Begin Your Gardening Journey

Growing your own vegetables is a fun way to get some rays, build a shared interest with a loved one, and feel accomplished from growing your own food. If you’re new to the gardening game, say hello to a fantastic option for beginners, green beans. They are simple, delicious, and often have great yields. If mountains of beans begin taking over your home, you can always share them with your family, or if you’re feeling nice, your neighbor who keeps looking to see why you’re digging holes in your back yard. Let’s Begin!

Growing Bush Green Beans

There are two types of green beans, bush beans and pole beans. This newsletter is going to cover bush beans because they require less space and are an easier alternative for new gardeners.

Prepping Your Garden

Green beans are best planted outdoors due to their sensitive root systems which can become disrupted when transplanted from an indoor pot. If you’ve never planted vegetables before, you’ll want to buy some compost from a hardware store to ensure your green beans have enough nutrients to grow. Here’s a good option from Walmart: Espoma Organic Garden Soil All Purpose Planting Mix 1 Cubic Foot APGS1 - Walmart.com

Planting:

Grean beans need to be planted after the last frost, in soil that is at least 60+ degrees F. That sounds fancy but you can use this link to see when you should start growing your green beans based off your zip code: 2024 Planting Calendar by Zip Code | The Old Farmer's Almanac | Almanac.com.

You’ll want to plant the seeds in a location that receives sun for 6-8 hours a day. Avoid planting in areas covered by trees, buildings, or soil that encounters excess water runoff as oversaturated soil will rot the plants. For these reasons, growing beans indoors is difficult, although not impossible.

Bush beans don’t require structural support and are best grown in rows. When planting, follow these steps:

1. Make a 1 in. deep hole with two seeds inside. Repeat this in a straight line every 4 inches until you reach the end of your row.

2. If planting multiple rows, separate them with at least 12 inches of space. The image below creates a great visualization.

3. Cover the seeds with soil to ensure they are not directly exposed to air.

4. Water the seeds immediately after planting to saturate the soil.

Growing Green Bean Stalks

Bush green beans grow to 12-24 inches in height. During the growing season, they require 2 inches of water per week. If it rains less, make up the difference by watering the plants yourself. While the stalks are growing, keep an eye out for common pests like slugs, bean beetles and aphids. Bean Beetles (pictured below) resemble lady bugs and will ruin your harvest. Their larva is yellow in color. If you spot any, remove them from the plant and destroy as needed.

You’ll want to look out for weeds or other non-bean vegetation and remove them from the bean rows. Anything growing within the green beans can take away their nutrients and lower their production.

Harvesting Time:

If you haven’t killed your plants or let your dog dig them up, then you should see some beautiful green beans 50-60 days after planting. Pods are ready to harvest once they reach 4-6 inches in length. A general rule of thumb is to pick pods every couple of days as you could receive 2-3 full harvestings from each plant.

Each plant will produce about 10-20 beans pods per harvest. Keep that in mind when planting your seeds. Your first year growing green beans may yield lower results if your soil isn’t full of nutrients from years of gardening. If that’s the case, just know that next year will be even better for you!

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