tishtoshnm, They did not freeze will for me. They were too limp and soft when defrosted and prepared....even moreso than with frozen string beans. Instead, I prefer these when stir-fried fresh. They have a crisp texture. However, some may be OK with the softer pre-frozen long beans.

The green yard long beans, otherwise referred to as "asparagus beans", are pretty good. I did not care much for the chinese red noodle ones myself. Be forewarned, they are extremely prolific, beyond your wildest imagination. You will quickly have more than you know what to do with. They are great sauteed in a little bit of oil and garlic, especially with some sesame seed sprinkled in. Unfortunately, it has been my experience that they do not freeze well at all. They turn very mushy in the freezer. That was just with the typical blanch and vacuum seal.

The best thing about the yard long beans is that mexican bean beetles do not touch them. I don't know what it is, but we have a bad infestation of them in our area, and the yard long beans are super resistant to them.

Well, I guess if I have too many then I can give some to my friends like I do with extra tomatoes and cucumbers. But I was only planing on planting afew of each type. Picked the three types because I have no idea which would be my favorite. The seed packs only contain 25-35 seeds. Maybe I should plant the entire pack? Or less? Too bad they don't freeze. I think the common pole peas freeze just fine or maybe I am not to picky about flavors.

I am planting them this year, too, for the first time. They are such lovely plants, and I will be happy to have something akin to snap beans in the hottest part of summer. Glad to know about the freezer issue. Won't bother. Thanks for the serving suggestions too! Oh, you might like to know that they evidently are very attractive to wasps. This has been discussed on the bean forum. I believe they said the wasps tend to be very docile so it's not a problem with harvesting. If I am wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me on that.

Oh good. We will get to compair notes!

What kind of support do you give these beans? I have been staring at a package of seeds for two months now, trying to decide if a tee-pee of six foot bamboo poles will be enough?

I tried them once, just whatever the common seeds at the store display. They didn't really climb like pole beans, just tried to make a big spawling plant. They could be helped along by human hands. Was that normal in everyone's experience?

They are quite good but seem best picked by a foot long IMO. If you let them get much bigger, you just get more quanity/less quality. And if they get that productive, you don't need to let them grow 18" long.

I heard the flowers attract hummingbirds!

I grow & collect long beans (I call them "yardlongs"). They are frequently discussed on the Bean Forum (my favorite haunt) and Asian Vegetable Forum.

There are a lot more varieties available now than there were 20 years ago; Baker Creek, Kitazawa, and Evergreen Y.H. all carry quite a few. When I was a kid (and that's quite a few years ago) there was just the black seeded 'asparagus bean' that many seed catalogs carried as a curiosity.

Most long beans are climbers, although some varieties need a little help getting started. Once they get going, though, the vines will go as high as you let them. In my experience, they are very reluctant to climb plastic; I've had the best results using organic twine, such as sisal baling twine.

Baseball, I garden near Lake Winnebago, so you should have no trouble growing yardlongs in Madison. Because of our cool soil, though, you will have the best results if you start the seeds as transplants. This overcomes the poor and/or slow germination we can get if direct seeded, and guarantees an earlier & heavier yield. I use Jiffy strips (peat pots) nestled in a tray about 1/3 full of play sand. The seeds will germinate very quickly indoors, in as little as 3-5 days. You can find more details if you look for my postings on the Bean Forum.

Personally, I have had little trouble freezing long beans. I blanch one pound of beans in boiling water for one minute, then dunk them in cool water immediately for 3 minutes. I first freeze them in plastic boxes to form blocks, then vacuum seal the frozen blocks into bags. They have kept well for up to 2 years. Not all varieties freeze well; the black-seeded "asparagus bean" froze poorly, while "Chinese Red Noodle" froze well. My best results have been with red-seeded (or red & white) varieties, which tend to have a firmer texture.

"Oh, you might like to know that they evidently are very attractive to wasps. This has been discussed on the bean forum. I believe they said the wasps tend to be very docile so it's not a problem with harvesting. If I am wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me on that."

That has been my experience. The extra-floral nectaries (bumps located on the stem just below the flowers) are very attractive to several insects, including wasps, ants, and ladybugs. Since the ladybugs will stay in the garden once the vines begin blooming, that alone makes yardlongs a good part of an organic aphid control strategy.

"I heard the flowers attract hummingbirds!"

That may be. The flowers are very large & attractive. However, they are only open for a few hours in the mornings; sometimes a little longer on cloudy days. Scarlet runner beans are much better to attract hummingbirds.

There was a great Master Gardener trial of long beans, with a lot of good info on DTM, yield, and flavor for many varieties. See the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Santa Clara County long bean trial

Wow, thanks for posting this. I was inspired, and just went to Bakers Creek site and ordered the Chinese Red Noodle and Red-Seeded asparagus seeds. I hope I'm not too late to plant! I have never grown pole beans before, but I have back issues and had surgery a month ago, so I thought picking pole beans would be easier than bush beans. I had purchased some fortex pole beans to try, but these looked so interesting I couldn't resist ordering them, too. Now I have to figure out how to make a bean tee pee. I've never done that before. If I was to make it out of string, does anyone have any guidance or pictures?

That is an interesting article about the Long Bean trials, thanks for posting it. Honestly, I haven't been on the bean or asian veggie forums. I will have to go check them out.

I love long beans; I'm also Chinese and grew up on them. Here in the PNW it has been terribly difficult to grow them due to our short growing season and mild temps. I plant them every year, and I think I've been doing this for 5-6 years now, and have only been able to yield a harvest twice. :( so sad! And of course, it's not a huge harvest. Zeedman, next year I will have to try your suggestion about starting the seeds as transplants. I use a metal bean pole tower (it's rectangular) that I bought through Gardener's Supply Co. I like it because it's collapsible for easy storage and it's quite tall at about 6 ft. or so.

Drcindy, I lived in the PNW in the 70's, on Whidbey Island. It is a real challenge to grow heat-loving crops there. However, I might have a solution.

There is a bush variety of long bean that was sent to me by a GW member of Chinese heritage, who had obtained it from her father. It is named "Yancheng Bush", after its place of origin.

{{gwi:57745}}
Yancheng Bush (with ripe pods for seed)

{{gwi:57746}}
From top down: "Yancheng Bush"; black-seeded Asparagus Bean; "Chinese Red Noodle"; "Galante" (from the Philippines)

"Yancheng Bush" matures very quickly; last year I didn't plant it until the July 4th weekend, and it bore not only a good crop, but plenty of dry seed. It might even succeed where you live. If you would like to try it, contact me through my Member Page.

I really liked that link to the Long Bean trials page. I'm also growing long beans for the first time this year. So far my experience is that they sure sprout quick! I planted them and some shrimp beans on the same day, and they beat the shrimps by two days. I've had long beans before, bought them at the asian market, but I'm hoping my own home grown ones are more tender. I'm curious, since they are related to cowpeas, do they ever treat them as shell beans? Cheers!

I think because one can pick their home grown beans at whatever stage one wants they have to be more tender. If its warm, beans sprout. I am planning to start mine inside to make sure they germinate and then plant the seedlings outside.

This has turned into a great thread! Thank you, Zeedman, for that link. It is fascinating. I have a question about it. It appears that they only harvested beans for about a month. Was that because they ran out of weather suitable for the plants or because the plants only have a limited productivity time?

I have ordered a trellis for these beans....can hardly wait till it gets here so I can plant them!

I hope the rest of you will post back from time to time so we can compare our results. I have made a note to get the Chinese Green Noodle seeds to try next year too.

One of the reasons I got the three kinds to try was because I have no idea which I will like the best as apparently there is lots of difference in taste with the different yard long varieties. So we will see. But I don't have it in my mind that they even SHOOULD taste like green beans so I am shure I will like at least some, if not all of them. Tender and stringless is more important to me.

I can't make my trellis high as I am a short person (five three) so would never be able to pick them if I let them go too high. So I don't know what will happen as they reach the top. I guess I will find out.

Thanks zeedman, I just picked up a pack of Stickless Wonder Asparagus (Yardlong, Yard Long Bush Beans) from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Hopefully they are similar to what you are growing.

"...It appears that they only harvested beans for about a month. Was that because they ran out of weather suitable for the plants or because the plants only have a limited productivity time?" (Donnabaskets)

I believe they needed to clear the plot by a certain date. I find it interesting that they state that yield had dropped off for most varieties. In my experience, the bearing period for yardlongs is quite long. While the yield may slow down for a period following the first flush, the vines will develop new flowers & bear again. As long as they are kept picked, they will continue to bear until temps drop below 50 F. degrees.

It's worth mentioning that new flower buds will develop from the ends of the old flower stalks, even after the beans on them have been picked. These points are quite brittle, so care should be taken not to break them off during harvest. The second flush can be large. When I grow the black-seeded asparagus bean (my most prolific variety) I usually let the second flush go for seed.. this can result in several pounds of seed.

"I'm curious, since they are related to cowpeas, do they ever treat them as shell beans?" (Sunnibel)

I've done so with the black-seeded variety in the previous paragraph, and with "Chinese Red Noodle". They taste like cowpeas, because botanically, that is what they are. The difference is that the seeds are more widely spaced in the pods than cowpeas meant for shell, and fairly difficult to shell from the papery pods. There is also a clinging membrane in some varieties, which is very difficult to remove from the seed.

That being said... I've found that I like making "blackeyed peas" with the all-black long bean seed. They dye anything cooked with them, which makes for an interesting appearance.

Cool! Thanks. I may stick to my PEPH but if I miss some yardlongs, I have options. Funny thing I've noticed while reading up on cooking long beans is that a lot of the Asian recipes call for pork, much as recipes for cowpeas do. I guess some flavors just go together the whole world around.

I'm planting red noodle beans this weekend. Will probably also plant some asparagus beans, which I've had the last two years and really like.
They do quite well here in AZ, producing in the heat of the summer, especially when our monsoon hits. I've had some aphid problems with them and if not treated, it will slow production.
The asparagus beans, last year, had a big bloom, then nothing, then a smaller bloom. We did have the hottest summer ever, though. Might have even been too hot for the noodle beans. The two weeks of 115-120 degrees did a number on everything, even the okra.

Thank you, zeedman, for the clarification. I am getting really excited about trying these! One more question about their climbing ability. I will be growing mine on metal teepees. Should I wrap the rods with twine or do you think they will climb the metal?

My seeds came at last. I haven't opened any of the bean packets but I can already tell just by feeling the package that the seeds of these beans are so much smaller than the regular bean seeds I am used to. I am thinking I might have to start them inside as the beans I start inside have been sprouting in afew days while ones I planted direct sow outside way last week (scarlett runners) have not even begone to come up.

Has anyone tried pickleing the Chinese Red Noodle? I wanted to make a three bean pickle with red, yellow and green. Unfortunately, the french red beans I planted will apparently turn green when cooked. I may need to freeze some of the beans for pickleing later, as I only ordered the Chinese red this week and they have not arrived yet.

"...One more question about their climbing ability. I will be growing mine on metal teepees. Should I wrap the rods with twine or do you think they will climb the metal?" (Donnabaskets)

That depends. In my experience, long beans are reluctant to climb artificial materials, especially plastic & galvanized metal. They don't mind rusted, untreated iron, though; I've seen them grown on concrete reinforcing wire. They would probably climb rebar rod, although any strong wind might knock them down. If the rods are smooth metal, it might be better to run strings from the ends, and let them climb the strings.

"Has anyone tried pickleing the Chinese Red Noodle?" (Another_buffalo)

I've never tried it. IMO the texture may not be suitable... but there's only one way to find out, I guess. The purple-podded yardlongs are the only red or purple "bean" that keep their color when cooked. If you try it this year, please let us know the results.

I decided to be safe and start the seeds inside as I really want these to grow. So the seeds of my three kinds are all planted and hopefully will sprout soon.

They are starting to come up already! The Red Noodles are the most up and the Green Noodles the least up. But all three kinds are breaking ground.

Hello all,

Most of my knowledge and success in growing long beans comes from reading zeedman posts over on the Bean Forum. I've grown them for the past 4-5 years with great success here in Central Virginia. I'd like to report that for me they grow very well on cattle panel trellis which is smooth metal/wire. I do start them at the bottom by twisting them around the first rung and then they take the rest of the climb all by themselves. Mine climb about 10-12 feet and then just start twisting around themselves until killed by frost. I grew "Orient Wonder" in 2010 and 2011. Will grow Chinese Red Noodle again this year along with Orient Wonder.

I harvested the majority of my long beans after dark by the lignt of DH pickup truck in 2011 because the wasps were super prolific and even though they did not chase me around the yard -- I did not want to chance an encounter so DH and I had a date night several times each week to pick long beans by truck headlight!

BTW when you harvest your long beans try not to cut the stem because after you harvest that stem produces more flowers and more beans. Just pull the beans off the stem.

Cheers,
DL

I might be the party pooper. I expected long beans to taste like bush green beans and they don't at all. I just grow a short row and experiment with recipes. I think I have waited until late July to plant them here in NH and they did just fine.
We use concrete reinforcing mesh panels for trellis. They are rusty and the beans climb up them just fine. The panels are held in place by 2 or 3 steel stakes in the ground. The panels are held to the stakes by long zip ties.

DL, thanks for that tip about not cutting the stem as you harvest. I didn't know that. Now I will be sure and be careful.

These things are popping up like mad. In fact all my beans have been growing like crazy. It has turned hot and humid yesterday and today and the beans are loving it. The Blue Lake Pole beans are shooting up like crazy, they seem to grow an inch or two a day. The Spanish Musaca are catching up to them quickly (planted later) and I figgure those yard long beans are not gonna waste any time trying to outdo the others. Now, my yard longs are very small but I notice their first set of leaves are thiner and pointier than on the Blue Lake. I am enjoying watching them grow. Yes, I know, easily amused!

Any pointers for getting rid of aphids? Last year I had aphids, farmed by the ants, on my long beans and southern peas. I'd like to avoid that this year as it really cut down on my yield.
Would spinosad work? Or, would it just kill the good stuff? If I apply it at night?
I sprayed daily with water last year but it was incredibly tedious and not really that effective.

Tracy, ant-borne aphids can be tough to eradicate. You can spray insecticidal soap to kill the aphids, but the ants will just bring more.

In my garden, while the yardlongs always have some aphids, they are rarely a problem. Ladybugs keep their numbers down, as do the wasps. I've got lots of lacewings & predatory flies too... I consider myself lucky to have native populations of these insects, which I encourage.

But once in awhile (such as years when the ladybugs are late) the aphids get out of control. I've found that if I just eliminate the ants, predators will be able to control the aphids. The borax-based liquid ant baits, placed along their trails, have worked well for me. I put the baits under an empty flower 6-pack, weighted down by rocks, to keep animals from disturbing the bait. This kills the nest within 1-2 days. A large nest - or multiple nests - may require several baits.

The Long Beans came up very quickly when I planted them. But since then they haven't done much of anything and just look like they are just sitting there. Leaves all nice and dark green though. The weather has turned cooler so I am thinking maybe they are waiting for warmer weather to really start growing.

I'm so glad I read this thread! I usually grow regular pole beans but decided I wanted to do something unusual this year and planted asparagus beans. I really am a fan of green beans, my husband not so much unless they are steamed whole, so I'll be doing lots of different types of cooking with these. Pity they don't freeze well, but I only planted one package of seed and not all those came up. I'm sure the neighbors won't mind if I share the wealth. Can they just be cooked like regular beans as opposed to stir fried, etc?

Well the Red-Seeded Asparagus Bean finially started flowering so hopefully the others are not too far behind.

Well I was able to pick the first few of the Long Beans today. First ones! Got three from the Asparagus Bean. Longest 22 inches, then 20 inches, then 18 inches. I need more! I want to stir fry. I tasted a piece raw and I loved the flavor. Yumm!

"Funny thing I've noticed while reading up on cooking long beans is that a lot of the Asian recipes call for pork, much as recipes for cowpeas do. I guess some flavors just go together the whole world around."

A few years ago, I cooked two of my Philippine long beans separately, using the same recipe... with pork, of course. I was surprised at how different they were. "Sierra Madre", on the left, cooked down quite a bit & added a lot of flavor to the broth. "Galante", on the right, stayed firm, and kept most of its (relatively) sweet flavor.

{{gwi:57747}}

My plan was to get you all to anticipate your harvest... but now I'm making myself hungry! ;-) I am growing both of those again this year, but they are growing slowly in this hot dry weather. "Yancheng Bush" is already blooming, though, and has young pods growing... the first ones should be ready in about a week.

Growing Red Noodle for the first time this year and so far I've been really impressed. I am planting them side by side with Blue Lake pole beans and the Red Noodle is at least 3 weeks earlier than Blue Lake and will probably be many times more productive. I have Mexican bean beetles having a party on the Blue Lake but so far very little damage to the yard long beans. Maybe in the future regular green beans can serve as a trap plant?

The red color is definitely a bonus. Beans are easy to find and thus harvest and they remain their beautiful color even after cooking.

I saw them at the Amish nursery that I always buy a lot of my veggie plants from in May. I thought of trying them but decided not to. Now I swish I had cuz i love them Is it too late to plant some if I buy them already started? I might make a quick trip to my fav greenhouse and see if they still have some.
I would think you could pickle them easily enough!

The beans themselves, once they get started grow like hot cakes. Not ready one day, have grown inches by the next day.

lizbeth, they love hot weather so maybe it is not too late?

You can only give it a try!

I haven't had a lot of beans yet so I have been picking and saving for a few days but yesterday finially had enough for a meal. The Long Beans were SOOO good. I lightly sauteed them in some olive oil with chopped garlic. Added some dried onion flakes and a few red pepper flakes. Sweet and tender and I LOVE the flavor. If you ask me these are much better than string beans.
I had them with a grilled steak and some grilled fried green tomatoes. YUMM, yumm, yum.

zeedman, love your pictures of the cooked beans. Yes, I am sure they made us all hungry.

I am so pleased that I might even try more varieties of Yard Long Beans next year.

I was reading in the seed descriptions that some of the yard long beans are good for bearing in cool weather and some are good for bearing in hot weather. Do not let them dry out. They do love their water.

I am an experienced gardener with 28 raised beds. I live just north of atlanta and planted chinese long beans this year for the first time. While i have had some issues with ants aphids and even mexican bean beetles, i will never bother to grow regular bush or pole beans again.
The long beans are prolific and delicious. There is subtle difference in the taste (slightly nutty flavor, certainly more green bean flavor than the beans i have always grown)

We like long beans BETTER!

Easy to pick, easy to prepare. I have frozen them with no texture problems, and even canned dilly beans successfully. I AM SOLD!
Susan

Susan, I'm with you. I really like the Yard Long Beans better than the Blue Lake Pole Beans I have been growung for years and years. Not that there is anything wrong with the Blue Lake. Just that I really, really like the Yard Longs. Like you say the bugs don't bother them and they sure do produce. I am definatly planting them again next year.

Ha! I loved the Yard long beans very much last year so they are back this year. I chooze my favorite of the three I tried which is the Asparagus Bean and have planted those. In fact some are comming up already

I have tried the so-called yard long beans two years. But they were very poor producers. But I liked the flavor and exotic nature of them. I like to saute' them and add to spaghetti.

I loved the Yards long beans so much that I am growing them again this year.

I sowed Red Seeded Asparagus Beans in place and they have popped up already what with the hot weather we have been having lately. I planted them in the middle of a 7 foot square raised veggie bed where I put up green metal fence posts and trellis netting for them. Then the white seeded Asparagus Beans I had started in one of those veggie seedling packs and those I just transplanted out today.

The yard longs are starting to produce.