March 19, 2024

Craigjspearing

Amazing design, nonpareil

Green Beans – The Best Green Beans to Grow For Canning

I have quite a bit of experience when it comes to growing green beans. I’ve been gardening for more than 30 years. Over the years, I’ve tried growing many different varieties of green beans. Since I like canning beans to store in my cellar, I’ve narrowed my favorites to the ones that taste the best after being put through the canning process. You might think green beans are all the same, but they all have differences.

Tenderette Bush Beans are by far my favorite type of bean for canning. They are a stringless white seeded bean, have a great flavor and hold their form well when canned. They also produce very large crops. If the plants are kept well picked, the plants will continue to produce a large crop until frost.

Golden Wax Bush Beans are also a good bean for canning. The flavor is good, and since the beans are yellow, they have a slightly different taste than the usual green bean. They produce well, are stringless, and are easier to pick than green ones. They are easier to see on the bush since they are yellow. They also hold their yellow color when canned.

Since I’m getting older and don’t like having to bend over to pick bush beans, Tenderette and Golden Wax are the only type of bush beans that I grow. All the other varieties I’ve tried in the past failed in comparison. I’ve never found any pole beans that I like as well as Tenderette bush beans when canned, but I plant them anyway. I grow them mainly because I don’t have to stoop as much when picking them. Pole beans take a little longer to start producing than bush beans.

Kentucky Wonder is a pole type bean that cans well and holds its form fairly well. It does seem to lose some of its flavor during the canning process. It is a brown seeded bean, and are stringless when picked when young. Keep them well picked and they will produce until frost kills them.

Blue Lake Pole Beans are a white seeded variety that cans quite well. It holds its flavor and shape when canned. They are stringless when picked young, and will produce until frost when kept well picked. Blue Lake pole beans are my favorite type of pole bean for canning.

White Half Runner Pole Beans are my least favorite of all due to the fact that they have heavy strings. Even when picked very young, they tend to have some strings. The only reason I plant them at all is because of their unique bean flavor. They are a white seeded variety. The vines don’t grow as high as most pole beans, so they can be grown along a waist high fence instead of on poles. They hold their flavor well when canned. The seeds from mature beans also dry well for winter use. If you have only had canned beans from the grocery store, you don’t know what you’re missing. Home canned green beans out shine store bought beans. There really is no comparison in quality and flavor.