Pole beans

[robertb]

What sort of climate do rattlesnake beans need? I'm wondering whether they would grow in the UK.

[mnjrutherford]

I really couldn't answer that Robert. Were we are, they are one of the "standard" things to grow so presumably they do really well here. Our first frost is mid November and last frost is end of March. Our summers are rather hot with most days ranging between 85 and 95. I haven't seen triple digits since arriving 3 years ago. The high of the day is at 4 p.m. IT'S HUMID! Boy howdy is it ever humid! Well, not Florida/Georgia humid, but if it rains only a little bit then the sun comes out, it's a misery.

If you would like a few seeds to experiment with, I would be happy to send you some!

[mnjrutherford]

Hey Val! No, I wasn't able to save any seed but I have seed left which I planted this year as well. I wanted to save seed, but didn't know if I should gather the pods and allow them to dry or allow the pods to remain on the plants until dry. Since I had to place to lay them out to dry, I left them on the vines. They all went mouldy. So, clearly that was NOT the way to do it!

Korean Style Dipping Sauce:

NOTE: This is a wonderful sauce for all kinds of things that are lightly fried.

1/4 c. Soy sauce
1/4 c. mirin (Korean cooking wine, should be available at any oriental shop, I can send some if needed, it's not very expensive)
1 T. toasted sesame oil
2 toes finely minced garlic
5 "leaves" onion greens, finely shredded
1/2 t. cider vinegar

Optional:
1 T. toasted sesame seeds
hot chili oil, to taste
1 T. finely chopped yellow onion
1 T. Chinese style black vinegar

I NEVER measure but this gives you an idea of portions. I mix it up in a little container and make enough to last a while particularly through the summer when we do a lot of veg.

Another great thing with this dip is fried zucchini.

Batter:
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. corn starch
2 t. salt
Use whisk and blend the dry ingredients in a bowl.
4 eggs
Whisk together until a smooth batter is achieved.

Dip 1/4" thick slices of squash to coat and fry in shallow oil. I prefer olive oil but veg or corn oil works just fine. BUT, only put in a little oil and add a tad between batches rather than making it deep.

This can also be stored in a covered bowl in the fridge for 2 days. It separates and changes color in the fridge! Just whisk it to blend and use it again.

In Korea this is used for squash and for VERY thin sliced and marinated beef. Marinate the beef in a sauce that is just like the dipping sauce but with more yellow onion.

In Italy they use the same batter for Frito Misto (mixed fry) and they will fry fish, shrimp, veg, and lemon slices! The difference is that they use more oil at the start, fry the lemons first, and the oil must be VERY hot to fry fast and not absorb oil but still impart the flavor of the things going first to the things going behind. Pretty yummy!

[grungy]

Sounds delightful. Thanks for the recipes. I am going to take the option of copying these into my recipe book if you don't mind, Jo.

As for drying beans - leave them on the plants as long as possible. Then pick the pods and lay them on a surface such as window screening out of the rains to dry. (Some years you can't hardly move around upstairs between screened drying racks and boxes of green tomatoes that are put up there to finish ripening. <grin>

Jo you gain at least 6 weeks of growing weather in the spring and another month in the fall. Lucky you.

[mnjrutherford]

Go right ahead Val! If it's easier, I can email the Word file and you can print that out. I keep all my recipes on the computer and I work from a binder cause ONE of these fine days, I'll hope to have an actual factual cookbook to give my descendants.

Yep, the extra growing time is great. The down side is that I don't get as much clothing construction time. I've gotta get on to making pants and shirts for the boys, finish knitting a baby blanket for my grandson that is due in a few weeks, finish the sweater I'm making for Mike... you get the picture?

So you DO dry things on screens! I just knew it! I've been after Mike and after Mike to make me a stand with screen trays that I can do just that with! Something else that is a MUST HAVE! in my garden kitchen!

[grungy]

Its the only way to go here in the fall when things get dampish and when we lived at the coast where - well dampish isn't quite the word to use but you get the picture.

[grungy]

We also use the screens in the summer to finish drying fruit.

[mnjrutherford]

My eldest brother-in-law lived a long time in Washington state and he says the weather is absolutely morbid. I can't imagine which coast would be worse!

[grungy]

Well on the west coast we had two seasons, wet and not quite so wet.

[Penny]

Its the same weather in Ontario right now too Val.....wet and wetter!

[bunkie]

'eastern' Washington state is much drier than the coast...but the last couple of days has been spotty 'torrential' rains...we needed them tho. usually it doesn't really rain from spring through fall here. weather patterns are really changing alot here the last three years!

[michaeljohnson]

I was reading an interesting article in a book I bought by several top gardeners, who say that if you plant (sweet pea) plants of any variety and colour as long as they are the tall climbing type, amongst the base of your runner bean and pole bean plants it greatly improves the setting of your runner beans and pollination etc, I don't know why this is-perhaps it is because it attracts all the right sort of insects to the area -who then go onto the beans at the same time- but in any case you would end up with the nicest smelling pole and runner beans you ever had as a result of that

[robertb]

I've heard this, but never tried it. It does make sense as they're pollinated, not by honeybees which are very targeted, but by bumblebees which visit whatever's available. So anyhting which will bring the pollinators in is likely to make a difference.

[Emerald]

I have a few answers for some of the folks on Rattlesnake pole beans- Our Michigan summer has been in the cool upper 70's and quite damp, we have only had a few days of high heat and the rattlesnakes that I traded for are just doing wonderfully- the pods are staying tender and string less even with quite big. I still have 1/2 the amount of what was sent to me (just in case I don't get any seed this year) and will be planting them for sure next year, right along with my favorite pole bean "Cherokee Trail of Tears" a great all round bean, good for green beans and for dry beans, it seems to do well, weather we have good warm summers or even the last couple of cool summers.
Another thing that I have found that seems to work well for fruit set on the beans was a trick that I got from a friend about getting the brandywine tomatoes to have a better fruit set- Camochef told me to give all the tomato plants a shake every other day or so and since the beans are on the same fencing as the tomato plants they also got the good shake, The bean and tomato set on the plants that year was phenomenal! So now I give my fencing a shake every day while out in the garden and it seems to work just fine.. Might not work for everyone but it does work for me.
After reading up on how beans are pollinated, mainly by dropping the pollen in the flower the same time the bloom opens it pollinates itself- the shaking seems to make the pollen drop and set better- (this is extremely layman's terms, I am sure that most of you fine folks know the proper terminology) JMHO

[grungy]

Thank you, Emerald, for the information. Will have to try it on a couple of bean varieties that seem awful slow on setting.