Has anybody here grown them? I planted a row yesterday, using grocery store dried beans. My intention is to use them as green snap beans ("string beans" is probably more apt; I bet they have a string) And if they are not good for that, for fresh shelled beans.
I hope they are bush or half-runner. I don't want to mess with poles where I put them. Surely they are dwarf enough for mechanical harvesting...
Pintos make very tasty string beans if you pick them young, and they are a tall-growing bush bean. I wanted to try something different; that's part of the fun.
alas, this is one of the two beans i've not grown or tried as fresh (the other is the navy bean). both the navy and great northern beans are grown in this region and over the course of my life i've eaten too many lbs of them, so when i had the chance to experiment (like you're doing :) ) i specifically avoided them.
also, i've had mixed luck with store bought beans when it comes to germination percentages. my first year of growing yellow-eye beans they must have been pretty old or stored badly as about 20% germinated. this year they've done much better (near 100%).
yes, i've never seen them grow very tall in the fields around here. perhaps 2 ft max, but with irrigation they might go further...
i like pinto beans too as fresh. the type i have are climbers (last year they topped the 7ft fence). we don't have much fence space so for the areas where i don't have a trellis set up they climb all over each other (and they'll take weeds on too).
and yes, much fun. :) i'm collecting open pollinated types (mostly dry beans, but also any others i happen across). if you'd like anything you can't find locally give me a holler and i'll send a list of what i have.
i also seem to be collecting crosses and oddities.
A rabbit ate most of my row of real green beans today, so I'm going to replant them with "small red beans" from the grocery store. :-) And I'll put "Repel" bitter spray on them as soon as they come up. That works really well with young pepper plants. (don't spray it on mature plants or *you* won't be able to eat them either)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.