Whether bush or pole, beans are the bread and butter of a good vegetable garden. Their flavorful pods are rich in protein and the plants are the most enriching rotation vegetable because they fortify the soil with nitrogen. I always follow nutritionally needy crops, such as tomatoes, potatoes and peppers, with a replenishing crop of these legumes, and each year I try new varieties in search of an even better bean.

Beyond American standbys, like 'Blue Lake' bush beans and 'Kentucky Wonder' pole beans, there are heirloom cultivars and European favorites galore. Through trial and error me and my gardening friends have fixed on less commonplace varieties we like best.

Pole beans require a little more work because they must be trellised, but they are often more productive. The wonderful pole Hericot vert or filet beans, Émérite, produces lots of slender, crisp beans that can be harvested in the baby stage or mature (7"). Either way, they are not stringy and when  roasted with butter and herbs they almost develop a meaty taste. As an added benefit, its pretty leguminous blooms are pink. My good friend Jean introduced me to this cultivar which she purchases through John Scheeper's Kitchen Garden Seeds.



The beautiful, slender filet beans of 'Emerite' are tender and flavorful.

Offered by Franchi Sementi, the unusual curved bush bean, 'Green Anellino' (sometimes sold as 'Anelino Verde'), originate from northern Italy. They are best picked when young and crisp and have the deep, beany flavor of a larger, meatier Romano type. The plants are highly productive too.

The unusual short, curved beans of 'Green Anellino' are also visually appealing on the plate.

The mild, buttery flavor of wax beans have always been my favorite and for me the slender filet-type wax beans outbeat the beefy standards. An exceptional golden filet is, 'Soleil Filet' (translates to "sun filet"). Offered by seed companies like Territorial and Vermont Bean Seed Company, its super straight, slender beans add exceptional color, texture and taste to summer bean salads.


'Soleil Filet' produces slender, pale yellow beans that are best picked young and tender.

I can't get enough of this Romano-type broadbean. 'Super Marconi' has rich flavor, lots of subtance and is stringless if the beans are picked fresh and moderately young. The vines are prolific so expect big harvests. I get the seed from Franchi Sementi.

Can't beat the plump, meaty beans of 'Super Marconi!'

Some beans I grow for show. Even though you can eat the beans, its the bright red flowers of scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) that keep me growing it each year.

I didn't use BT on my scarlet runner beans, hence the Mexican bean beetle damage (don't know what a Mexican Bean beetle is? You will if you start to grow beans. To learn more go to Cornell's Insect Diagnostic Page.)