Grow A Rainbow of Beans

If I had to pick one vegetable to plant right now in my garden, it would be beans!! This post is going to have you harvesting beans in your backyard garden in no time. And believe me, you need beans in your garden right now!!

In my mind when August gets here there is one thing you MUST get in the ground! (I also love a good round of fall cucumbers, and you can learn more about what varieties we are planting here.)  But the real star of the early fall garden is BEANS!  Now, I'm not talking about your grandmother's beans.  In the Wild Child Garden we are growing a RAINBOW OF BEANS!!

There is something about a rainbow of beans that is just so fun!  And planting them in fall is such a great bonus.  It is like a second spring.  Yes, Please!  The temperatures are mild and the rain is usually pretty consistent.  So, fall is a great time to get those beans in the ground! 

Why We Plant Bush Instead of Pole Beans:

We plant bush beans specifically for several reasons.  First, we plant them because they do not need a trellis or arch since they do not vine.  Many times we have cherry tomatoes, pumpkins, or cucumbers on our trellises this time of year, so we need something that isn't vining to add to the garden.

Also, bush beans come in a rainbow of colors. SO MUCH FUN!!

And they are a confidence booster.  If you need a little boost in your garden then you need to grow bush beans. These beans are the golden retriever of the garden, they want nothing more than to please you!  Trust me!

Now we are not knocking traditional pole beans here, but for fall, they are not the best choice.  Here's why.  Pole beans produce slower but fruit longer than bush beans.  Excellent in spring. But in fall we want a plant that will produce fast in a short amount of time. That is exactly what a bush bean does.  They will give you lots of beans in three rounds of harvests (20 beans per plant per harvest) over the course of around 60 days.  That is alot of beans.  Then at the end of 60 days, they come out and we carry on with our fall planting.

Bush beans love the mild to moderate temperatures we see in spring and fall here in Zone 8/9, so we plant a round in the spring and enjoy a plentiful harvest.  Right when our families are saying, "mom, beans again? at the supper table." We replace them with something else!

Then we plant them again in August for another harvest in early fall.   They take about 10 days to sprout, and by the time they are large enough to start producing the temperatures are beginning to cool enough and the weather is perfect. We like to call this second round of beans "Bonus Beans".  We want to grow them, we want to eat them, we want to freeze them for the winter!  Are you convinced yet??  Keep reading!

One More Reason To Grow Beans

They are planted by seed.  No transplants needed, and no equipment to get them to germinate.  You literally put that seed directly in the garden about finger nail length deep. One of our garden club members likes to  say, " If there is an empty space in my garden I plant a bean seed."  We love to maximize our space and make sure we are intensively planting in the Wild Child Garden.  Now, it is true you can't plant everything like that, but you can plant beans this way.  You can plant 9 bush beans per square foot in your garden, and in 45 days you will harvesting your first round.

The Wild Child Garden is the busy mommas garden. We don't have time for begging, pleading, and babying plants, so we pick plants and varieties that are tough. No wimps need to apply here!  Bush beans fit the bill perfectly!  

Here is a list of Wild Child approved varieties!  These beans will give you the rainbow of color that turns your harvests into a work of art, and they are tried and true overproducers.  If you don't plant a single other thing this fall, these beans have to be in your garden (or a pot on your patio).  You will not regret it!

Join the Rainbow of Beans Challenge

The challenge is simple. Just grow as many different colors of bush beans you can find. When picking time arrives, create a rainbow out of all of the colors you harvest. Snap a pic of your rainbow and post using the hashtag #rainbowofbeans  

The Wild Child Garden Club Is OPEN For Fall

Come and grow with us.  I will teach you how to build a garden you love and how to grow a garden that produces for you all season.  The wild child garden is one that will requires less space, less work, and gives you more harvests! You can find more information about the Garden Club HERE.  Here is what you get when you join the Garden Club for the cool season.  

Join Us For The Season And Receive:

• Relevant Monthly Teaching
• Live Weekly Coaching
• Members Private Facebook Group
• Instant Access To Over 15 On-Demand Courses
• Free Registration To 10 New Courses Being Added This Season
• Wild Child Fundamentals BONUS Course 
• Live Garden Planning Session
• Monthly Garden Calendar
• Step By Step Tutorials
• PDF Downloads
• BONUS Wild Child Garden Journal
• BONUS Wild Child Cool Season Garden Guide
• BONUS Wild Child Cool Season Companion Guide

I created Wild Child Kitchen Gardens for busy women just like you.  I will teach you how to grow your own food in the space you have, with the time you've got...toddlers in tow, baby on hip, with an aching back, single, married, newlywed, or retired.  This program is for you!  Whether you have one pot on the patio or a backyard full of raised beds, this method will increase your harvests, decrease your labor, and transform your life.  Learn more HERE and I will see you inside!