Our third raised bed is going to feature beans this year. In case you haven’t noticed, each garden bed is focused on one (or maybe two) specific types of vegetables this year. We’re hoping this keeps things a little simpler for us in the garden and also gives us some really good information on comparing different varieties.

We are planning both a spring and fall planting of beans. We are also going to try two different pole bean varieties. Our intention with the pole beans is to plant them in the spring and let them go until they vines look horrible. Then we will replant for the fall with the same varieties. This is because pole beans don’t often do very well for us, but the Master Gardeners that said they had been productive had planted them for fall rather than in the spring. We’ll wait and see how it pans out!

When we chose the bean varieties we tried to choose a range of colors and types. So, we have green, purple, yellow, and striped beans. We also have regular snap beans, filet (skinny/smaller) beans, and romano/flat beans.

‘Contender’ – green snap bean, 40 days to maturity

‘Golden Rod’ – yellow snap bean, 53 days to maturity

‘Velour’ – purple filet bean, 51 days to maturity

‘Dragon Tongue’ – green with purple stripes, flat podded, 57 days to maturity

‘Jade II’ – green snap bean, 60 days to maturity

‘Blue Lake Pole’ – green snap pole bean, 66 days to maturity

‘Carminat’ – purple snap pole bean, 62 days to maturity

‘Provider’ – green snap bean, 50 days to maturity

‘Masai’ – green filet bean, 55 days to maturity

‘Romano Gold’ – yellow flat podded bean, 50 days to maturity

‘Amethyst’ – purple snap bean, 56 days to maturity

‘Carson’ – yellow snap bean, 52 days to maturity