Heat Today will be hot in the south of the Netherlands: up to 30 degrees! Check whether your reservoir is still full, whether the mix is still moist, shade vulnerable plants around midday, and wait with sowing until it cools down.
Legumes
Sowing and growing bacon beans
Bacon beans are tasty pole beans with fleshy 20 cm pods that remain tender for a long time. They are named for their thick, meaty pods.
They grow tall, so plant them beside a trellis or another support they can climb.
They grow tall, so plant them beside a trellis or another support they can climb.
What are bacon beans?
Bacon beans are part of the legume family.
They look like a cross between string beans and green beans. The pods are at least as long as string beans, but as firm and rounded as common green beans - though they're also thicker. They taste like green beans, but sweeter.
You can harvest early or you can wait to harvest the pods when the beans inside are plump. Then the bacon beans are tougher and you cook them longer.
They look like a cross between string beans and green beans. The pods are at least as long as string beans, but as firm and rounded as common green beans - though they're also thicker. They taste like green beans, but sweeter.
You can harvest early or you can wait to harvest the pods when the beans inside are plump. Then the bacon beans are tougher and you cook them longer.
Bacon beans and your health
Bacon beans contain some vitamin B11 (folate), C, and K and lots of carotenes like lutein, beta-carotene, violaxanthin, and neoxanthin. They work as antioxidants to help prevent inflammation and diseases like type 2 diabetes.
Bacon beans are also rich in potassium and magnesium and super high in fiber, which is good for our gut bacteria.
And calories? Hardly any 🙂
Bacon beans are also rich in potassium and magnesium and super high in fiber, which is good for our gut bacteria.
And calories? Hardly any 🙂
More about our bacon beans
This variety grows more than 2 metres tall and produces an enormous harvest. The more often you pick, the longer the harvest continues.
- Variety: Neckarköningin
- Family: legumes
- Plants per square: 8 beside the trellis
- Height: 200 cm or more
- Sowing time: May and June
- Sowing depth: 2 to 3 cm
- Germination: 7 to 10 days at 21°C
- Time to harvest: 9 to 10 weeks
- Sunlight: full sun
We sell the seed packets separately, and they are also included in the good-value Climbing veg seed bundle:
What do you need to grow bacon beans?
In addition to the seeds, you will need:
- one 30 × 30 cm square
- Makkelijke Moestuinmix or MM coconut mix
- a spot that receives at least 4 hours of sunlight a day
- a trellis or another support for the beans to climb
How do you sow and grow bacon beans?
These bacon beans are included in the free Makkelijke Moestuin app. The app guides you from seed to harvest.
Every vegetable passes through a series of stages, which we call levels.
The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready for the next one. So you do not need to know how to grow bacon beans successfully before you begin.
But if you would like to read ahead, here is what the whole process looks like.
Level 1: Pre-sow bacon beans
Beans need a lot of heat to germinate. If it's just a little cold or rainy outside, the seedlings won't sprout or they'll be weak when they do.
So, pre-sow your beans indoors in a pot with equal parts MM-Mix and vermiculite.
So, pre-sow your beans indoors in a pot with equal parts MM-Mix and vermiculite.
Levels 2 and 3: Planting bacon bean seedlings
As soon as the seedlings are visible, move them to a square beside the trellis in your raised bed.
Here is how:
Here is how:
- make 2 furrows about 5 cm deep, one in front of and one behind the trellis
- use a spoon to lift the seedlings from the pot
- plant the 4 strongest seedlings in each furrow
- carefully close the furrows
Depending on the weather, the plants should be growing nicely after about a week.
If it is still very cold, cover them with a protective cover or some clear plastic containers. This protects them from birds and slugs and helps them grow more quickly.
If it is still very cold, cover them with a protective cover or some clear plastic containers. This protects them from birds and slugs and helps them grow more quickly.
Level 4: Taking care of your plants
After a week or 2, your seedlings have already become small plants.
They'll grow quite fast in the coming weeks. You don't have to do much about that, nice and easy 🙂
They'll grow quite fast in the coming weeks. You don't have to do much about that, nice and easy 🙂
Level 5: Guide your plants up the trellis
Once the tendrils have found the trellis, they'll wrap themselves around it and climb up.
In a few weeks, the first flowers and pods appear. Then it's time for the next level.
In a few weeks, the first flowers and pods appear. Then it's time for the next level.
Level 6: Harvesting the first bacon beans
About 9 to 10 weeks after sowing, you can harvest the first beans.
By harvesting early, the plants produce more flowers. More flowers mean more beans.
It's normal for the leaves to turn a little yellow and get uglier, especially around the bottom of the plant.
By harvesting early, the plants produce more flowers. More flowers mean more beans.
It's normal for the leaves to turn a little yellow and get uglier, especially around the bottom of the plant.
How do you harvest and use bacon beans?
Cut the bean pods from the plants when they're about 20 cm long. I use scissors so I don't damage the beans.
Never eat bacon beans raw, always cook them.
Cook them just like green beans: you can boil or stir fry them. Briefly cooked and cooled, they are also delicious in salads.
Where I'm from, we leave bacon beans hanging longer, until the beans themselves have thickened. Then you have to cook them longer. It's not for everyone, but we like it.
Never eat bacon beans raw, always cook them.
Cook them just like green beans: you can boil or stir fry them. Briefly cooked and cooled, they are also delicious in salads.
Where I'm from, we leave bacon beans hanging longer, until the beans themselves have thickened. Then you have to cook them longer. It's not for everyone, but we like it.
The final levels
Keep harvesting during the following levels. Frequent, early picking extends the harvest because the plants produce more flowers and therefore more bacon beans.
You can often continue harvesting into October.
You can often continue harvesting into October.
The plants may grow high above the trellis. No worries: just guide them to the side or below.
Bean plants can't handle cold weather. Then the leaves get ugly and brown, and the flowers stop blooming.
Then it's time for the last level: empty your patch and get ready to sow something new.
Bean plants can't handle cold weather. Then the leaves get ugly and brown, and the flowers stop blooming.
Then it's time for the last level: empty your patch and get ready to sow something new.
So, what is stopping you from growing bacon beans?
They are a delicious vegetable with an enormous yield from each square, and you can continue harvesting them for a long time.
Our materials and app give you plenty of help along the way.
Our materials and app give you plenty of help along the way.
Enjoy!
