Originally posted on 03/19/2015:

Quote Originally Posted by JMon View Post
BLT's good, but not same unless with my fresh tomatoes out the garden... getting the ich with warm weather. I have 4 raised beds about 4x4...thing about doing the normal tomatoes and cucs.. did jalapenos and green peppers last year(freezer is full) thinking about changing it up? Thinking about green beans and brussel sprouts? Thoughts?
J-Mon, if you're going to plant beans, here's some proven advice that will yield a tremendous amount of beans, all season long, without taking up too much space. Beans freeze as well as any veggie in the garden, and in seal a meal bags, they stay good for over a year.

First I built a teepee style trelise, making sure it's at least 7 ft tall and all the sticks are firmly imbedded in the ground. If you have the space, the larger the better because inside that trelise is a great place to plant your outside weed , out of sight and out of mind. I make sure there's room all the way around so that I can plant bush beans next to the pole bean trelise. Not too close, I leave enough room to get a step ladder in between the bush beans and trelise, so I can harvest the top of the trelise.

The best variety of pole bean is called Kentucky Wonder, which if treated with legume innoculant, will yield all season long, and almost double the yield over untreated bean seeds. It's a black powdery organic substance that once you dampen the seeds, you coat the seeds in before planting at the base of each trelise pole. I usually putt 4 beans around each pole at 12- 3- 6- and 9 o'clock. The three strongest plants are then trained to grab hold of the pole, and they need to climb, as they won't produce flowers or fruit unless they're at a minimum of 6 ft.
The best producing and tasting bush bean I've found is called Royal Burgandy. They grow a deep purple, but when cooked turn a brilliant bright green. By far the best tasting and most tender bean I've ever eaten. Those also should be treated with legume innoculant. Continually planting, yields the best tasting bean, all season long. Any legume, especially early peas, whether they're the tall ones for picking the pods, or my favorite, Sugar Daddy's that are edible pea pods that you can let grow big enough to produce large peas plus the pods, viola, no teadious pea pod shucking.

There's a very good veggie garden reference that's withstood the test of time called, Readers Digest Guide to Gardening. I have the hard copy and have used it with great success over the years and refer to it as the "Gardening Bible. " I'm sure it's available online, but if not they've stopped publishing it, but I've have friends that I've recommended it too that have found it online.

Mother nature threw the N.E. for a loop this winter, so my usual 3rd week in March rototilling will be late this year so my early stuff, lettuce, broccolli, brussells, kale, onions, carrots, peas, etc etc etc will have be the middle of April instead of the 1rst week of April.

BOL with your garden this year, I pride myself in growing some of the best veggies available and eating fresh, frozen, or processed, veggies all year long.