Planting beans in July? Yes!

Last night, I started two pots of Romano pole beans under the grow lights in the garden room. The bush beans we planted in May seem to be hibernating. I’m not sure what’s wrong, other than the excessive rain, which has yellowed the plants some. I wanted to plant pole beans anyway, so yesterday afternoon on my lunch break, I swung by the local nursery and picked up a packet of heirloom Romano pole beans. This is an old, reliable bean that has been around for generations.

Problem is, I’m planting in July.

Well, that may not be a problem. Many bean growers “succession plant” through summer – meaning they start a second or even third bean bed well into summer, for early to late autumn harvests. I succession plant basil and parsley through summer, and have fresh herbs well into October.

In our climate here, with such short summers, will it work with the beans? We’ll see. I’m giving them a quick start under the lights, so they should be ready to go into the ground in about two weeks.

On a less tentative note, last night’s dinner was fab. We boiled penne, and while it was cooking, we got out the food processor, threw in parmesan, raw garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and the following fresh herbs from the garden – lemon balm, lemon verbena, parsley, oregano, basil, pineapple sage and chives. Whirred it all up and tossed it with the cooked penne. Divine. I love summer.

Thank you, Mother Earth!