Tale as old as time, true as it can be…  Just kidding, making a very dorky play on Beauty and the Beast with my post.  My green beans have been doing very well.  A number of people had told me to plant green beans as they were basically fool proof.  I love disclaimers like that because I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be that straightforward for me.

I had read that it was helpful to sprout the seeds in a moist towel for 2-3 days before directly sowing them in the ground.  That worked really well. I just used an old wash cloth, dampened it slightly, rolled about 12 seeds up, and left it on the kitchen counter in a produce bag from the grocery store so that it stayed warm and moist.  I checked it each day to make sure it was still damp and then three days later every seed had a sprout shooting out. Then I planted all the seeds outside.

I will say I did not follow the instructions on the packet regarding spacing.  I think I was just so happy that all seeds had sprouted and I wanted to use every last one.  I had only designated half of one of my garden beds to beans so this was about a 4×4 foot square that I planted 12 bean plants in.  Learning #1:  follow the instructions on plant spacing. I have learned it doesn’t do me any good to have a big jumble of plants that I won’t be able to tend.  The spacing recommendations are to allow each plant to grow and thrive. Sounds obvious, but so is a STOP sign and we don’t all follow those.    

Speaking of jumble, Learning #2:  doing a trellis or some other support structure for bean plants (and other vining or wandering plants) is necessary.  I really liked this video from Melissa Norris on building a teepee trellis and used this concept for my green beans.  However, I don’t think I built my two teepees tall enough.  My teepees were only about 4 feet tall so as the plants grew to the top, they just wound back down and became a big interwoven mix up.  Having too many plants probably also contributed to this scenario. I think what I will try next year is to plant one plant at the base of each leg of my teepee, not more than 6-8 plants, and make the teepee at least 5 feet tall.  I will also allot an entire garden bed to the beans and maybe just plant a few marigolds in the corners because….

Learning #3:  Japanese beetles are no joke.  For about 2-3 weeks I was going out to my bean plants every few days and picking at least a 2 pounds of green beans.  I was noticing that the leaves were getting eaten but being the novice that I am, I wasn’t sure how much of that was par for the course.  I know there are going to be bugs and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to use any chemicals on the fruits and veggies that I grow, so I understand there will be some food sharing.  But dang! These beetles are greedy and destructive. One afternoon, I finally said wait a minute and while I was picking the beans I paid better attention to any bugs I could see.  And guess who was all up in my face, not even trying to be slick about their thievery? These guys! So I quickly googled and learned these are Japanese beetles, they are quite a nuisance, and there are a couple remedies to fight back.  The approach I chose was to knock them off the plants into a bucket of water, kind of like this guy from the Maine Co-op Extension.  That isn’t a long-term solution so I may look into some sort of spray or insecticidal soap next year but for now it’s all learning.  

That’s one of the main reasons I am trying to write as much of this stuff down.  I have no gardening experience whatsoever and it will take many years for me to get the hang of this stuff.  And if I try to rely on memory – FOR-GET-IT!!!