(P. vulgaris) We have become very picky over the years when it comes to flavor with fresh beans and think it’s a tragically overlooked quality in modern bean breeding that focuses too much on looks and yields alone. We have tried and turned down several recommended varieties because they simply don’t taste as good as a handful we know and love. Marvel of Venice is one we have fallen in love with year after year; just so rich and buttery that it may well be tops in our experience for flavor. Long, flat, golden-yellow Romano-type pods bear early and prolifically on strong climbing vines. Perfect lightly steamed and tossed with olive oil and lemon. We tried both the black-seeded and white-seeded strains this summer and strongly preferred the white-seeded both for earliness and flavor. We have worked to virtually eliminate the green off-types (these taste just as wonderful by the way) that plague much of the commercially available seed. If you grow them, plan to give them 7’ or so of support. These beans are irresistible! White seeds.
Having trialed both the white and black-seeded types, to our taste, the white-seeded was best!
55-60 days. UO

Packet: 40 seeds

[split]

Growing Info

SOWING:

Direct seed after the last frost date when the soil has warmed.

Note: Beans prefer well-drained, warm soil.

PLANTING DEPTH:

1"

SPACING:

3-5" between plants with 12-24" between rows*

*Pole beans require 5+' between rows.

EMERGENCE:

5-10 days @ soil temp 65-90F

LIGHT:

Full sun to part shade

FERTILITY:

Light to Moderate. Beans can produce their own usable nitrogen from atmospheric nitrogen through a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that colonize specialized nodules in their roots. Too much soil fertility can cause excessive vegetative growth at the expense of pod set and maturity.
Beans prefer well-drained, warm soil with a pH between 6.0-7.0.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Beans prefer warm soils and may rot at lower temperatures. This is particularly true for white-seeded varieties. You love beans. Patience.

It can be quite beneficial to mix bean seeds with commercially available bacterial "inoculants" to encourage the beneficial symbiotic relationship in the growing plant's root nodules, especially if growing on ground that hasn't been planted with beans before. This can increase yields and improve plant health.

Avoid picking/weeding beans when the plants are wet. This will help prevent the spread of disease.

Provide a trellis for pole beans.

White-seeded varieties are more susceptible to rot when seeded in cool, wet, early-season conditions.

Sow Snap Beans every few weeks for continued harvests.

Harvest dry beans when the pods are brown and dry.

Bean, Pole Snap, 'Marvel of Venice'