I do it and it works just fine. It works with peas and lima beans too.

I do it too for green beans, limas, and peas. I space them about 7 or 8 inches apart.

They seem to like being planted close together. Don't know if it's because they benefit from each other's nitrogen-fixing, the living mulch effect or what. Every time I've done it, they've produced like mad. I plant beans by broadcasting the seeds over a bed and pushing them into the ground with my finger where they fall. They average about three inches apart.

I have done this on beans, peas and eve beets. I come up with a brainstorm of trying to bolt two planters together and plan t the two rows at once. I am hoping to find an earthway planter cheap to try it out. John

John,

I thought about that too. Although, it wouldn't save alot of time, but it would help having evenly spaced rows.

Jay

I did it the last 2 years with my bush beans. Probably won't do it again cause it's a pain in the butt to pick em.

jrslick I do this with bush beans and bush type peas only I do it seven rows across. Every square inch of soil here is precious, as we mostly have rocks. I make raised beds with a sifter (out of necessity because of the rocks). It was too tricky to get 7 rows in the space with string so I made a planting board. By the way I chose 7 rows because that was what I could reach working in from both sides. Peas and beans go in 3 inches apart in either direction. The planting board I made can make 7 rows across and 5 seed holes down each row. I just lift the board with the handles and line it up and press again. It goes pretty fast by myself and even faster with a person on either side. Then just drop the seeds in the holes and tamp.

I learned about planting wide rows from a book by Dick Raymond. Joy of Gardening. I plant carrots, beets, swiss chard, onions, cabbage, kale, etc in wide rows. I just adjust the width of the row and method of planting to the vegetable I am growing.

I will never plant any other way unless the space I am using won't allow it.