‘Blue Lake’ pole beans have long been the standard for pole beans in vegetable gardens. But in the last several years, ‘Blue Lake’ hasn’t exactly performed. Maybe you’ve noticed: many of the beans tend to be flat, hollow “meatless” and stringy–essentially worthless for fresh eating or canning. So what to do? Give up on pole beans?
No!
The problem is, ‘Blue Lake’ has been around for so long, many of the plants used for growing seed (it’s a hybrid variety) are reverting back to a wild bean, essentially. So we’ve found a better–and newer–hybrid that gives you all the benefits of ‘Blue Lake’ and then some.
‘Kentucky Blue’ is a variety of pole bean that we’ve come to love for its full (“meaty”), long, stringless beans. If you snap your beans, you’ll typically get an extra snap out of each ‘Kentucky Blue’ bean you pick. The beans taste great, are very prolific and don’t give you any of the headaches of ‘Blue Lake.’
At Vander Giessen’s, we carry a great supply of ‘Kentucky Blue’ pole beans to meet your needs. Stop in to pick up a couple of packets for yourself–and tell your friends!
I sure wish I had seen your article on the Blue Lake Pole Beans before I planted this year. I have been having this problem now for 6 years. I thought maybe after moving to Eastern Washington that the heat had something to do with my beans being all but horrible. Do you sell on line? Thanks for the article.
Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you–I don't know how I missed this comment! No, unfortunately we don't sell online, but you should be able to get 'Kentucky Blue' pole beans from any number of sources (I'd start with Burpee or Johnny's Selected Seeds) if you don't have a local garden center that carries them. If you run stuck next spring, give us a call–we can ship them out to you. Thanks for reading!