How to Grow Beans {Start to Finish}

I don’t know one person who doesn’t like green beans. My son Monkey Boy will only eat them raw, but everyone else in our family could totally eat a plate full of delicious green sticks for dinner. There is now doubt about it, beans are cool!

Brief description: Beans have long edible pods and beans inside that can also be eaten.  They are great for snacking on raw, cooking, or canning.

Where to Plant Beans:  Plant in full sun after danger of last frost.  Plant in raised beds, garden beds, and even containers if they are big enough.

Planting Seeds:  Plant seeds 1″ deep.  Most packets say to thin them to every 4 inches, but I think that is crazy and typically space them every 2″ to maximize my crop.

Growing Tips:  Beans are awesome for succession planting.  If you plan it right, you should be able to get a crop from June all the way through September.  I sometimes have troubles with the birds getting to my bean sprouts, so I tend to over plant them to compensate.  If the birds don’t get to them, I go back and thin them later.

How to Harvest:  To harvest, snap beans off the plant by hold the plant firmly {so that you don’t damage it while picking}.  Beans taste better when they are thinner than a pencil, so try to pick them before they get too big.

Are you ready to start your garden but you’re not sure when you should plant your seeds or set out your transplants? Head on over HERE and you’ll be taken to a handy dandy chart that is broken down into what vegetables should be planted {or transplanted} each month in your area.

Anyone can do this. Dirt + Seeds+ Water = Food!

~Mavis

Gardening books hold kind of a special place in my heart. I wouldn’t be the gardener I am today {or maybe not a gardener at all} if it weren’t for a few gardening books I picked up years ago. I spent almost the entire winter of 2008/2009 reading up on gardening. I found some incredible reads that taught me so much and made me realize how much I didn’t know. So I’ve never stopped reading gardening books.

Here are just a few of my favorites, although if we’re being honest, narrowing this list down was virtually impossible. Gardening books are right up there with the bible {okay, not quite, but you get the idea!}.

My Favorite Garden Books:

• Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting
• The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
• Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre
• Sugar Snaps and Strawberries 
• The Gardener’s A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food
• The Kitchen Gardener’s Handbook