Fresh, vitamin-rich vegetables from your own garden are always a pleasure - beans should therefore not be missing from any vegetable patch. They are easy to grow and their uses are varied. They taste delicious as a vegetable, as slivered bean soup and as dried beans.
How to grow beans successfully?
When growing beans, you should first choose the appropriate variety (bush beans, runner beans or runner beans). Make sure there is enough space, loose soil conditions, good sunlight and regular watering. Runner beans are also suitable for growing on balconies.
Pole, bush – or would you rather runner beans?
All you really have to do is decide which type of bean you want to grow. The most commonly encountered are bush beans, runner beans and runner beans.
They differ mainly in their growth habit, yield and use. As their name suggests, the bushy beans require a lot of space. The pole and runner beans that climb upwards require less space.
While the runner bean scores with its red flowers, the runner bean impresses with its taste.
Advantage of bush beans
The bush bean is not very demanding in terms of soil preparation and care and it also thrives in partial shade. It produces faster, early varieties like “Saxa” are ready to harvest after just 60 days.
Due to the early maturity, a second sowing of bush beans is possible in July. Bush beans are suitable as a direct after-culture of early potatoes. This means that the vegetable patch can be cultivated twice a year.
Bush bean varieties are:
- ´Doublet´, resistant variety, suitable for freezing
- ´Gold ducat´, wax bean
- ´Prinzessa´, for immediate consumption and frozen
Advantage of runner beans
Runner beans are grown to save space because they grow tall on climbing aids. They produce higher yields and taste better.
Pole beans are suitable for gardening mixed culture with lettuce, radishes, beetroot, cucumbers and zucchini, which are planted between the poles.
Common bean varieties:
- ´Neckarkönigin´, high-yielding, resistant variety
- ´Blauhilde´, blue beans turn green when cooked
Advantage runner bean (runner bean)
Field beans are less sensitive to cold. Either the tasty young beans are harvested for preparing vegetables or the ripe fruits, which are used as dry beans.
Because of their large leaves and mostly red flowers, runner beans also serve as flowering privacy screens and as decorative fencing.
Fire bean varieties:
- ´Red flowering´, for rough locations, for greening fences
- ´Lady Di´, bright red flowers, stringless fruits
Cultivation on the balcony
Runner beans in particular are suitable for planting on the balcony. Here they serve three purposes - edible fruits, flower decorations and privacy protection.
A bucket with loose substrate, a place in the sun or in light partial shade, enough water and a climbing aid (€129.00 on Amazon) - that's all the runner bean needs to decorate the balcony with its flowers and to bear fruit. But be careful – raw beans are poisonous.
Tips & Tricks
Less known is the broad bean, which is also known as broad bean, broad bean or broad bean. It is even easier to care for and can be grown in favorable locations from March onwards. When dried, they can be kept for up to 5 years.
