Favorite Flavor String Bean

[robin282]

Hello,
I have grown string beans many times. I always grew bush until 2 years ago. I liked the pole too. Now, I am looking to expand my horizons a bit and would like flavor to lead the way. I like top crop for flavor. I do not like an extra early variety I bought a few years ago. I also enjoy the purple string beans too.

Please let me know your favorites for each color please. I like having the various colors, it makes it more interesting for the kids, and to look at before eating.

I plan to put up a lot of food this year, so the more flavorful the better.
Thanks,
Robin

[robin282]

What? Nobody likes beans? ;-)

I would like to find a wax bean that is plumper and more moist. I find they dry quickly if you miss a few and pick (what seems like) even a day late.
Robin

[flowerpower]

I grew Contender last yr. It produced very well over a long period. Also Kentucky Pole Beans which did well. I grew the flat Romano beans too. Those I really liked. Just wish they were not bush beans. I prefer pole style.

[bluelacedredhead]

I am reading Step by Step Organic Gardening by Sam Ogden... He said that the pole Romano was better suited to the cool nights in Vt than Kentucky Wonder, produce an earlier crop with a longer production period and lastly, taste better.

My two faves are Missouri Wonder Pole Bean, but they are stringed and are best eaten young or saved for dried use and the Appalachian Heirloom Seed Conservancy's Tobacco Worm Bean, which is a wonderful green bean!!!

[Tom Akers]

I grow Provider and Blue Lake (round) and Greencrop and Roma II Romano (flat). I usually only grow bush beans and I have grown these same ones for quite a few years. I don't care for yellow wax beans for some reason. I have grown plenty of pole beans too, but lately only the bush types. I find I get plenty by just keeping them picked, and they are a lot earlier. I got 3 pickings from these last year.
JMO,
Tom

[flowerpower]

Roma II Romano was exactly what I grew. And I like the look of purple beans. I believe I bought Royalty Purple Pod (bush) for this yr.

[robin282]

Yum!
Sounds good!
Robin

[howdy]

I grow contender and top crop for both flavor and yield. They both produce well even when it starts getting hot here in central Mo.

[bunkie]

we like Blue Lake and Derby for bush, green beans.

Beurre de Rocquencourt for bush, wax (yellow) beans.

we're getting into pole beans now so we have shade for certain veggies, like cukes, lettuce, spinach, etc... last year we did some Italian flat bean trials and really liked Supermarconi.

[robin282]

Thank you for the info!
Robin

[robin282]

Still looking for bean favorites. I thought they were pretty much all the same until I planted one I didn't care for particularly. I have some nice (from Italy) Roma green & Roma yellow. I will be planting Royalty Purple, Top Crop, and a couple of others in sample sized lots.

I also plant to sample the recommendations here. Does anybody else have recommendations?
Thanks,
Robin

[caudill78]

Robin,

Call me old fashioned but I still love Kentucky Wonder... I also like Blue Lake and White Half Runners... Good luck with your crop this season

[robin282]

How about best flavor after processing?

[pugs]

Growing up in Oregon, the only answer possible is Blue Lake. I picked those pole beans as a grade schooler. Had to stand on a bucket to pick them and even then some one else had to pick the upper parts I couldn't reach.

Great fresh eating and processed.

Pugs

[johno]

Kentucky Wonder, Blue Lake, Contender - all fine beans and the ones I've grown most of my life. I like the Romanos even more, but not everyone likes their flat structure.

My favorite bush bean is Slenderette, and so far my favorite pole bean is Rattlesnake.