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Bean Seeds

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Useful gardening infomation

Dry Field Beans

Dry edible beans, or field beans, come in a wide variety of market classes, including kidney bean, navy bean, pinto bean, and black bean. These beans, although differing in the size and coloring of the seed, are all just different types of a single species, Phaseolus vulgaris L. Originally domesticated in Central and South America over 7000 years ago, dry beans moved their way northward through Mexico and spread across most of the continental U.S. These beans were commonly grown with corn, and sometimes squash. Now, instead of the Native American practice of dry beans and squash planted right among corn plants, a different bean, soybean from China, has found its place with corn.

Dry beans are the same species as green beans (snap beans) commonly grown in gardens. If you've seen green beans growing, you have a good idea what dry beans look like, with the difference being that dry bean varieties have higher seed yields. Some dry bean varieties are viney like garden bean varieties, while others are more of an erect, bushy plant, like soybeans. Dry beans do not grow as vigorously as soybeans, usually reaching only about 18 to 24 inches in height. Pods, each containing 2 to 4 seeds, are borne upon the length of the stem. Dry beans average about 22% protein in the seed. The amino acid profile of dry beans complements that of corn and other cereal grains, which is why the corn-bean diet was so standard through the Americas. The various market classes of dry beans are sold in a variety of forms. Great Northerns, navy beans, or mixes of beans, are the most likely to be sold as whole seeds in unprocessed form. Navy beans and kidney beans are both found in canned form, with kidney beans also common in chill mixes. Pinto beans and black beans are both made into refried beans, among other uses. Red beans are used for baked beans. Dry beans which do not meet quality standards for food use are typically sold for livestock feed. Like soybeans, dry beans have a trypsin inhibitor which prevents protein digestion in non-ruminant animals, including humans. Heat, applied during processing or home cooking, is needed to break down the trypsin inhibitor and make the beans fully digestible.

Growing Bush Beans

No garden is complete without bush beans. There are many varieties of bush beans to choose from and every gardener is sure to find one to suit their tastes. Bush beans do well in almost any garden as they are not too fussy about soil.
To ensure the best flavor, bush beans should be picked while still slender and no inner bean is well developed. For fresh bush beans all summer, plant every two weeks and pick frequently.
Direct seed bush beans after risk of frost when soil warms to 18-24°C (65-75°F). Sow bush beans 1" deep and 2" apart in rows 18" (bush beans) to 24" apart (shell beans). Reseed until mid summer for a constant supply all season long. If using untreated bush beans seed, plant thicker and thin to desired density.

Try companion planting with bush beans. Bush beans are excellent grown with most vegetables except the onion family, basil, fennel, kohlrabi.
Most bush bean types require a full sun location, soil pH of 6.5-7.5, and well drained soil. Good air circulation around bush bean plants is essential, especially for late shelling or dry type beans, as they are very susceptible to fungal diseases which prevail later in the season. Bush beans are light feeders; compost or well rotted manures worked into the soil at the time of planting is sufficient.

Harvest once the bush beans are smooth, firm and crisp. Keep bush beans constantly picked to ensure a fresh supply. Bean formation in the pod is a sure sign of over-maturity. Dry and Shell Beans: Harvest when the bush beans pods are completely dry and brittle. Cut or pull pods from bush bean plants and shell the beans. Store beans in an air tight container in a cool dry spot. For fresh eating of horticultural or shell beans, harvest when bean formation starts to take place within the pod.

Growing Pole Beans

Most of the gardening techniques that work with bush beans also work for pole beans. The two types require slightly different care at planting time to ensure their best growth. Pole beans offer great use of vertical space since they climb up poles, trellises or homemade tepees. They also have a longer growing season and are more tolerant of hot temperatures than bush beans, which mean they will yield two to three times more than bush beans from the same amount of space.

Because pole beans quickly grow into large, heavy plants, you should install your trellis at the same time as you plant and sow the seeds.

To start the pole bean seeds, use your finger to push the seeds about 1 inch into the soil. I sowed five to six seeds around each pole 6 to 8 inches away from the base. This is more seed than you'll need for each pole but it allows you to come back after the seeds have germinated to thin out the weaker plants. Use your hands to cover the seeds with an inch of soil and lightly tamp the soil. Finally, lightly mist the dry soil with a garden hose.
As vegetable plants grow from seeds to seedlings, water requirements will change. Beans require little care except regular weeding and watering if the weather is dry. Bean plants need about an inch of water per week. The beans should be watered in the morning so the foliage is dry before dark.
Bush beans will mature in 50 to 60 days; pole beans in 60 to 90 days. Beans are light feeders and do not need extra fertilizing as long as you plant in an enriched soil. You should fertilize young bean plants with an organic fertilizer, such as fish emulsion, every two weeks for the first six weeks, then once every three to four weeks.

Informative articles found on the web:

Making a bean teepee
How to grow pole beans
BeanBible.com features tons of recipes and useful bean information

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Seeds

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4BUR01 Bush Bean Burpee's Stringless Green Pod ( From Burpee Seed Co. )
Brittle, meaty, juicy and entirely stringless. Exceptional flavor.
Plants yield early and need no support. Our seed is not treated. Brittle, meaty, juicy and entirely stringless. Exceptional flavor. Round pods 6" long are slightly curved. Extremely high yielding plants. Burpee Bred. Sun.

  1 Ounce Pack $1.99

4BUR04 Bush Snap Bean Burpee's French Filet ( From Burpee Seed Co. )
The delicious, rich flavor of these thin, straight, tender beans is unlike any other.
Plants yield early and need no support. Our seed is not treated. The delicious, rich flavor of these thin, straight, tender beans is unlike any other. Easy to grow, they reach their flavor peak at 5-7" long and a mere 3/8" wide. Dark green pods are streaked with purple. Produces heavily. Burpee Exclusive.

  1 Ounce Pack $1.99

4BUR05 Bush Romano Bean Burpee's Sequoia ( From Burpee Seed Co. )
Bush Romano
Meaty, 5-6" purple podded stringless Romano-type beans cook to bright green. Tolerates cool weather. Harvest in about 53 days.

  1 Ounce Pack $2.49

VUD007 Kentucky Wonder Homestead Pole Bean
Old heirloom variety. 65 days. Noted for exceptional flavor. Heavy crops of 9" green pods, borne in clusters. Pods are oval, thick, gently curved, meaty and tender. Stringless when young. Delicious fresh, frozen or dried for shell beans. Brown seeded. Proven tops for productivity, flavor and wide adaptability. Sun.

  .75 Ounce Pack $1.95

VUD008 Dark Red Kidney Beans
An old heirloom baking bean, probably the largest and the best. Produces large, flat seed pods filled with huge, red kidney shaped beans. Perfect for red beans and rice dishes and mexican cooking.

  $2.15 per 1.2 ounce pack.

VUD009 Dixie Speckled Butterpea
76 days. Very productive. Beans are about the size of peas; red-speckled with a deep purple-rust color, and grow well in hot weather. A delicious baby lima. Bush plants.

  $2.15 per 1.5 ounce pack.

VUD010 Small White Navy Beans
The old fashioned navy bean enjoyed for generations. Bushes are loaded with small navy beans.

  $1.95 per pack ( 1 cup pack of seeds is enough to plant about 80 ft. of row )

VUD011 Large Speckled Pole Butterbean
Bears large quantities of large size, delicious speckled limas with delightful flavor, nothing else tastes quite like speckled butterbeans. Very popular in the South as it sets well even in hot weather, also makes an excellent dried bean for winter use.

  $2.25 per 1.25 ounce pack

4BUR02 Bush Bean Burpee's Tenderpod ( From Burpee Seed Co. )
HEIRLOOM. Stays tender and stringless even when fully mature.
50 days. This 1941 AAS winner is notable because it stays tender and stringless even when fully mature. Pods are 4-5" long, thick and round in cross section, with distinctively curved tips. Also good as a dried shell bean.

  1 Ounce Pack $2.49

4BUR03 Bush Wax Bean Burpee's Eureka ( From Burpee Seed Co. )
This bean beat all others in our taste tests!
Our favorite in Fordhook Farms test gardens, these full, straight, 5-6" bright yellow beans are exceptionally tasty and appear in abundance atop tidy 12-15" plants. You'll love them. 55 days

  1 Ounce Pack $1.99

VUD019 Tendergreen
Long, slender, stringless pods 6-7 inches long. Excellent fresh eating or frozen.

  $1.95 per 30g pack ( enough to plant about 15 ft. of row )

VUD020 Pinto
An old heirloom field bean with 4-5 inch pods. A small pinto type with delicious flavor, much used for soups. Popular as a refried bean in Mexican cooking, in chili and tacos.

  $1.95 per 1.25 ounce pack ( enough to plant about 15-20 ft. of row )

VUD021 Henderson Lima
Tops for processing! Henderson is a buttery baby lima with smooth texture and delicate flavor.

  $1.95 per 1.50 ounce pack ( enough to plant about 12-15 ft. of row )

VUD022 Blue Lake 274
White seeded version of climbing Blue lake. Seed pods 5-6" long. Delicious flavor, one of our favorite garden beans.

  $1.95 per 1.25 ounce pack ( enough to plant about 12-15 ft. of row )

VEG019 Provider
Medium green delicious pods are round and tender. The seeds germinate in cooler soils than most beans. High yeilding and widely adaptive.

  $2.25 per pack ( 1/3 cup pack of seeds is enough to plant about 20 ft. of row )

VUD018 Gold Mine
Ultra-sweet wax beans.
Plants yield early and need no support. 55 days. Very high yields of crisp, ultra-sweet wax beans are borne on compact and unusually upright plants. The beans grow together in clusters that make harvest a snap. Beans are 5-5-1/2" long.

  $2.25 per 1.25 ounce pack ( enough to plant about 1 ft. of row )

VEG021 Horticultural Beans: Taylor's Dwarf
Eat in the green snap stage or shell stage, when the pods are cream and red. The large oval seeds are tan, splashed with red. They are said to make much better succotash than limas.

  $2.25 per pack ( 1/3 cup pack of seeds is enough to plant about 20 ft. of row )

VUD017 Bountiful
Pale green pods are 6-7 inches long and slightly flattened. Used fresh, or for freezing and canning. They have a long shelf life, and plants are hardy and cold resistant.

  $2.25 per 1.25 ounce pack ( enough to plant about 15 ft. of row )

VUD012 Marrow Fat
An heirloom variety known for it's excellent shelling quality. Delicious flavor for soups and baking.

  $1.95 per 45g pack ( Pack of seeds is enough to plant about 25 ft. of row )

VUD014 Cherokee Wax
A heavy producer of 6 inch long, completely stringless golden yellow pods with delicious flavor. Bears in 48 days.

  $2.15 per 40g pack

VUD015 Pencil Pod Black Wax
The best round-podded wax bean. Pods are 6-7 inches long, round and straight as a pencil. Beans are shiny black. Plants are disease resistant and prolific producers.

  $2.15 per 1.25 ounce pack.

1A123 Garbanzo Bean
65 days. These are the big hazelnut looking tan colored beans you find on good salad bars. This large round bean holds its shape well after cooking. Plants are erect and bush-type, but look different than other beans. Use them as a green-shell bean or allow them to dry for storage. Tolerates dry growing conditions. Also called chick peas. Nutty flavor adds nice touch to salads.

  $2.95 per pack
60cc scoop ( volume ), approx. 80-85 seeds.

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Looking for more Bean Seeds? You can find the following on our sister site at NextHarvest.com-Seeds for Truck Patch Growers

NPVB001 Black Turtle (Bush)
Black seeded, spicy flavor, for refrying or soups and stews in Mexican and Latin dishes, 85 days Cover 67-75º
NPV009 Blue Lake (Bush)
Vigorous, high yield, 6" long stringless tender pods, use fresh or canned or frozen, best steamed, 55 days.
NPV010 Derby (Bush)
AAS, straight 7" pod, very tender, 57 days.
NPVB002 Fava Broad Bean (Bush)
Mediterranean cooking favorite, don't eat the 7" round green pod, use 5-8 white seeds green shell or dry, resists frost, 68 days.
NPV011 Fordhook 242 (Lima Bush)
Heavy yield through frost, uniform, dependable, big crops even in adverse conditions, 70 days.
NPVB003 Henderson Baby Bush (Bush)
Old time favorite, erect bushy plant, easily canned or frozen, set ods till frost, 70 days.
NPV012 Goldmine (Bush)
Best overall wax bean, straight smooth pods, high yield, blight resistant, 53 days.
NPVB004 Kentucky Blue (Pole)
AAS, Green pole, sweet, straight, round, 6" long, vigorous vine, 58 days.
NPVB005 Kentucky Wonder (Pole)
French green pole type, good climber, stringless, 9" long, thin, home garden type for cut or freezing, 65 days.
NPV014 Sieva (Lima Pole)
(Carolina Bean), 3" pod, uniform, grown by Thomas Jefferson, they're just as good today.
NPVB006 Tendergreen ( Green Bush )
Green Bush, Large 20" plant, straight round dark green, 6" long, meaty, purple seeds mottled tan, high yield.