When someone mentions wax beans, I think about the bowl of wax fruit my granny kept on her coffee table. The fruit looked pretty, but we all knew it wasn't edible.
The vegetable's name is unfortunate, because yellow wax beans are related to green beans - they're just a different color.
Grow wax or green beans wherever you have a warm, sunny garden spot. Not only do the beans grow well in loose, fertile soils, they enhance the soil by adding nitrogen.
Or use a container filled with fresh potting soil that you can place in full sun. Bush beans aren't large, so three to five plants will do well in a 20-inch-wide pot. I recommend the bush varieties of wax and green beans for containers, as they don't require staking. Pole bean varieties require stakes or teepees about six to seven feet tall, and do best in garden spots.
Sow bean seeds from now until mid-October for a long harvest time. For a high yield, pick the beans often - even daily - so that blossoms continue to set.
Vegetable growing time is here, so if you have questions about growing vegetables and fruits in your own back yard (or front yard), write us at tastefulgarden@hotmail.com.
Debbie Moose cooks it
Green beans are, well, green and wax beans are yellow. That's about the extent of the difference between the two.
Some people think wax beans have a different texture, but I've never been sure about that. I look at them as colorful additions to salads and side dishes. Yellow wax beans retain their color after cooking. So, get out of your green bean rut and mix it up.
There are even purple wax beans, but they turn green on cooking, so I wonder what the point is.
Select beans that have a bright color and moist, velvety skin. Avoid beans with brown or soft spots, and ones that look dried out or wrinkled. Store them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for up to five days, and wash just before cooking.
You can cook both types of beans in the same ways. Combining wax and green beans in this recipe gives you a springtime color boost.
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