hand) and larger tomato plants twice as much (or more depending on how they look), once or twice a week depending on rain. That may be OK for dry farming tomatoes but I really don't know how much green beans need. 1" of water is almost 5 gal per square yard and I know tomatoes should be given nearly 1 sq yd for each plant growing space but I just can't water 5 gal each plant each time with over 100 plants out there and 100 gal capacity (2 barrels) in my pickup truck, so last year (first year with these beds) I just watered the tomatoes and peppers (and potatoes) a couple times a week and hoped for the best. At least we're getting more rain this year (too much!), hope to get close to 1" a week for rest of the summer so I don't have to haul the water (more than once a week?).

You can watch the beans the same way as the toms, water when leaves are wilty. The bean leaves will wilt faster than the toms.

How about putting plastic milk jugs (filled with water/fertilizer diluted) beside each tom/pepper. The plants will only suck the water when they feel like they need it. It will save you from hauling as much, maybe. My mother does that to all her flowers that are farther from the house than she wants to haul the hose.

I'd still have to haul the water there to fill them up, and I'd have to find 50 or so milk jugs (1 per ft of row?). I tried 2l soda bottles with bottoms cut off stuck in between tomatoes last year, figured slow drip and easier to water w/o splashing but they just collected bugs and didn't drain well even with no caps so gave up and just pour from 1 gal OJ jugs carefully near each plant.

why did you cut the bottoms? that looses the suction that is needed. caps off, neck down in dirt, bottle complete.

You won't need to fill the jugs as often as watering because they will only suck when they NEED it.

I know one person that has barrels set up with spigots and hoses attached. Barrels higher than garden (on concrete blocks). then he uses soaker hoses after the hoses get to the plants.

I've tried special soaker hoses for rain barrels, even parking on the hill north of the beds not enough pressure to make it all the way to the end of the 100ft beds.

I was trying to leave the soda bottles in permanently for watering, didn't want to keep pulling them in and out esp. as the plants grew.

Nothing special about them, just regular soaker hoses. You won't see anything but weeping. It takes awhile for the hoses to get to the end of 100', but they will. gravity feed with a raise of more than 2' will work.

Without the vacuum, the bottles won't work. You need to place them in a different place, just a inch or so away from last place for them to work best. I found that I work my way around the plant.

Of course, raised beds (if you are using) will be drier and require more water than non-raised bed.

We are getting $3 a quart. Always can sell out. It takes me 45 minutes to pick a 3/8 bushel basket.

How many lb in a qt?

Saw my 1st BBL (tiny string) this AM while watering so hoping to have some to take to market in a week. Last year this time was selling squash and green beans, cukes, and by the end of July had tomatoes. Not sure this year.

I think a quart of green beans is just under one pound or about a pound.

I think my family's price is $2/lb. We grow the variety Strike. They are a smaller and more tender bean than Blue Lake or Kentucky Wonder. A bushel of beans sold by the pound comes out to about sixty bucks.

Sounds about right!

I'm getting $2/lb and $30 for 26# bushel, I should priced the bushel at $40, but it's too late to change. Been selling about 1 bushel at bushel price and 3 bushel at pound price for each of the last 2 weeks, and have 1 bushel ordered for next week.

I've picked a handful so far off 38 BBL plants (KW not producing yet, just starting to flower). Lots of flowers on the BBL, but beans are tiny yet.

Folks in Indiana must really like their beans! I have never sold a bushel of beans before. The most I have ever sold to one person was maybe 10 pounds. In fact, most people who come to our markets must not be canners. I have sold 25 and 50 pound lots of tomatoes, but that is only 2 or 3 times a year.

It is just neat to hear what others are doing.

Jay

We have alot of people that still can. I've also heard more this year, that the grandparent age group are teaching their grown grandchildren how to can. All my sons know how and now I'm teaching the grandkids (ages 11-5).

I used to sell 10-20 boxes (25#) per day on Saturdays when people starting to can. It was normal for me, but most others didn't sell like that. I made sure that all of the boxes were the same quality as those on the table, and I think that's why I could get $50/bushel with no questions. Several times, we had to make time to sort the boxes before giving them out. People would stand and watch us throw out many that didn't look good enough. That usually sold others that were watching. I'd do the same thing with peaches.

What's the going rate of a bushel of green beans in Texas? Also how much a pound at a farmer's market? This is our first year to have a farm stand at our home and we want to ask fair prices. Thanks for your help.

Carlyg, in Houston it is $4.00-$5.00/lb. 5 at a high end market, probably closer to 4 in East Texas rural market.