The Beans Went Up. The Beans Come Down

End of the season.  Ready to come down

Pole beans know how to climb.  They know how to hang on.  But I love them because my tall frame prefers to reach up rather than bend over to pick.

String support for the beans has special requirements:  strong enough,  able to pass under the bottom support beam (a stalk of bamboo), compostable.  Many years, I hit only one of the criteria.  That was this year.  I used garden twine.  The big ball would not go under the lower support, and twine takes years to break down in the compost pile.  Tangled twine is a guaranteed mess.

Beans pushed down the twine.

Save the twine for next year.

So I cut lengths to tie at the bottom, stretch up over the top and then back at the bottom forming a giant upside down "V."  Four of these per side worked slick. The beans were never the wiser. Things I get to do today include bringing down the beans. Untie the ends of the twine at the bottom. Grab the bean vines at the top and force them down the twine, slipping the untied twine out of the vine bundle. The twine can be rolled and saved for next year. Bean vines go to the chickens for them to make eggs.  What a good idea!