Kentucky Blue Pole Beans
Written: Mar 31 '08
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Flavorful pole bean, versatile, easy to grow
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: This is an all around good variety of pole beans. They taste great and they're easy to grow.
|
|
|
| wonder1981's Full Review: Beans, Kentucky Blue Pole |
Kentucky Blue Pole Beans are one of my favorite beans to raise. These beans have a nice flavor and can be used in many different ways.
When I was growing up, my Great Grandmother used to make "leather breeches" beans. Leather breeches are dried beans. You take long green beans, such as these Kentucky Blue Pole Beans, and sting them up using a needle and thread. Hang them in a cool, dark place and let them dry out. Once they've dried out, they can be cooked just like any other dried bean. To tell the truth, I prefer beans that have been canned or even frozen. The main reason I make leather breeches to this day, is because I miss my Grandma.
Kentucky Blue Pole Beans are one of my top choices for pole beans. Pole beans differ from bush beans, since they like to have support as they grow. They like to vine up onto things. Native Americans planted beans amongst their corn, allowing the beans to vine up onto the corn. Some people plant them next to a fence or run a wire several feet above their rows. I prefer to make bean teepees. You just cut down some small sapling trees, sharpen the ends with a hatchet, and press those ends into the ground, spaced a few feet apart. You'll need three to four sapling trees for each teepee (you could also use some other type of poles, I've heard of people using bamboo). Tie them together at the top and let your beans grow up those. I place two or three bean seeds at the base of each pole. If you decide to plant these in a row, space the seeds about four inches apart. I always drop two or three seeds in each spot to ensure that I get sprouts in each spot. It will be around 65 days before they reach their maturity. Pick them often to ensure that the plants continue to produce. Always be careful while picking beans, as you don't want to knock off the blooms that are on the vines.
These beans are slightly sweet, and have a very nice flavor. They reach about 7 inches in length at maturity and they can be used whole or snapped. They develop their strings as they age, so I like to pick them while they're still small when I want to eat them immediately. I make leather breeches with these, but I've also canned and frozen them. They do great.
The brand of these beans available here through Epinions, is Ferry Morse. If you've purchased seeds at retail stores, chances are that you've used Ferry Morse seeds before. I've planted thousands of Ferry Morse seeds in my life and I always get good results.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
wonder1981
|
|
Location: USA
Reviews written: 120
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
Just a simple country girl :)
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.