Pole Beans

[shawnv]

Does anyone know if their pods stay shut or do they burst early?

 

[j-bird]

Sorry Shawn - I have no idea. Most climbing bean that I have seen used for plots is used more for forage than for the "grain" so to speak.

 

[shawnv]

I ask because if the pods didn't burst it would be a late season food option I would look at because they will climb and product pods 6ft high. I would run some fencing between some 4x4 posts with maybe a couple rows 100' long and let them grown and enclose that in with some fencing until late season.

 

[j-bird]

I have no idea. Hell take a few T posts and some fencing and plant a few and see what you get. I'm sure the deer will eat the fresh growth in the warm months, but I have no idea about the pods. You may be onto something or you may be out of your mind. Try it on a small scale and see what happens. You may have just invented a vertical foodplot!

 

[kabic]

How is the price of pole beans verus other legumes?

I'm seeing sites charge around $25 a pound for pole beans :eek:

Am I missing a cheaper source

Edit: found a place 14.75 for 5 pounds...but you have to order $50 minimum (before shipping) to get wholesale price

http://www.hpsseed.com/dc.asp?c=384

 

[JackTerp]

I have to protect mine or they will never get to the pole. I've had deer rip down chicken wire to get to them. I don't know how you would protect them unless you run an e-fence.

 

[j-bird]

Just a thought what if you tried to plant them on the inside of something like an exclusion cage like we use for apple trees? The deer would be able to browse all they wanted but not get enough to kill the plant. I realize this may not do anything for fall/winter food supply but i would think it could be a great summer forage. Vertical foodplots! You could then remove the cage come your early season and have a great draw - as long as the plant is still green. You could do this with anything that has a vine type growth pattern. Something to think about......

 

[JackTerp]

Just a thought what if you tried to plant them on the inside of something like an exclusion cage like we use for apple trees? The deer would be able to browse all they wanted but not get enough to kill the plant. I realize this may not do anything for fall/winter food supply but i would think it could be a great summer forage. Vertical foodplots! You could then remove the cage come your early season and have a great draw - as long as the plant is still green. You could do this with anything that has a vine type growth pattern. Something to think about......

I have friends locally that do just about that same thing every year with their grapes. They put up a "tunnel" made of 2x4 inch welded wire that completely covers their arbors. Of course, they are only about 15 or 20 feet long, but they completley enclose them or the deer will wipe them out.

 

[shawnv]

I really am thinking about experimenting with this. Just look at the height and pods here.

 

[shawnv]

The next difference is how quickly they mature, bush beans tend to mature a little more quickly (50 – 60 days) than pole beans (65 – 75 days). However pole beans keep producing as you pick them, whereas bush beans produce most of their fruit at the same time and then they are done for the season. As long as you keep picking your pole beans every couple of days the plant will keep producing.

 

[wiscwhip]

As long as you keep picking your pole beans every couple of days the plant will keep producing.

Then if that is the case, being the seeds seem rather expensive, the next thing I would check into is if I could save the ones I picked early and dry them to be planted the following season. I'm guessing maybe to be viable they would have to fully mature on the vine, in that case one could keep a smaller area protected to maturity just to harvest the seeds? I would bet one could collect enough seeds to replant the following season in a fairly small area, and then you could turn the deer loose in the rest of them if you wanted.

 

[JackTerp]

I know a local co-op that sells them by the ounce from 50 pound bags, but I never thought about buying more than a few ounces for our consumption. Might be worth a look.

 

[dipper]

I really am thinking about experimenting with this. Just look at the height and pods here.

Your not going to get this growth on an acre plot with any population. I've planted snap bean seed rejected from a veggie farmer. It's deer candy

It comes down to price of seed. I'd plant human consumption beans all day, but wait till you guys find some prices.....

 

[shawnv]

I would fence the area off if I did this until it was time to let them chow and I don't have a high population

 

[j-bird]

If i give this a try I will start with some sort of climbing garden variety and then build something a little different -something like concentric cages. One for the beans to grow on - one to limit the deer's access to them.

 

[wiscwhip]

Putting off my work and researching this idea. Shawn this idea of yours may fit real nice into something I wanted to try. Searching seed sources now..

Possible source
http://mvseeds.com/store/products.php?product=Bean,-Pole-%2d-Blue-Lake-Pole-FM1K

Blue Lake is one of the most common varieties that you find in the canned goods aisle. Green Giant, Del Monte, Libby's all use this type of bean. Looks like they even explain seed collection in the link. One time purchase maybe, just protect enough to get your seeds for the next season? Says a 100' row takes 1lb of seed, but yields 24lbs of beans. I would think protecting 1 row to maturity might give you enough seed for the following year.

 

[shawnv]

Think of a 10' 4x4 post and at the top you had cap where you could run say several strands of wire down to a lower plate and have the pole completely surrounded in beans which could have a lower cage around it to keep the deer just out of reach until you want to open it up.

I also found this: KY Wonder is suppose to produce until the frost kills them

As far as yield, I found this: http://content.ces.ncsu.edu/pole-bean-production/

I haven't done the math yet to see how cost effective this is to possibly provide some above the snow late season food source. Or I could see this used in a pin point spot one might want to sit over in a plot planted with something else for the most part like clover or LC mix

 

[shawnv]

Maybe, I guess it was listed as "pole bean" where I found the pics but perhaps not. There are several varieties so I wouldn't know for sure.