I am double cropping my peas and beans!

Today I used a dibble to plant contender bush beans into my peas, which are dying back now. I expect the pea roots to nourish the bush beans. Though I might fertilize as well.

My garden has given me a progression this year: The rows of bok choi and broccolli were followed by the row of peas which was followed by bush beans and zucchini. Once the bok choi started bearing I have simply had bearing vegetables at all times! And now I have added a second crop in the pea row.

In the past I would want runner beans to bear in the Fall but they did not get in in time, and so I put in the second planting of bush beans in the row of peas.

This spring was cool and I just kept putting in seeds. That wide row now has 3 muskmelon, 2 varieties of watermelon, 3 volenteer tomatos, and today I put in sweet corn. I am going to pretend that it was on purpose and call it a "3 sisters garden", though in reality I was using half packs of older seeds to fill in the holes that the late frosts and cold weather left.

Too many people think that gardening is expensive! If you simply plant inexpensive seeds from a reliable company and fertilize instead of buying a tiller, and freezing the excess instead of canning it, it doesn't have to be! Instead of buying a pressure canner I have been freezing what we cannot eat in zip lock bags. It is true that they will freezer burn if I try to keep them forfrozen for more than 4 months or so but my family will eat them before that, never fear! I will wait to buy the pressure canner until I have far more to preserve than I do now!

that is fine but peas and beans both fix nigrogen, so you might want to use the area for something that needs the nitrogen, as the beans don't need it.

just an idea

Brenda Groth wrote:
that is fine but peas and beans both fix nigrogen, so you might want to use the area for something that needs the nitrogen, as the beans don't need it.

just an idea

I did think about that, but in this area only a low growing plant will work because a tree shades anything that is taller than 18 inches or so. A low growing plant will have enough hours of light.....barely.

Bush beans will fit in the space available.

Everything else that we like to eat will grow too tall.

On the GOOD side, the roots of the peas will consist of the nutrients that beans use because the plants have similar nutritional requirements, and so as the roots rot they will nourish the bean plants.

What zone are you in? I am growing bok choi but planted it in the beginning of May....I dont think it will fair too well.  I want to do my pea/bean plantings like you did. I plan on doing pole beans though since both can climb up the side, and then my potatoes will grow inside the mesh they are climbing on.

I am in zone 5, with about a SIX month growing season.

For my area, at least, I cannot use the same support for peas and pole beans: by the time the peas are done it will be too late to plant pole beans. I went with bush beans because they bear in 45 days. Pole beans would not bear before it gets cold.

If our growing season was just 4 weeks longer I could really have fun with double cropping!!!

Actually now that I re read that Im doing it the opposite. Growing beans first , then switching to peas as it gets cooler.