I have quite a bit of experience when it comes to growing green beans. I have been gardening for over 30 years. Over the years I have tried to grow many different varieties of green beans. Since I like to can beans to store in my cellar, I have narrowed down my favorites to the ones that taste the best after going through the canning process. You might think that green beans are all the same, but they all have differences.

Tenderette Bush beans are by far my favorite type of beans to can. They are seedless white beans, have a great flavor and hold their shape well when canned. They also produce very large crops. If the plants are kept well picked, the plants will continue to produce a heavy harvest until frost.

Golden Wax Bush beans are also good for canning. The flavor is good, and since the beans are yellow, they taste slightly different than the usual green beans. They produce well, have no strings and are easier to pick than the green ones. They are easier to see on the bush as they are yellow. They also keep their yellow color when canned.

Since I’m getting older and don’t like bending over to pick bush beans, Tenderette and Golden Wax are the only types of bush beans I grow. All the other varieties I have tried in the past have failed in comparison. I have never found any polar beans that I like as much as canned tenderette beans, but I grow them anyway. I grow them mainly because I don’t have to bend down as much when picking them up. Pole beans take a little longer to start producing than bush beans.

Kentucky Wonder is a pole type bean that packs well and holds its shape quite well. It seems to lose some of its flavor during the canning process. It is a brown bean with seed and has no string when picked when young. Keep them well picked and they will produce until frost kills them.

Blue Lake Pole beans are a white-seeded variety that can grow quite well. It maintains its flavor and shape when canned. They are stringless when picked young and will produce until frost if kept tightly picked. Blue Lake Polar Beans are my favorite type of polar beans for canning.

The White Half Runner Pole beans are my least favorite due to the fact that they have heavy strings. Even when picked very young they tend to have some stringiness. The only reason I plant them is for their unique bean flavor. They are a variety of white seeds. Vines don’t grow as tall as most pole beans, so they can be grown along a waist-high fence instead of poles. They hold their flavor well when canned. Mature bean seeds also dry well for winter use. If you’ve only had canned beans from the grocery store, you don’t know what you’re missing. Home-canned green beans outshine store-bought beans. There really is no comparison in quality and taste.