Pretty much every single growing season, we’re implementing changes that we’ve learned through experience. Sometimes an issue doesn’t pop up but once every decade, but it’s enough of an issue that it prompts significant change.
If you were with us last season, you might recall our dismal bush bean harvest. It was bad. We maybe harvested a handful of beans. Not enough for a meal, forget about our typical preservation! It was definitely a seasonal thing as we usually have a massive bounty of beans. Similar crop issues with bush beans were widely reported to us as well.
So, lessons learned! Now, what are we doing about it?
Well, we’ve decided to sow our beans indoors and transplant them out later, once frosts are clear. Bush beans are always a bit slow to germinate in the north when direct sowed outdoors, largely due to our relatively cool spring temperatures. Sowing them indoors doesn’t just get them ahead by a few weeks, it also massively speeds up germination!
While we don’t necessarily anticipate another dismal season this year, we did surmise that if we could induce the bean harvest sooner, we’ll just generally be better off. In our climate, we need our entire three month growing season to produce bush beans, so there’s just very little room for error.
Oh, and if you’ve heard that beans are supposedly “difficult to transplant,” pay no mind to that nonsense. We’ve transplanted practically every single “difficult to transplant” seed, almost entirely without fail. We’re not sure where these gardening rumors erupt from, but if it’s got roots, it’ll transplant just fine.
If you want to get in on the action, it’s definitely not too late. Like cucurbits, beans will grow fast and large. Especially with the heat of an indoor grow room! We started our beans just this last weekend and as you can see, they’re already showing some force!
Growing in the north is a continual learning experience. We say it a lot, but no one has it all figured out! Gardening is a lifelong practice. So, when you fail, it’s important to get right back up and do it again. But better next time!
