I'm not exaggerating. If you can't tell how much, it's about a one gallon ziplock back. Almost. Every. Day. It's great, but really, it's why I need some of these.
I bring them for lunch and eat them raw. I like them raw, actually. I bring in back to give my coworkers and their eyes bug out when "some" green beans is about 10 meals worth. I've blanched and frozen 3 gallons of my own and I don't have a lot of freezer space, so I don't know if I can really do more.
And there are many more a-coming.
This is such a perfect example of why you plant in succession. The yield never slows down because just as one plant is dying off,the next generation is racing to produce more. I've done this with other plants but the beans seem to be the winners in showing how it's done.
And this summer, I decided that I much prefer the pole beans to the bush beans, for two reasons. The pole beans seem to produce for a longer period. And, they are so much easier to pick. Except for the plants that grew up the 12+ foot sunflower and I have to stand on a ladder to get them. If you can keep them under control, they are easier to pick. And, I guess a third reason, they take up less ground space because all they want to do is climb, so you have more space to grow ground stuff.
Pole beans do take longer to get going, probably because they have contests to see who can grow the farthest from the main plant, but overall, I think I will grow them from now on.
Do you see the zucchini up there too? That was a surprise. I got the squash borer in July and thought most of my squash was a goner but I had planted some a little bit later and I guess they missed out. I had more zucchini and summer squash than I would have imagined and just today, there was that zucchini! The plants really are pretty much done but a couple of still trying to flower and produce little tiny things that rot off. I think this really is it.
As long as the frost stays away, I think I'll be in the beans for quite a while longer. Last year, we had a snap frost, which I thought I mentioned but I can't find, and things were ruined in early October. That was pretty unusual and based on the decent weather we are still having, I think we're in the clear for a little while.
I am amazed that your are still going strong after school starts. Once I get in school mode, the garden is about 100th on the priority list. I've got good stuff going to waste, which really does make me sick to think. Way to go on those green beans. This was my second (first successful) year for green beans and I love love love how it went. Will do more next year. Maybe I will have your problem with too many beans!
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