View Single Post
  #2   Report Post  
Old 01-06-2003, 03:56 PM
Frogleg
 
Posts: n/a
Default foiling the squash vine borer-now: green bean question

On Sat, 31 May 2003 19:17:51 GMT, Julia Altshuler
wrote:

snip
In the past, I've never paid any attention to what sort of beans I was
planting. I looked in my kitchen cupboard and planted black beans or red chili
beans or whatever I happen to have there. They've always grown. (Whether
they've vined or bushed has always been a surprise.) They've always produced
some green beans. And the price for seeds has always been the most reasonable
around. Is there any reason why I shouldn't continue this practice? Do the
beans sold as seeds produce more or better green beans?


I like to plant the varieties advertised as "haricot vert" and harvest
young and tender. OTOH, one really cool thing about gardening is that
there are so many things you can put into the ground and eventually
get edibles from. Supermarket coriander seeds make cilantro plants!
Garlic, sprouting potatoes, a fallen leaf in a commerical greenhouse
may all produce interesting crops. The fun of 'supermarket' gardening
is surprise; the fun of using carefully developed seeds is precise
accomodation to your needs. I expect commercial seeds *do* yield
more certain results. Although where did the supermarket beans come
from? A ditch somewhere? I don't know much about hybridization in
beans. But if you're using dried beans to harvest as green 'uns, let
your taste be your guide. Just don't erect an elaborate bean-climing
support and plant bush beans beneath, as I did once. :-) I mean, the
beans were fine, but I felt awfully silly about the supports.