Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean Seeds

Kentucky Wonder is a prolific pole bean that produces incredibly tasty and sweet pods on vigorous plants that are easy to care for. The vines produce large crops of mostly straight and stringless pods that taste best when harvested at 7-8 inches long. Kentucky Wonder will produce all season long and yield more if picked regularly.  Pole beans can be harvested for a much longer time than bush beans, right up until frost, and they are easier to harvest as well. Kentucky Wonder will need vertical support as it can reach 5-8 feet tall. You can use it to your advantage, growing along a fence or arranged in a manner to provide shade for other more sun-sensitive crops.

You could also consider using Kentucky Wonder to cultivate a ‘’three sisters’’ arrangement, a Native American agricultural technique that combine pole beans, corn and winter squash. The principle is that the beans climb up on the corn plants and use them as ‘’poles’’ and winter squash like ‘’butternut’’ or ‘’spaghetti’’ act as an easy-to-maintain ground cover.

GROWING INSTRUCTIONS

Pole beans and bush beans are tender annual vegetables beloved by many. This iconic summer crop can be easily and practically grown in the home garden. Sow seeds directly into the garden when soil temperatures reach at least 10-15°C and after the danger of the last frost has passed. Do not start seeds early; transplanting can too easily damage the fragile root system.

Choose a sunny well-drained site to plant your beans. Because pole beans utilize their vines to grow vertically they will need support structures, such as stakes, a trellis or fencing installed before planting. Plant pole beans about 2 cm deep and 8 cm apart. Plant bush beans every 8 cm in rows about 45 cm apart. In order to have a continual harvest throughout the season, start new plantings every two weeks.

Beans fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil, therefore do not need much supplemental fertilizing, though a dose of compost after a heavy flowering would be a nice midseason pick-me-up. It’s a good idea to rotate the location of your beans from year to year so that other crops can take advantage of their nitrogen deposits.

Be sure that your beans stay well-watered. If not, they will cease flowering. For this reason, rows of beans will benefit from the application of mulch around the base of the plants. This helps keep their shallow root base moist and cool. When pole beans outgrow their support, pinch out the top of the plants to encourage lower growth.

Harvest beans when they are young and tender. The best time of day to pick is in the morning, when the sugar content is highest. Pick as often as possible, as this will promote a more bountiful harvest.

QUICK FACTS

- Beans in their wild state were first gathered in Afghanistan and the Himalayan foothills over 12,000 years ago. The first signs of cultivation of the beans were in Asia in 7,000 BCE and the first large-seeded broad beans varieties appeared in 2,000 BCE in ancient Egypt. A few varieties of beans were also already cultivated when the Europeans first came to America.

- There are four main types of beans: 1-Pole beans are a vining plant that needs a structure to climb, like a trellis or a fence. 2- Bush beans, on the other hand, are shorter and freestanding. 3- Snap beans can be eaten raw, with the pod. 4- Shell beans are meant to be opened up, so the seeds inside can be eaten.

- Bean seeds will remain viable for 3 years if stored in a cool, dark place, ideally between 4 and 10⁰C. After that, the germination rate may start to go down.