Organic Farmer Network: Network Discussion Summary

Topic: Green Beans

Favorite Green Beans varieties:

Wiedigers like Provider It is a heavy producer. Straight bean. Good color. Holds up above the ground really well. Open pollinated, but not heirloom. Can pick a lot of weight in a short amount of row.

Ellen grows lots of bean. She likes Harris variety – HighS Style. It’s a machine bean. Has a heavy set and pick once. Come off in your hand. A Blue Lake is tough pick off the plant and KY Wonders. There are struggles involved in getting them off. Can get untreated Espada --Long sexy beans. Very green no hair Tastes really good!

Ellen talks about the math of beans: “We have always been big pushers of green bean growing because the math seems pretty simple - the cost of production is almost negligible (land prep, seeding is quick and easy, seed is relatively cheap, a couple or three tractor cultivations, putting out pedio wasps) and so the only cost is in the hand harvesting. Because growing is so cheap, we over plant religiously, never get to some rows and never pick any plant more than twice before moving to a new patch. A reasonable picker can pick a bushel per hour, and at $2.00 to $2.40 per pound at the market that makes a bushel worth about $50-60 dollars. I also have a rule of thumb that one should be able to harvest $50-60 worth of a crop per hour. So, for me, beans are only labor intensive at picking time, I can do all the tractor work myself and we almost never hand hoe a patch.”