Side-Dressing The Green Beans

With the promise of rain on the way, I decided this morning would be a good time to add a side-dressing of fertiliser to the green beans. The first green beans I planted did not sprout; I think I counted five bean plants. I had used some old seeds, so that could have been the problem, or it could have been the weather turning cold and the seeds rotted in the ground. Either way, I had to resow the green beans. They are coming along nicely and if I can keep the deer from eating them, should provide lots of nice blue lake green beans for my table and for the freezer.

A Pretty Row Of Green Beans

As you can see in the photograph, it is a pretty row of green beans. The row is about 8.5 meters (28 feet) long. At the far end is a row of pumpkins that are growing nicely as well. The idea is to sprinkle a side-dressing of 10-10-10 fertiliser along each side of the row. Then using a hoe or rake you pull dirt up over the fertiliser and hill the row. I prefer using a garden rake, it is quicker and helps to break up the dirt so you don't get large clumps as you would using a hoe.

A Side-Dressing Of Fertiliser

The Row Hilled

The idea of adding a side-dressing of a slow-release granular fertiliser is that it will feed the plants throughout the growing season. As water percolates down through the soil, it will pick up the nutrients and carry them to the roots. However, you don't want to put a heavy layer, just sprinkle some of the fertiliser as you see in the photograph above. After working the green beans, I also side-dressed the pumpkins, butternut squash and the watermelons. I recently sowed a row of black-eyed peas but they had yet to sprout; hopefully the rain will have them up and growing soon.