ABOUT SHELL BEANS

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Long-season beans can be grown in short-season areas if they are harvested in the green shell stage. All are sensitive to frost except favas, which require a long, cool growing season. Though beans, particularly limas, aren't easy to transplant, short-season gardeners can try starting them indoors in peat pots about four weeks before the first frost-free date. (Disturb the roots as little as possible when transplanting.) In warmer areas, plant directly in the ground two weeks after the last frost or when the soil has warmed to at least 65°—favas again being the exception.

Sow the seeds one inch deep in heavy soil and one and a half inches deep in light soil. Spacing requirements will vary with the type of bean grown, but most bush varieties are planted at three- to six-inch spacings in rows 24 to 30 inches apart. Make successive plantings of bush types every two weeks to insure a continuous harvest. If your plot is exposed to a lot of wind, provide the plants with support in the form of brushy twigs, or run a strong cord around stakes set at the row ends or in each corner of the bed.

Pole beans bear more heavily than bush beans but take longer to mature, so they are generally planted only once, at the beginning of the season. Space the seeds four to six inches apart in rows two to three feet apart. Once two seedling leaves appear, provide some means of vertical support. When planting in hills around tipi-type poles, sow six to eight seeds per mound, and thin later to three or four plants.

The germination rate for beans is around 70%, and unused seeds should remain viable for three years.

Try to maintain even moisture in the soil, especially while the seeds are germinating and when the plants are in bloom, because dry soil during this time will mean no flowers and therefore no pods. Be careful when cultivating not to damage the plants' shallow roots. (A thick mulch will help both to conserve moisture and to keep down weeds.) And stay out of the bean patch when the foliage is wet, to avoid spreading disease.

In sandy soils or where repeated rains leach out nutrients, give beans a midseason side-dressing of potassium in the form of wood ashes or a seaweed-extract solution.

What to Watch For

Soybeans and adzuki and mung beans are fairly resistant to pests. Other beans are vulnerable to aphids, cabbage loopers, corn ear worms, striped cucumber beetles, European corn borers, leaf miners, and—perhaps the most destructive of all—Mexican bean beetles. Try repelling such pests with plantings of savory, nasturtiums, and French or African marigolds.

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