It’s pretty easy to grow green beans and black eyed peas.  They’re pretty forgiving, aggressive plants that will endure some hardship, lol.   If some ground slugs eat holes in some leaves while they’re short, the plant will have enough energy to just go on up, providing the leaves aren’t eaten like lace.  They will tolerate being too crowded as long as they have rich soil, plenty of water and room to climb.  And, rabbits don’t like their leaves!

Once each plant gets a couple of inches tall, it will send out winders, looking for something to climb on.  You can help them along by taking the winders and putting them at the trellis or whatever you have there for them to climb on.  There are some little hairs on the winders that allow them to stick to other things a little, helping them along.  And, like the old song, they are willing to get by with a little help from their friends, and wind around each other.  It will be helpful for you to know as you train your winders where to wind, that plants that climb wind in a counter clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere.

There are my little gardening secrets about green beans! If you’re a new gardener or have kids starting to learn, plant some pole beans (not bush beans, which don’t climb) and give them something good to climb on and treat them well and you’ll have a good harvest, and they’re fun to watch growing.

And, last year I learned to make them the way they make them in good Chinese restaurants.  Once they’re cleaned and snapped, steam or cook them about 2 minutes, and then drain them.  Then put them in a saute pan with some thinly sliced onions (maybe one part onions to 4 parts beans) and a little bit of olive oil,  just enough to coat the pan.  Saute them together for 2 or 3 more minutes, and add some soy sauce and garlic powder to taste during the last minute.  I’ve also sometimes thrown in some slivered almonds.  Mmmm, that’s good stuff!

And there are my other green bean secrets! Happy gardening!