Question: What eats bush bean plants?

Answer: I know Japanese beetles like to eat bean leaves. They ate my mom’s pole bean leaves into nothing last year. If they eat the pole bean leaves, I imagine they will do the same with bush beans. Traps do not work on them as it just attracts them to the area. I have heard people have success against insects with using a garlic/cayenne pepper mixture sprayed onto the leaves. There may also be certain plants you can plant that will help control insect problems. There is a great book called “Great Garden Companions
“, that can help you know what to plant to attract beneficial insects as well as keep away pests.

As for animals, I had some deer munch on the tops of my bush bean plants. Luckily they didn’t do much damage and the plants went on producing. The rabbits were much worse. They ate the leaves of every plant as it came up. The only good solution to this problem is building a fence. Or you could also try planting garlic completely surrounding your bean plants, some people swear by this.

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The number of buds on my blue lake beans continues to grow. No actual flowers opening yet, but as you can from the above pictures, it’s close. If you are growing this type of beans, you can expect buds and flowers to show up about 4-5 weeks after you plant. Bush beans are the fastest crop (from seed to harvest) that I grow. That’s why you can keep on planting them even into the middle of the summer here in Michigan and across the Midwest.

Click here to read all my posts on blue lake bush beans.

Above is a picture of my blue lake bush beans after 4 weeks in the ground. Their growth has been good up to this point. I started to see the first buds appearing on some of the plants (click the photo on the right to enlarge). So flowers should I start seeing flowers appearing soon, and when flowers appear that means beans aren’t far behind!

I had problems earlier with something eating some of my leaves, but that seemed to have been a 1-time deal and it didn’t slow done the growth of my plants.

Question: Are blue lake green beans good for freezing?

Answer: Absolutely! I have heard they are one of the best beans for freezing. I haven’t done it myself before, because I never grown enough beans where I couldn’t eat them all fresh (hopefully this year will change that!). I would recommend blanching them before freezing. Just bring a pot of water to a boil, drop the beans in and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then quickly put the beans into a bowl of ice water to shock them and stop the cooking. This will preserve a bright green color. Then for freezing, I recommend placing each bean individually, without touching another on a cookie sheet or sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Then place into the freezer making sure the cookie sheet is flat. Once the beans freeze, then place them into a zip top bag. I like doing this because it’s less likely your beans are going to all stick together, so it’s easier to pull some of the beans out of the bag if you aren’t going to use them all at once.

For more on blue lake bush beans, click here to read all my posts on them.

Click here to read all my posts regarding this variety of bush bean.

Two weeks into growing my Beuree de Roquencourt Wax Bush beans (thank goodness for copy & paste) they are looking good. The package says to thin the plants out to 6-10 inches. The other bush beans I am growing said to thin to around 4 inches. I don’t know if these beans need more space or it’s just a difference in the opinion of the company who packaged the seeds. I just eye balled the plants and looked for any that I thought were too close together and pulled them.

Click here to read all my posts on Royal Burgundy Bush Beans.

It’s been two weeks since my royal burgundy bush beans were planted and they are looking good so far. I noticed that the stems of the plants have a purple hue to them, which helps me tell them apart at this point from the green and wax beans planted nearby. Once the plants got 4 leaves it was time to thin them out to about 4 inches per plant. It’s important each plant has enough room to grow, so that it can reach it’s full potential.

It took about 5-6 days for my blue lake bush beans to make their appearance out of the ground. At the 2 week point they were leaves a plenty. Once the plants have 4 leaves on them, it is time to thin them out. Thin to 1 plant every 4 inches, so that each plant has enough room to grow. I found a few holes in some of the leaves, probably some kind of insect but there wasn’t any real damage to be concerned about, so I will just keep a close eye on the plants for now.

Click here to read all my posts on blue lake bush beans.

I grew some wax beans for the first time last season. They were good, but I wasn’t fully satisfied with the type I bought. I felt they got too beany too quickly. So this year I went for something different. I bought a packet from Seeds of Change called Beuree de Roquencourt (that’s a mouthful). They are certified organic and are an heirloom variety. I choose this variety because they produce a stringless pod. I planted my beans in some extra space I had near my broccoli in a raised bed.

When to Plant
After the risk of frost in your area has passed. For me that is actually today May 25th (I live in zone 5). If you want your harvest to go on longer, keeping planting every couple weeks until 8 weeks before the first fall frost.

Days to Germinate
These beans can take 6-14 days to germinate. It all depends on the temperature of your soil.

Planting Depth
Plant your seeds to depth about 1 1/2 inches. I usually push them down until the dirt reaches just above the knuckle of my pointer finger.

Thinning Plants
Once the plants have 4 leaves, it’s time to thin them out. Give each plant about 4 inches of space to grow.

Expected Harvest
Beans are a fast growing crop. I can expect to have my first harvest in about 55-60 days. I planted my beans on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010. So I expect the first harvest to be around Saturday, July 17th.

One of the greatest ways to experience color in this world is in your home garden. When is the last time you saw purple beans at the grocery store? Probably never. But you can see them in your home garden. So for the fun of it, I decided to grown some Royal Burgundy beans right next to my classic Blue Lake 274 bush beans. I am also growing yellow wax beans. So I look forward to the day where I can photograph a basket full of green, yellow, and purple beans straight out of my garden. Now unfortunately the picture won’t be the same on the plate as the purple beans turn green when you cook them. Besides the excellent photo op the burgundy provide, they will be easier to find come harvest time, as the purple beans will stand out against the green leaves.

When to Plant

After the risk of frost in your area has passed. For me that is actually today May 25th (I live in zone 5). If you want your harvest to go on longer, keeping planting every couple weeks until 8 weeks before the first fall frost.

Days to Germinate

Beans are very quick to germinate, in about a week, they should start poking their way through the soil.

Planting Depth

Plant your seeds to depth about 1 1/2 inches. I usually push them down until the dirt reaches just above the knuckle of my pointer finger.

Thinning Plants

Once the plants have 4 leaves, it’s time to thin them out. Give each plant about 4 inches of space to grow.

Expected Harvest

Beans are a fast growing crop. I can expect to have my first harvest in about 53 days. I planted my beans on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010. So I expect the first harvest to be around Thursday, July 15th.

Blue Lake is the classical green bean. They are the first beans I ever grew. They are one of the easiest seeds to find. If a place sells seeds, they probably are going to carry Blue Lake. Why do people love them so much? They are reliable and heavy producers. If this is your first time gardening, I think this is an excellent place to start.

When to Plant
After the risk of frost in your area has passed. For me that is actually today May 25th (I live in zone 5). If you want your harvest to go on longer, keeping planting every couple weeks until 8 weeks before the first fall frost.

Days to Germinate
Beans are very quick to germinate, in about a week, they should start poking their way through the soil.

Planting Depth
Plant your seeds to depth about 1 1/2 inches. I usually push them down until the dirt reaches just above the knuckle of my pointer finger.

Thinning Plants
Once the plants have 4 leaves, it’s time to thin them out. Give each plant about 4 inches of space to grow.

Expected Harvest
Beans are a fast growing crop. I can expect to have my first harvest in about 55 days. I planted my beans on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010. So I expect the first harvest to be around Saturday, July 17th.