Dwarf French beans - how many to grow?

[redser]

Hi - I know this is a bit of a 'how big is a hole' sort of question but I never grew them before and have no idea what sort of yield they give. I have about 30 beans chitting and was wondering is this a rediculous number of plants to grow? I want to do them in the tunnel and some more later outside. So say a family of 2 adults and 2 small children, what would be an appropriate amount of plants? I don't even know how big the plants get
We're not bean-a-holics or anything, just average use and hope to freeze some. The variety is Safari which is supposed to be type you typically see in the supermarket apparently.
Cheers for any guidance!

[Matt94]

ive never had much sucess with french beans both climbing and dwarf - however this year im going to have a go at purple queen and im going to go down the square foot route at 5 plants per square foot and im doing 8 squares of them - so 40 plants in total, so 30 seems reasonable.

[lottie dolly]

if you have the room then good,it depends also how early the flowers start to set,would suggest to pick the beans smaller than they say will grow to,so they nice and tender,if to many tis nice to share them with others,at the later part of the season if you leave them to it and go brown pods,you got seeds for next year,and if you like dried beans,save them as well,ther are threads on here about it,space between plants from 12 ---15 inch,they will need plenty of water and pollinating by little fliers,good luck,and NO 30 is not to many for dwarfs

[Two_Sheds]

I grow 100s of French beans every year, mostly to eat dried. Obviously you don't get as much off a dwarf (bush) plant as you do a tall (climber).
You should get a couple of meals from each plant though

[redser]

Thanks so much for the replies, its much clearer in my mind now.

"You should get a couple of meals from each plant". Just what I needed to know. Great link on the receipes too!

One more question - I read they don't really need support but that maybe you can to control them. What support do you give them if any?

Cheers

[Nicos]

We plant hundreds each year too !
Just 2 of us and a patch about 7' x 15'
Rows about a foot apart and 2 beans every 6"

I find mine just self support and reach about knee hight.
You'll find you'll be taking the biggest from each plant every day/couple of days

For a bit of variety we plant green French dwarf beans and yellow ones. They look lovely on the plate together- and the yellow ones are easier to find hiding underneath the leaves!
The seeds keep several years - so it might be nice to plant a few yellow ones later on in the Spring too!
(We also have a row of climbing purple French beans)

Sounds a lot of beans , but although we do keep the later ones to dry I make a heck of a lot of 'ratatouille' to freeze and jar- made out of chopped french beans, onions ,courgettes and tomatoes ( + puree) and a few other veg chopped in and spiced up with garlic and herbs. Every batch is different- but it's an instant yummy ready made meal to have with pasta - or zap to make a soup- or serve with fried eggs/sausage on top.
My OH used to take one to work once a week and defrost it and microwave it for lunch.
Cheap, nutritious and yummy !

Enjoy your beans!!

[RedThorn]

I don't think there's such a thing as too many, as said, you can dry them out too

[Two_Sheds]

they don't really need support

I plant mine further apart than Nicos does: one plant every 6" (my climbers are one plant every 9"). My favourite dwarf is Canadian Wonder (it's the true red kidney bean that everyone knows from chilli con carne). It's a short climber, and I find some of the plants get to 3ft and need a cane

Other varieties are shorter ~ purple teepee is only about 12" tall and doesn't need support

Just plant them up and see how they go (not until after your last frost though)

[roitelet]

Thanks so much for the replies, its much clearer in my mind now.

"You should get a couple of meals from each plant". Just what I needed to know. Great link on the receipes too!

One more question - I read they don't really need support but that maybe you can to control them. What support do you give them if any?

Cheers

To support them put a couple of sticks each end of the row and tie string along the rows. It just helps to stop them flopping over when they start to crop.

[redser]

Thanks a million! Very helpful, the seeds are chitted so going to pop them into RTs tonight

[Two_Sheds]

As they are low to the ground, you need to take slug precautions.