Planting Bush Beans

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Kansas.  I couldn’t wait to bust out of the office and get home.  First I went on a quick and easy run.  About 2.5 miles.  Then I headed out to the garden to do some planting.

Last weekend was supposed to be BIG PLANTING WEEKEND now that we are past the frost free date in these parts.  However life happens and thus big planting weekend didn’t happen after all.  I think it will now turn into “Little Bit of Planting Each Night This Week” instead.  It doesn’t matter though!  As long as the seeds get in the ground it’s all good.

So after my run I went out to the shed and got my tools and my seeds and took them out to the garden.  I decided to plant another short row of radishes and two short rows of bush beans (about 5 feet each).

Last year I planted tons of bush beans (aka green beans).  I love to eat them fresh and they are very easy to freeze and store over the winter.  I also have very good luck growing them.  I rarely have any problems.  I haven’t bought a fresh or canned green bean from the store since I started my garden two years ago.

The variety of bush beans I plant are called Contender.  I bought the seeds at Planters last year and had enough left over for this year too.

My handy dandy ruler tells me that bush beans should be planted:

4 inches apart in the rows
Rows 30 inches apart
1-2 inches deep

I actually use my ruler to measure because I’m anal like that.  But you can just estimate if you want.  It doesn’t have to be precise!

Did the furrow with the end of your rake or other garden tool, drop in the seeds 4 inches apart and cover them back up.  Make sure to mark your row so you remember where it is.  Then water them in really well.  The water starts the germination process.  They should sprout in about a week.  I’ll post pictures of mine when they do.

If you’ve noticed, I like to plant multiple short rows instead of one long row.  That is because multiple short rows allow the plants to pollinate each other better.  When the wind blows between two short rows, or the bees fly around the plants, a clump of plants makes it easier for the pollen to be transferred. 

I plant bush beans in succession.  That means I’ll plant some bush beans now, then more in 4 weeks, then more 4 weeks after that.  Succession planting allows your crop to mature over time, rather than all at once.  I want to have fresh green beans as long as possible during the season.  If I planted 6 rows of bush beans now I would have way too many when they all matured!

Last night I also planted marigolds.  Here’s what marigold seeds look like:

I plant marigolds all over the garden, interspersed with all the vegetables.  Marigolds are supposed to repel pests.  I like to plant them around the edges of the beds.  They also add some nice color to the garden.

I used to buy little marigold plants at the nursery.  Then last year I planted some marigolds from seed as well as transplanted some as seedlings.  The marigolds I planted from seed grew much better than the ones I purchased!  So this year I’m only planting marigold seeds.  Seeds are much cheaper than seedlings!