Green Beans

Saturday, after Tony plowed the garden, Jerry hooked up the soaker hoses and started watering the beans.  And, boy, do beans love water.  They really started growing and have put on some runners.  The plants are still somewhat small and the runners will be what produces the blooms and then the bean.  It is amazing to watch this happen.  The plants look healthy except for a few places where the bugs have eaten them.  We will take care of those bugs with a little Sevin dust.

After watering the beans

Beans are a vine and the best way to stake them is so the the vine will grow up.  If you don't, the vine will be on the ground and all the beans will be on the ground.  It is not fun picking beans on your knees.  Over the years Tony has perfected "staking" the beans.  There has been some trial and error and this is the way that works best for us.  We have found that big wooden fence posts with some metal fence posts work well, along with barbed wire and bailing twine.  The thin twine is the best because by the end of the winter, the twine will rot on the wire.  This year Jerry has had the "pleasure" of driving the posts along each row and tieing the stings.  It is HARD work; but, it makes life so much easier down the road.

They drive 8' wooden fence posts at the end of each row and at a quarter and half way.  The post at the end of the row are braced at the top with a 2X4 to give them more stability.  It is a big job!  Since the soaker hoses had been on the ground for a while, it made it a little easier to drive the posts.  Between each wooden fence post in the row, there is a 8' metal post to help hold up the barbed wire.  The barbed wire is run across the top of each post.  Don't ask why we use barbed wire.  It might be because of its strength.  It is not becuase it is easy to handle. It will eat you up.  As the bean vines grow, they get heavier and heavier and put alot of pressure on the wire.  So, at the end of each row there is a short metal post driven in the ground and cable is looped around the top of the wooden post and the ends are connected and ratcheted so it can be tightened up as the season goes.





The back end of the bean row



Front end of the bean row

After all the posts are up and the barbed wire is run from one end of the row to the other, you tie cut pieces of the bailing twine about every 6 to 8 inches.  The bailing twine is what the bean runner catches and climbs.  It is amazing...the bean vine has little feelers on them and when the wind blows the runner across the twine it grabs.  Often times we will start the runner by hand.  The vine only runs in one direction, counterclockwise.

Why would you wear white socks to the garden?

Runners

Staking the beans is a job that requires everyone to get involved.  This year Granny had the job of cutting the twine.  It is not a back breaking job; but, it is important. After all, you will need about 700 stings. 



Granny, the greatest teacher I have ever known!