Latest Update 26th December 2019.
Bush Beans
- Bush beans like Blue Lake only grow to about 1000mm tall but they are easier to shelter from hot sun and airborne pests than their climbing bean cousins.
- Although their yield is lower than climbing beans they are just as nutritious and tasty and well worth growing.
- Most of our crop is preserved for use in the kitchen when fresh produce is scarce in winter. Storing in zip bags in the freezer works best, and is less labour intensive than other preserving options.
Details.
-
Binomial name: Phaseolus vulgaris
- Family group: Fabaceae.
- Variety: Blue Lake (dwarf).
- Crop rotation group: Legumes.
- Garden bed type: Garden Ecobed.
- Minimum sun per day: 8 hours.
- Plant spacings (centres x rows): 150 x 200 mm.
- Weeks to harvest: 12 weeks.
- Good companion: Beetroot. potato.
- Climate: Warm temperate.
- Geography: Southern hemisphere.
Nutrition.
- This food is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.
- It is a good source of protein, thiamin, magnesium, potassium and manganese, and a very good source of dietary fibre and folate.
- More from nutrition data.self.com.
Maintain Healthy Plants
- This blogpage explains how I maintain healthy plants. It describes
how soil is prepared prior to planting, how to regulate the sun's intensity and how to help protect and feed plants
through their leaves.
Propagate Plants Efficiently
- This blogpage explains how I propagate seeds in a purpose built propagator.
Propagation Plan 2020.
- This blogpage tells you when to sow seeds.
Services Plan 2020.
- This blogpage tells you when to make compost and plan other garden/household related activities.
Growing Instructions
- Sow 80 bean seeds individually in 80 freshly made soil blocks and place
them on a wicking pad of horticultural fleece in an EcoPropagator.
- When
the seedlings are ready to be transplanted, clear spaces in the mulch
so that the soil is accessible at the planting points. Make planting
holes in the soil at 150 mm centres along 8 rows set 200 mm apart.
Plant a seedling block in each planting hole and water them in with
captured rainwater.
Harvesting and storage
- Harvest the beans from March.
- Pick them as soon as they fill their pods, as picking them early encourages more flowers to grow.
- Use a pair of scissors to snip the pods off the bush to avoid damaging it.
- When the beans are all harvested, cut the plants off at the base of their stems to protect the structure of the soil and the beneficial microorganisms in it. The roots of the plants will continue to feed the microbe population as they decompose, and the next crop will benefit from the viable microbe population.
- Allow a few seed pods to dry out completely and recover the seeds for storage in sealed jars. Most of these dry seeds can be rehydrated and used in soups in winter, but the healthiest looking and biggest seeds should be kept to grow the next year's crop.
- For best taste and nutritional value, steam the beans fresh soon after they have been harvested.
- To store them in bulk, harvest them as soon as the beans fill their pods, but before the pods start to dry. Just blanch the shelled beans in boiling water for 2 minutes, dry them and pack them in your freezer in resealable bags.
Organic Pest Control.
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