posted 1 year ago
I don't like either one. I have lots of pole beans, but the vines always get so giant and I get tired of building and moving those big trellises each year. I don't like stooping over to pick bush beans for snaps and it's hard to mature them for dry use or seed because in my climate they usually get knocked down and splashed with mud during storms which leads to lots of rot and mold.
I've been working for years on a solution in what I call semi-runner beans. They do climb which keeps them safe from storms but only to around four to six feet tall, so trellising is much easier than with the ten footers. I have several but the best are some pinto beans that came originally form the grocery store, a bean with the same color and markings as pinto but smaller and more round that came from some Joseph Lofthouse seeds and some off-types beans that came from an old heirloom called Refugee that I got from Monticello. Refugee and it's off-types have my favorite growth habit in that they only get about four feet tall, but they have lots of branches instead of one single vine, unfortunately they are not overly productive.
Anyway, I guess my vote goes basically to pole beans.
Nothing ruins a neighborhood like paved roads and water lines.