Victory With Pole Beans
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 06. 8.06
A few weeks back we wrote about a resurgence of Victory Gardens . The herb Rosemary was the first plant discussed, because anybody can grow it, even in a container. Then we showed how a bamboo cucumber trellis is made . Now comes the ultimate climber: the pole bean. Line up the bamboo or wooden poles in a row, fat ends into the ground; “weave” in a few horizontals and plant the pole bean seeds at the base of each upright. A week later they start climbing. Uultimately, the bean vines may drape off the top, depending on variety. Make sure to pick beans early, before they lighten in color, turning stringy. Flavor and texture is always best before the bean seeds become fully developed. At the end of the season, let a few beans on the vines to turn yellow and dry up for next year’s planting.
Hey - does Treehugger have an Organic garden going? Got pics?
even better if you have little ones is to make a teepee thay can sit inside and eat away....
Teepees and A-frames also work well for a wide range of fast growing vegetables. It helps if the bamboo comes in sections of six to eight feet
Depending on where you live, you can get the bamboo for free. When I was living in the Washington DC area for two years, people had great stands of phyllostachys bamboo growing in their yards like weeds on steroids, almost impossible to get rid of. The problem can get so bad that someone wrote a hilarious humour piece on their battle with bamboo in the Washington Post last year. I had a neighbour who was trying to get rid of his, and when I saw the piles of bamboo in his back yard and asked how much he wanted for them, he told me I could take them off his hands for free. I dragged them back home where they made an excellent framework for growing beans that summer, some of which I dropped off at the neighbour's door as a thank you once harvest time came around.