Muddobber I do not know ....I just don't know, but I am about to plant that green bean as a fall crop here. I was thinking it was not for the bean. That you are supposed to pick while they are young and tender and freeze or can the whole bean. I do know that purple hull peas will make two or more pickings. And I believe that green beens will also make more than one picking if it does not get to hot or cold. And since Aug is as late in the year that I can plant here I think you might be better off trying to get a second picking from what you have. Sorry I could not say for sure....DT

"I've been told I can pick all the beans, fertilize, and they'll re-bean."

That's good advice. If the beans were left unattended long enough for many of the pods to begin forming seeds, then the vines would enter the final reproductive stage. Blossoms would stop or be reduced in number, and the vines would begin dying back.

Normally, all you need to do to get the plants back to a vegetative (growth) cycle is to remove all pods & blossoms, and perhaps trim back the vines & remove some of the leaves. Keep checking, and remove any pods or flowers that might have been missed. The vines should re-sprout, at which time you can again allow blossoming.

Since nitrogen also triggers vegetative growth, it may be helpful... but exercise caution. Too much, and you will have dense foliage, but few beans. I would suggest a light one-time application of a low-N liquid fertilizer, something which will not persist once the plants have re-sprouted.

Would this help? I thought it was a great post by Momamamo. Sharing a tip about bush beans I learned long ago

what about eating/preserving very mature green beans? i had the same experience coming back from vacation to very mature beans that i don't want to compost. any ideas for eating?