Tendercrop bush beans, also sold by the name of Tendergreen Improved, are an easy-to-grow variety of green beans. These are a favorite with proven taste and texture. Featuring stringless pods, they are easy to get ready for cooking. These green beans are low maintenance if provided with the basics of care. Read on to learn more.

How to Plant Tendercrop Beans

When you begin growing Tendercrop beans, plant them in the right soil, in an appropriate location for an easy and productive growing season.

Get bean seeds in the ground as early as possible. Plant them when all danger of frost is passed. Temperatures will have warmed by then. This includes soil temperatures. Wait about 14 days past your last frost date.

These beans grow in USDA hardiness zones 5 to 11. Learn your zone and find out the best time to plant in your area. They take approximately 53 to 56 days to reach maturity. Those in warmer zones have time to plant an additional crop for families that love green beans.

Prepare the planting bed ahead of time. Remove weeds and grass, then till the soil to about 12 inches (31 cm.) down. Mix in compost or other amendments to improve soil fertility for this crop. Green beans like a slightly acidic soil, with a pH of about 6.0 to 6.8. Take a soil test if you’re not aware of your soil’s current pH level.

Growing Tendercrop Beans

These meaty, stringless pods grow prolifically. Plant seeds 2 inches (5 cm.) apart in 20 foot (6 m.) rows. Make the rows 2 feet apart (61 cm.). Some growers use a layer of compost between the rows to keep weeds down. This also enriches the soil. You may use mulch to keep weeds from sprouting too. The roots of Tendercrop green beans don’t like competition from weeds.

Keep the soil moist after planting seeds. Expect them to sprout in about a week. Thin them out when they are 3 or 4 inches (8-10 cm.). Cultivate around plants regularly until blooms develop, then stop. Any disturbance may cause blooms to fall off.

Learn to water green beans properly if there is no rain. This helps provide a better harvest. Keep the soil moist, but not soggy. Provide about an inch (2.5 cm.) of water per week to bean plants. Water at the base of the plant, getting the roots but not the foliage wet. This helps you avoid diseases such as root rot and fungal issues that spread through splashing water. Use a slow stream of water instead of blasting the plant. You may use a soaker hose at low volume on each row. Let the water trickle onto the roots when watering by hand.

Allow the soil to dry out before harvesting the beans. Harvest when beans are about 4 inches (10 cm.) long. Cook right away or try canning the harvest beans or blanch to freeze.

"Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat the more you"¦" If you are a Simpsons fan, you may be able to finish the lyrics ala Bart Simpson. This song was around well before the Simpsons aired because I recall my now 77-year young Dad singing it to my sister and me when we were as young as Bart is portrayed on the comedy. Beans, indeed, have an ageless history and have been an invaluable nutrient rich food for centuries. There are a plethora of heirloom bean seeds and amongst these are China Red Eye beans.

History of Early China Bush Beans

Early China bush bean info is scant at best. What we do know about China Red Eyed beans is that they were called Cuckoo Bean by the Pennsylvania Dutch. New Englanders referred to them as China Red Eye or Early China Bush bean. The history of Early China Bush beans has been documented in Germany in the early 1820's. They were then introduced to the United States in 1854. The name indicates that the beans hail from Asia, but this is a misnomer. The bean probably originated in South America.

Heirloom Bean Seeds

Any further China Bush bean info can be gleaned from general information regarding other heirloom beans. All heirloom beans are a variety of common beans, Phaseolus vulgaris. Their species includes:

• Green snap beans
• Pinto beans
• Great Northern beans
• Kidney beans
• Black turtle beans
• Cranberry beans
• Borlotti beans
• Flageolet beans
• Pea beans
• Pink beans
• White and yellow beans

They all belong to the family Fabaceae, which includes:

• Soybeans
• Fava beans
• Black eyed peas
• Adzuki beans
• Lentils
• Limas
• Chickpeas

Interestingly, other members found here are peanuts and kudzu. Heirloom beans and the 200 varieties of P. vulgaris originated in the tropical southern regions of Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. They were cultivated in these areas 8,000 years ago and spread to North and South America. The explorer Christopher Columbus noted beans climbing alongside corn in Cuba. What he saw were no doubt the common beans cowpeas and fava beans. He brought some of these back to Europe after his second voyage to the New World in 1493. Bean cultivation spread like wildfire from there until today, when we are looking for an obscure heirloom by the name of China Red Eye bean.

Growing China Red Eye Beans

Grow Early China beans in fertile, well-draining soil in a sunny area of the garden. Bush beans thrive in temps between 60-75 degrees F. (15-23 C.) with sun exposure of at least 8 hours per day. The soil pH should be between 7.5 and 6.5. Space China Red Eye bean plants 10 inches apart. Water bush beans in the morning to thwart leaf diseases that thrive on wet leaves. Water until the soil is moist to 6 inches deep, one inch of water per week. Keep the area around the beans weed free. Fertilize the beans just before they bloom with 30-0-0 at a rate of one pound per 100 feet in a row. Water the fertilizer into the soil. China Red Eye beans can be used as snap, shell or dry beans for cooking. They mature within 60 days. Snap beans can be harvested when the pods are still tender and snap when bent in half. Shell beans are ready when the beans are loose in the pods and dry beans should be left to dry on the plant. These versatile beans sound like a winner for the garden and well worth the trouble of tracking them down.

The name alone, Dragon Tongue bean plant, makes me want to grow these babies, but if that doesn't entice you to grow them, then maybe the fact that they are a dual use bean will. What does "dual use" mean? We'll get to that; let's indulge in a little history of Dragon Tongue beans first.

History of Dragon Tongue Beans

Dragon Tongue bean plants were first cultivated in the Netherlands in the 18th century and are a member of the Fabaceae family, as are peas and pulses (dry beans). Also known as Dragon Langerie beans, this bean varietal is a knockout with a creamy yellow interior and a dazzling, purple striated exterior. Beans attain an average of 6 inches in length and bear 4-6 seeds per stringless pod.

The entire bean can be eaten raw or cooked, but if you expect to retain that brilliant color, think again. Cooked beans lose their gorgeous hues. Back to growing Dragon Tongue bush beans as a dual use bean.

These open pollinated heirloom beans can be eaten young, in their entirety as a fresh snap bean, or pods can be harvested when fully mature for shelling beans. Seeds are firm, slightly starchy, sweet and nutty.

This "romano" or wax type bush bean is less fibrous than other snap beans. The eye popping color of Dragon Tongue beans is sure to be a conversation starter on the crudités platter, or they make a delicious side dish. Great in stir fries, bean salads and especially suited for pickling. Beans can be stored in plastic in the fridge for about one week; use 'em or lose 'em!

Growing Dragon Tongue Bush Beans

These guys have been naturalized in a variety of climates throughout North and into South and Central America, so it adapts to a wide range of heat and humidity levels. They tend to have a high yield with a superior flavor over other fresh bean types.

Now that I have piqued your interest, I'm sure you will want to know how to grow your own Dragon Tongues. If you can grow typical beans, then you can grow these. Direct sow Dragon Tongue seeds after all danger of frost has passed to a depth of one inch, 2 inches apart in rows 36-48 inches apart in full sun exposure. Harvest the beans between 55-60 days. Leave beans on to mature if desirous of dried beans.

The more often you harvest, the bigger your yield will be. Plants will be 24-30 inches tall. Dragon Tongues are delicious simply steamed and tossed with butter or olive oil and cracked pepper and kosher salt, or you can step it up a notch and blanch, then sauté with an accompanying flavor such as a bit of garlic or shallot and crispy pancetta.

Combining these guys with buttery Yellow Finn potatoes, steamed and cooled, then tossed in mustard vinaigrette is mmm-mmm good too. Or make pickled green beans to prolong your enjoyment of this luscious bean variety or to give as gifts that will titillate your friends and make them want to grow Dragon Tongue heirlooms.

Gardeners have been growing bush beans in their gardens for almost as long as there have been gardens. Beans are a wonderful food that can be used either as a green vegetable or an important protein source. Learning how to plant bush beans isn't hard. Keep reading to learn more about how to grow bush type beans.

What are Bush Beans?

Beans come in one of two types: bush beans and pole beans. Bush beans differ from pole beans in the fact that bush beans don't need any kind of support to stay upright. Pole beans, on the other hand, need a pole or some other support to stay upright.

Bush beans can be further broken down into three types: snap beans (where the pods are eaten), green shelling beans (where the beans are eaten green) and dry beans, (where the beans are dried and then rehydrated before eating.

In general, bush beans take less time than pole beans to produce beans. Bush beans also will take up less room in a garden.

How to Plant Bush Beans

Bush beans grow best in well drained, organic material rich soil. They need full sun to produce best. Before you start planting bush beans, you should consider inoculating the soil with bean inoculant, which will have bacteria that help the bean plant produce better. Your bush beans will still produce if you do not add bean inoculants to the soil, but it will help you get a bigger crop from your bush beans.

Plant bush bean seeds about 1 1/2 inches (3.5 cm.) deep and 3 inches (7.5 cm.) apart. If you are planting more than one row of bush beans, the rows should be 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61 cm.) apart. You can expect the bush beans to germinate in about one to two weeks.

If you would like a continuous harvest of bush beans through the season, plant new bush bean seeds about once every two weeks.

How to Grow Bush Type Beans

Once bush beans have started growing, they need little care. Make sure that they get at least 2-3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm.) of water, either from rainwater or a watering system, a week. If you would like, you can add compost or fertilizer after the bush beans have sprouted, but if you started out with organic rich soil they do not need it.

Bush beans do not normally have any issues with pests or disease but on occasion they will suffer from the following:

• bean mosaic
• anthracnose
• bean blight
• bean rust

Pests such as aphids, mealybugs, bean beetles and bean weevils can be a problem too.