Beans - Growing, Harvesting and Storing

Beans are a crop that are especially productive in the organic garden, along with their rich diversity and nutritional value. Beans being a primal food source, growing and saving heirloom bean varieties adds a rewarding feeling of accomplishment.

Beans are a hardy crop that grow nicely in most conditions, producing them an outstanding crop of choice for the house gardener. Even for areas that have a short growing season, there are short season varieties that are extremely productive. By which includes succession planting practices in your garden strategy, planting beans each and every two - 3 weeks between existing plants or in additional rows will significantly boost your harvest.

There are two sorts of beans, pole or bush beans. Pole bean varieties grow vertically and take less space in your garden, and can be planted along with crops of sunflowers or corn for a support for them to climb on, along with having an added benefit of fixing nutrients such as nitrogen to the soil for corn to benefit from. Bush beans will require more room, but are an exceptional crop to companion plant along with beets, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, potatoes and radishes.

Beans do nicely began indoors for transplanting, or by seed sown directly in the garden. The one factor is that beans like a warm soil, so do not rush planting them outdoors until the temperatures in your area permit the appropriate environment necessary for them to thrive.

Once harvested, open pollinated heirloom varieties of beans are hassle-free to preserve and save the seeds for future years of planting. Instead of harvesting all the pods on the vine, let some of the pods dry naturally on the plant and shell them to collect the seeds as soon as dried for storage for next years planting. Carefully label, such as the name and date of harvest and store them in a cool, dry place. Heirloom varieties have been saved and passed down through a number of generations given that or their exclusive flavor, production and hardiness traits.

When you start growing your own heirloom crops, whether or not they be flowers, fruits, herbs or vegetables, and discover for your self the unique top quality that they create, you will want to preserve these precious plants to pass down to generations to come in your family members, or to pass on to your pals. Just as lots of others have been performing for years. The preserving of native and heirloom plants are also incredibly beneficial to the ecosystem.