Market Farming

[Alliums <garlicgrower AT earthlink.net>]

Hi, Folks!

As we are are in the season where folks dump their Christmas trees, I just 
thought I'd share my experiences in 2004 using the trunks as bean teepees.

In the past, I've just cut off the branches to mulch the perennials and 
just used the trunks for borders.  Having seen some very expensive bean 
teepees in garden magazines, I decided to try using what I had on hand.

So, I took 5 or 6 Christmas tree trunks and dug the wide ends into the soil 
and let the thin ends fall together in a natural teepee (this works even 
better if you leave a few small branches on the top of each tree).  Since I 
always have problems with beans and peas falling back from the fence, I 
wrapped twine around the lower 2 feet so that the shoots would have 
something to grab.

I have never had such good bean fencing.  Even with the rains and wind this 
year, only one teepee fell down (I could have probably pushed it deeper 
into the ground).  With the twine on the bottom, all the beans grabbed the 
twine and went up the teepee (okay, I had one plant that fell back and grew 
up the teepee behind it, but at least it didn't stay on the ground! 
;-).  Most of the beans this year were leftover pole bean heirlooms -- the 
really great thing about the teepees is that I didn't run out of space -- 
the beans just grew up the teepee, looped around the top, then grew back 
DOWN the teepee.  I didn't have any extra vines hanging off the fence 
without support!  Also, the beans tended to hang down inside the teepee or 
off the point at the top -- it was far easier to find the beans than with a 
regular fence.

Christmas tree teepees are really fantastic for growing runner beans -- the 
support is stable and all the flowers are held out along the entire length 
of the trunks and as a "crown" at the tip.  Plus, since the vines will 
simply grow to the top and then down and then to the top again, you don't 
have any extra vines looking for a place to go.  If you're looking for a 
fabulous decoration for growing space (that will also attract pollinators), 
you can't go wrong with a few Christmas tree trunk teepees holding runner 
beans.

If you have deer, you have to put up netting, because there are few things 
deer like more than beans and especially runner beans.  However, since the 
teepees mean that the deer are nervous about jumping in because they can't 
find a good landing place between all the tall sticks in the air, you can 
just put the netting just outside the perimeter of the teepees and not 
worry about deer jumping inside and having a feast as they often do with 
regular bean fences if you don't make the netting quite high enough.

Anyway, just thought I'd pass along a technique I found both useful and 
cheap! :-D

Dorene

Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator
St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and Labyrinth

A mission of
St. John's United Church of Christ, 315 Gay Street, Phoenixville, PA  19460