How to Build a Bean Pole

By this point in your garden planning, you’ve likely decided between planting pole beans or bush beans. Why else would you be wondering how to build a bean pole, right?

Pole Beans Versus Bush Beans

In case the choice eluded you, a bush bean will do just that: grow into a low bush which produces dangling beans during harvest. The pole bean, on the other hand, will vine up the trellis you offer it to produce dangling beans as well. The choice between the two can depend on the space available in your garden, your preference in bean tastes, or when you hope to harvest (bush beans produce an early harvest that comes in one spurt, while pole beans come a bit later in the season but provide a steady harvest of beans throughout the growing season).

The Winner: Pole Beans!

Pole Beans are a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron and fiber. Check out the nutritional data of a serving of green beans at NutritionData.com. Some popular pole bean varieties are Kentucky Blue, Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake. Pole beans prefer rich soil and a lot of sunshine, so be sure and place them in the optimal spot in your garden.

4 Easy Steps to Building the Bean Pole

Materials:

• 8 x 8′ bamboo poles
• Twine
• Scissors
• Pole bean seeds

Step 1:

Draw a circle in your garden dirt to indicate the desired circumference of the base of your bean pole, somewhere around 4 feet in diameter depending on the size of your garden. Place a depression in the dirt where the circle’s center is. Now, using four lines, segment the circle in the dirt like you are cutting an apple pie. Begin the first line by drawing from one side of the circle to the other, cutting directly through the circle’s center. With the second line, do the same thing on the other side so that the circle in now in four equal parts. Lines three and four will cut your circle into eight equal parts so that in the end your circle looks like a Trivial Pursuit game piece.

Step 2:

With the circle drawn and segmented, push a bamboo pole into the soil at every point along the circle’s outer edge everywhere a line hits. When you are done, it will look like a tall round fence. Take each of the bamboo poles and twist them about a foot into the ground so that they are firmly planted.

Step 3:

Gather the tops of bamboo poles about three inches from the top. Knot one end of the twine to a bamboo pole and begin weaving over and under the bamboo poles until the poles hold together without you. Your bean pole should resemble a teepee now. Continue winding and weaving the twine around until you are convinced it is sturdy. Knot off the end and weave the remnant twine into the wound twine.

Step 4:

Scoop out a trench around each of the pole legs about 1-½ inches deep and plant about 6 seeds spaced equidistant from one another. Cover back up with dirt and water generously. Once the seedlings reach 3 inches tall, thin them down to the strongest three seedlings. Water regularly and once beans appear, harvest at least three times per week to promote more growth.