That neighbor who gave me bean plants changed my whole approach

Last spring my neighbor Helen saw me struggling with my raised beds and brought over a handful of bean seedlings she'd started in her basement. She said 'just plant these in a circle around a pole and they'll climb right up.' At first I thought it was a bit odd since I'd always used store bought trellises. But those beans grew like crazy and wrapped themselves around that pole in a way I'd never seen before. She told me her grandmother taught her that trick during the Depression when supplies were tight. I ended up with more green beans than I could eat and gave half of them away to people on my street. Has anyone else learned a simple old trick like that from a neighbor that made gardening easier than the fancy store bought methods?

2 comments

2 Comments

james_campbell1217d ago

The real game changer with those pole beans is how they fix nitrogen in the soil. Helen’s grandmother probably knew that but didn't say it. Those roots pull nitrogen from the air and store it in little nodules, so your soil actually gets better while the beans grow. I planted corn right where my beans were last year and it came up twice as tall as the other patch. That's the kind of free soil improvement you can't buy at the garden center.

gibson.sarah17d ago

Oh sure, just casually drop "free soil improvement" like it's not the gardening equivalent of finding a twenty in your winter coat. Meanwhile I'm over here paying for fancy compost like a sucker while nature's been doing it for free this whole time. Classic. Next you'll tell me I can just plant beans and my tomatoes will start paying rent. Maybe Helen's grandmother was actually a witch who cast a nitrogen spell and just didn't want to admit it. Either way I'm 90% sure my garden is going to demand back rent now that I know about this.