Bush Beans
Featured Recipes: Gardening Tips: Just because legumes are known to improve the soil in which they grow, it does not mean that they needn't be planted in good soil themselves. This is especially true of beans. If you dig in well-rotted manure at the time of planting, your bean plants will grow better, be more free from disease and
give you a better yield.
Beans Show Their Colors
My favorite use for purple-podded beans is to pick them while
slim and tender, along with green and yellow ones, and arrange
all three on a platter with a hummus dip. |
|
Beans are the mainstay of the kitchen garden: both easy and rewarding. Store-bought can’t compare with home-grown beans; modest toil and small bean patches yield large returns. To satisfy zee french in you, four are haricots verts or ultra-slim ‘filet’ types, difficult to find at the market and coveted by chefs everywhere. Beans are native to South America: sow when soil has reliably warmed to 60°F or by the last frost date. Harvest straight to the kitchen at their optimal size for eating, usually when small. Pick ‘filet’ types when scandalously thin. Don’t wait until seeds form in their tender pods because by then, the sweetness, not to mention the tender-crispness, is lost.
Average seed life: 3 years
| |
#1215 Jade Green Bush Beans: 55-59 days
A classic green bean of the finest quality, it has slender, rounded, 6” to 7” long, dark jade-green pods that are tender, sweet and absolutely delicious. We can not rave enough about Jade Green: it is the new favorite of demanding market growers. It has a truly great taste; produces high yields of premium beans; is disease-resistant and holds the beans well off of the ground on large, upright, 24” tall bushes, thereby keeping the beans clean and dry. If you asked us, we would acclaim it as a must-grow.
This beautiful bean is perfect for our impromptu summer bean salad. Blanche freshly harvested beans, drain and bring to room temperature. In a large bowl, gently toss the beans with finely sliced red onions, pitted Kalamata olives, cubes of Feta cheese, halved Sungold tomatoes and red kidney beans dressed with your favorite, zesty vinaigrette (you may top it with mandarin orange sections too if you like). Serve with a crusty baguette. (OP.)
Packet of 150 Seeds / $3.25
|
| | |
#1225 Purple Queen Bush Beans: 50-55 days
Tolerant of cooler temperatures, Purple Queen can be
planted two weeks before most other varieties. Hardy and
very productive, it has pretty, mauve-purple flowers on
strong, upright plants. Its rich, burgundy beans grow to 5˝"
long with an attractive, straight and round shape, easily
spotted amongst its foliage. Purple Queen is known for its
tender texture and rich taste. It magically changes to green
as it is lightly cooked. (OP.)
Packet of 150 Seeds / $2.95
|
| | |
#1235 Tricolor Snap Bush Bean Mixture: 55-60 days
If you have a smaller garden and crave a colorful bonanza of bush
beans,
you will love this wonderful mix of three great snaps: Jade Green (dark
jade-green), Purple Queen (rich burgundy-purple) and Gold Rush (deep
golden-yellow). They each have terrific flavor and a tender-crisp texture,
yielding slender, straight full pods that range in size from 5 1/2” to 7”
long.
They’ll be just gorgeous in the garden and colorful and delicious when just
barely steamed and immersed in a quick ice water bath to help retain their
vivid
colors. (OP.)
Packet of 150 Seeds / $3.10
|
| | |
#1240 Roma II Bush Beans: 45-55 days
“Chacun á son gout” and some like their beans big. Can’t get to Tuscany? Grow Roma II and bring Italy to your table. The shape is wide and strappy and the flavor distinctively romano: rich, ‘beany’, intense. We love them: imagine yourself at an outdoor table with family and friends, savoring a heady wine and dipping chewy, crusty bread into olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Now, a platter piled with Roma II, drizzled with olive oil and strewn with shavings of parmigiana and dotted with fresh black pepper. Tall for a bush bean, these 2’ vigorous plants produce an abundance of flat, wide, romano style beans, best picked at 5” long. Be careful when cooking, don’t overdo it. Roma II freezes well for winter meals of minestrone to warm your heart. (OP.)
Packet of 150 Seeds / $2.95
|
| | |
#1245 Gold Rush Bush Beans: 58 days
Hanging in perfect, easily-spotted golden clusters, this masterpiece-of-a-wax bean yields 5 ˝”, straight, full, deep yellow pods. A longtime gourmet favorite, Gold Rush has superb taste and texture, and grows reliably in virtually every garden with disease-resistance to bean mosaic virus and curly top as well as tolerance to root rot. It holds well and long on the plant and is as delicious frozen and enjoyed later over the winter, as it is lightly steamed fresh from the garden. (OP.)
Packet of 150 Seeds / $3.25
|
|
|
