The bush beans have sprouted! Benzo took these pictures on Sunday night while I was in the midst of my marathon strawberry-picking session. I planted these bush beans two weeks ago today.
Bush bean sprouts are pretty big. Lettuce and carrots sprouts are fairly tiny and could easily be mistaken for weeds. But you’d have to have some mutant weeds to mistake bush beans for weeds. Bottom line: you’ll know ’em when you see ’em.
Gorgeous! The countdown to fresh beans is ON. They should be arriving in early July.
Everything Is Homemade 
Last season my bush beans supplied me with delicious green beans for a long time, until they got the same blight (I assume it was the same) as the tomatoes got. I just planted my beans this past Sunday and none have sprouted yet but it should not be long. How big of a strawberry patch do you have? My micro-patch has six plants and it has provided delicious strawberries to the birds, who beat me to them every time! I put a rubber snake on the patch but it did not work.
Hi David! My strawberry patch is quite large. I think it is 18 feet by 15 feet. I started with two everbearing strawberry plants in spring of 2008 and then have spread like crazy the past two years. I didn’t get many berries off of them until this year.
For bird protection I recommend a bird net that goes over your plants. I buy cheap netting at Hobby Lobby or Walmart in the fabric section. Get the cheapest netting they offer. It is usually about $1 per yard. With a small patch it would not cost much to get enough net to cover your plants and it is the best way to keep the birds out. Anchor the corners down with bricks or rocks or anything heavy. I’ll try to post a picture of my net soon!