We plant a couple of varieties of bush beans too every year. Though some of them are quite tasty, they are a pain to harvest. Bending down to pick them is not something I enjoy. So, each year, while harvesting, I decide never to plant them again. However, all that is forgotten when the seed catalogs arrive for the next season!
Bush varieties of beans generally produce all their pods at one time, resulting in one big harvest, and then stop producing. This is good for a market garden or a commercial producer. The whole plant can be pulled out and the pods separated from it. Ideal for machine harvesting too. They are also good for kitchen gardeners who do canning or other methods of preserving.
They are good as a second crop for late season harvest. In our case, they can be planted after garlic is picked, which is by the first week of July, and we still get a chance to harvest them before frost arrives.
This year we had Henderson Lima, Meraviglia Di Venezia, Borlotto and Provider varieties. All of them produced well. Beans are good for long term preservation. Our preferred way is to cut them up and freeze. Blanching is optional. They can stay in the freezer for several months.
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