Sieva Butter Beans - An Excellent Pole Bean

I like to eat butter beans, but I don't like the back breaking chore of picking them. So the answer was to find a pole butter bean, something that would climb a string and allow us to pick them while standing. We found some Sieva Butter Bean seed online and planted them in the greenhouse as a test. These things are amazing. They are very productive, excellent eating, and they made beans even thru 100+ degree heat. If you get a chance, give them a try.

[@queenbee9581]

Funny this video popped up this morning! I just came in from picking bush butterbeans! Ughhh I need to try the Sievas!!

[@frankphelps9281]

Excellent! Last year I broke my back picking bush butter beans so I been looking for some good pole butter beans and it looks like these may be the ticket. I'm gonna try to find some....

[@TradionallySouthern]

The late Mr. Frank Jones of Surrey, Virginia introduced this Georgia girl to the Sieve butter bean back in 2004. They are really delicious and grow beautifully. I love those butter beans and miss Mr. Frank Jones tremendously!

[@teresapannells774]

I love you and your wife's channel. I only have a small spot of land that our family's trailer sits on but I want to learn how to grow as much as possible in the space we have. You guys rock. I'm glad that every time you guys load up a video that the lord is willing!!! Thanks so much for sharing all your years of experience with all us newbies.

[@seadogtheswimmer1547]

Sir we don't care how you spell em, Its all about how you grow them, And one more time Mr. MHPGardener YOU have done a service to your community... Keep them coming Sir We the People are Watching! Thank You and Ms. imstillworkin for everything you do for this Great Nation and the WORLD, You Two reach far and wide, The seeds you plant are not only in your fields..!! Thank You and May you reap what you sow> Galatians 6:7 Randall James - Mossy Oaks homestead FL. USA

[@oncebefore3671]

I am so happy i continued to look through your videos and found this --- my search box does not work so i did not know if you had a butter bean video --- VOILA --- you do ! --- hoping to find a video for cooking and canning them --- thanks for this video in your catalog

[@redstickranch-centraltexas5564]

Thank You, thank you . I have been trying and trying to find a pole snall green butter beans.

[@Idahovandal4ever]

I'm enjoying your videos. I'm a farmer up here in Idaho, we grow many seed crops. The Strike green bean seed was most probably grown up here, it originated and is patented by Seminis Seed Co. While 'organic' gardening(whatever that means) is the fad these days, it's nice to see gardening done with an open mind toward all practices that work best. Hope to see new videos.

[@minighgardener7620]

Just wanted to tell you both thanks for all the info you put out to the community. Hubby and I took an old metal car cover and made it into a small green house, and I did the dutch buckets with three different types of tomatoes, and 4 different types of peppers. I was the envy of the neighborhood, I had more tomato products that I canned (1st year of canning thanks to Susan). They were beautiful, got a few over 1lb! So now in our small yard we took that down and we're in the process of building an actual hoop house down one side of our city property, will be three times as large! Keep up the good work, you both are wonderful teachers!

[@mhpgardener]

minighgardener That's how I started, with just a small greenhouse. Things went well so I built a second one a lot bigger. I'm glad you guys are having so much success. Greenhouse growing is really cool. Thanks.

[@chopsddy3]

A few years ago I planted Italian pole beans by driving some old rebar into ground at about a 15 or 20 degree angle slanted away from the sun. I stretched wire across the poles and guided the plants, as they grew, in an over and under fashion. It worked great . The foliage was on the sun side and the beans hung down in the shade of the back. Easyist bean pickin'ever. Pole beans rule. Love your videos. Thanks.

[@olensoifer9901]

Sounds like a great idea for getting the beans to come out from hiding amongst the leaves.

[@chopsddy3]

Olen Soifer Yup. That's exactly what it did. I'm getting hungry for some fresh beans.

[@mhpgardener]

chopsddy3 That was a neat trick. I've seen people growing them up poles like teepees too, instead of vertical trellises.

[@chopsddy3]

mhpgardener The three pole teepee was the way I first learned how to grow pole beans. It's a real space saver. It's the way to go if you have limited space. A 4 foot by 4 foot box or raised bed will produce a suprising amount of beans for the kitchen. Pole beans , it seems, have gone out of fashion in favor of bush varieties. I can't imagine why. Now that I'm a stiffening up old geezer, it's pole beans or no beans. Funny thing. As I age I'm certainly not getting any taller, yet the ground gets further away. Ha!

[@roseclipper]

chopsddy3 The main reason why pole beans have fallen out of favor to bush beans is because bush beans produce far earlier. I like to plant both that way i get beans in early spring to summer (Bush) and then from summer through fall (Pole).

[@douglasingram3815]

Thanks Bobby, Would love to learn more about your greenhouses. Self-built, kits, facing east or west, ventilation, etc ......

[@HouseFairyDIY]

They are so tall they would make a great privacy screen.

[@charliewilliams8794]

Those beans are looking good. Thanks for sharing.

[@helenlane6317]

thanks for the tip on these! have a bad back and did not grow any this year! will have to look for these seeds!!!

[@mhpgardener]

Helen Lane It doesn't take long for my back to start hurting when I'm picking regular butter beans. These are "back friendly".

[@joelyboyblue]

Everything you grow is HUGE, love it

[@michaelnagle8250]

My Grandaddy grew Sieva butter beans for years in his garden in North Carolina. He sent me a big bag of seeds many years ago, and I grew them for several years, and then my seeds ran out, and now I can't find any. So bummed!!

[@vegannursepractitioner9629]

Those look tasty! Just bought a package off Ebay $7, but they sure do look nice next to the potatoes!

[@teriruiz8292]

wow, that looks great, I'm gonna have to give those a try, thanks!

[@SouthpawDavey]

Nice looking beans Bobby. Amazing hight and temperature tolerance.

[@stevefarms7494]

The butter bean I have are as big as my thumb even the ones that I can buy at my local store and they are labeled butter beans ... But I'm for the first time going to plant butter beans and other type of beans and I live in Western NY

[@RawFoodMuscle]

Those beans look really tasty not to mention the potato with it. I think I might have to grow those cause it sounds like they will produce a lot. Thanks for sharing

[@mhpgardener]

BadAssFarmer That was some good eating, the best butter beans I ever had.

[@TheHwnleatherguy]

Alojha frm Hawaii...... lookin' forward to seeing your winter crop... seeing you heat your greenhouse.... are your neighbors loving your harvest???? are you sending some fresh foods to your food pantry??? i enjoy watching your adventures!!!

[@nereidapr1]

Wow that's a mighty high plant.. Great video

[@gardensandmore1614]

Dang, I do admit I like what I see. Not a big fan of step ladders, but I also have a back that don't like to bend down to pick beans either. I can see why you recommend them from the details you shared. Off hand I don't remember how wide and long your greenhouse is, but I can see the wisdom in having a large, tall one. Thanks for the show and tell.

[@mhpgardener]

Gardens and More My back starting give me fits several years ago. So I tend to avoid butter beans. But with a pole butter bean, I'm back in business !

[@mutorkian]

I was -searching for pole butter pea seeds and this was suggested. this looks like “butter peas” (which I guess are some kind of smaller butter bean).

[@Praxxus55712]

Having to use a ladder to pick your beans? Now THAT is a problem any gardener would translate into a successful plant. WOW!

[@mhpgardener]

***** I just wish I could grow them in the shade. It gets hot in there.

[@tpsu129]

Try Italian pole beans. Mine grow easily 7-8 feet tall in partial shade.

[@poppyb.4255]

Thanks for the video Bobby. It sounds like the Sieva bean may be a good candidate for this hot, muggy, Florida climate I have to work with.

[@mhpgardener]

Poppy B. It's supposed to be a heat tolerant variety. Judging by how well it did in the greenhouse, I'd have to agree with that assessment.

[@altha-rf1et]

I have too locations in Florida A house in Tampa and a Farm in Altha. I have a small back yard I use the fence to grow butter beans on it

[@qualqui]

Those are some TALL Butter bean vines ya got there Bobby!!! Lima beans I've had but butter beans i don't believe so, unless they're what is known in spanish as 'Alubias'? Gonna wiki the Butter beans/Alubias and check that out, ya helped me alot when you made the contrast with your thumb and pinky nails,...hehehe! Thumbs up and greetings to your pretty lady with the long brown hair who's your cameraperson!! ;)

[@mhpgardener]

Joe Serrano I was surprised at how tall they got too. But with that kind of production, it would be worth building a better trellis to support them. Thanks.

[@vijayprasad9920]

your narration is great!

[@rogert4586]

Bobby, would be nice to see some new videos from you, It's been a couple years now, would like to see any modification and updates in your gowing systems and greenhouse.

[@groovetrippin]

Just found your channel looking forward to watching more.

[@epicgecko2235]

Ash H t

[@orchidnative]

Don't make the same mistake that my neighbor did with his pole butter beans! In the heat of the summer, Sieva and other varieties will slow down drastically. He pulled his vines out, with disgust when the pods slowed down and failed to fill out. I left mine alone, and was rewarded with a bumper crop when the temperature cooled off a bit. We were picking nice pods all the way into December (I live in South Mississippi). We froze all that we could, and gave many away to friends and family.

[@sandrarichardson2713]

Wow!!! What you did was exactly what I was wondering about----leave the plants in the ground until it cools off again to see if they will produce. May i ask where you found your Sieva butter bean seeds? Just looking for good seed. Thanks if you have time to reply. Jesus bless.

[@songbird7777777]

Thanks, Bobby, for the tip!

[@mhpgardener]

***** You're welcome. These seed are hard to find, but well worth the effort.

[@MissouriOldTimer]

I'm not trying to be contradictory but here in MO. I have always heard that the butter bean is the larger and the lima is green and smaller, where the butter bean is more of a white to cream color.

[@mhpgardener]

MissouriOldTimer That's not surprising. There is a lot of variation in things across the country. It just depends on where you're from.

[@MissouriOldTimer]

mhpgardener I think you are right I can think of several things that are different by region , I agree , pole beans of any kind are much easier to pick. some of the pole beans have strings but that's just more fiber, I like your gardening videos.

[@roseclipper]

Butter beans have been more of a staple in the south than anywhere ive been so i would take their word for it. I've been trying to get butter beans here in Okieland for several years and all i can get are those yankee lima's for some reason. I might have to send mhpgardener a self addressed letter and a couple dollars for some of those beans he has been getting :)

[@BugarMaster]

Yeah, I'm from Louisiana and the big ones have been called butter beans by every person I know.

[@creekboysmom]

That is going on the list of seed to get for next year!

[@BN-fy8jy]

Great video 👍😊 we surely try it your way!

[@michael7423]

Thank you and God bless you too!

[@C3Voyage]

Beautiful beans. Wish my family liked 'em like I do. So, I must have missed it. Why all the summer vids later? It looks like you were there all along making the vids and was just wondering why the late releases?

[@mhpgardener]

C3 Voyage I tried to film stuff when I could. It was a busy summer and I didn't have time to sit at the computer and do any editing. So now I'm trying to catch up.

[@FensterfarmGreenhouse]

No one in my family will eat them either! Very prolific bean though! My boys call them Booger Beans. lol Chuck

[@lisabetholson]

From your comment about the heat I suppose in Oregon I need a hot house to grow these beans? I enjoy beans and have grown 12' high runner beans. I always grow pole beans. I'm too old to pick from the ground up.

[@skoalmen143]

I ordered some sieva's today. Look forward to a bumper crop!

[@yorkiemalone8727]

I LOVE butter beans ever since I had them for school dinners as a kid But being i the UK can I find any as good as those NO WAY Any one in the UK know where I can get any PLEASE

[@ScalpingSATs21]

I just found your videos. I love the info and wanna give you props for lifting God up in your post....

[@centennialmagnolia2904]

That shot of the butter beans and potatoes on the plate looks delicious. I can still remember the first time I had "baby butter beans" fresh from the farmers' market that my Aunt Reba had made. So good! Will you climb a ladder to get those at the top or just ignore them?

[@mhpgardener]

CentennialMagnolia I have a 10ft step ladder that I keep in the greenhouse for getting up to the top.

[@michelletessin6702]

Bobby: Why aren't you selling seed Man? I will buy some!

[@virginiamcdaniel4391]

good information - easy listening - thanks

[@edsmith8441]

Bobby, Can you provide the name of the cucumber that you mentioned for growing in the greenhouse. It would save me from the tedious Q-tip pollinating. Another great video!

[@keyplayr61greenhousehydrop14]

Great looking beans, Bobby! Man, it does get hot as heck in there, don't it?

[@milliewilkins2823]

I NEED these like yesterday.

[@chrisbgarrett]

Hey man, I'm currently a canned veggies kind of guy. But building a greenhouse and want to produce and save some. How do you make your harvest last longest? Is there an easy way to store your veggies? Thanks

[@altha-rf1et]

Nice! I have a hydroponic garden tower that is 10 foot tall might try it with that

[@DocBrewskie]

Ate them my whole life.never knew butter & Lima beans were the same thing.

[@lauracarpenter5283]

Hey, Bobby...how do you think these would do in Arizona? there we have two gardens a year, we plant in Feb and Sept. Since I am short (like your sweetheart), could I plant them on a 5 or 6 ft stake and maybe hoop them over so they continue to grown back down? Then I could pick them from either side? do you understand what I am trying to say? anyway, let me know and then I will keep an eye open for the seeds. thanks!

[@TheAbledGardener]

That's one great "Wall of Beans", I'm in awe of the growth, anything special in your soil?

[@wcfdemt]

thank you for your post....I have learned alot

[@HighVerbal]

Looks good. Do you know how these Carolina Sieva beans compare to Dr. Martin's Pole Lima beans? They're an old heirloom bean.. and I keep hearing good things about them

[@JonFrumTheFirst]

You'd need to build a scaffold to harvest the tops of the vines easily. Amazing.

[@llmcbee1875]

Ha ha, my mom was from OK and it was the other way around: the BIG white beans like King of The Garden were butter beans and the little fellas were limas. Must be a regional thing. My other half loves limas but I'm a butter bean fan all the way. This will be my first year trying to grow them though. Could I take a trellis about half as tall as yours and train them up one side and down the other? Seeing I'm only 5 feet tall, it sure would be easier to reach them! ;-P

[@mountnman3609]

LL Mcbee I don't know the absolute answer to your question, but at 1:58 he mentions that the roof is about 12 feet high and that the beans were bumping against the roof and making their way back down. I would think that if you built a trellis 6 ft tall, the beans would grow all the way back down and if you kept an eye on them daily, you might be able to get them to grow back up the trellis again.

[@llmcbee1875]

mountnman3609 Thanks, I'll try that! :-)

[@markholaday7207]

You know, you could put them in pots and hang 'em, or a raised bed (like a table) about waist high. But the idea there works pretty well too. Thanks for the tip ;)

[@dymondwillow2]

Love your accent! This inoculation stuff...My newest pack of seeds - peas - says I should soak in inoculant...same for beans. I have not heard of this practise before. Do you inoculate your seeds?

[@LeeHill66]

I haven't had butter beans in 15+ years, since I moved to TN. Sure do miss them now. No one around here knows what they are

[@mammawthimble9551]

Hey Bobby and Susan, Great video as usual. Would you consider selling me some of your seeds? I can't find them anywhere. Thanks, Vivian Ann on the side of the mountain in Tennessee

[@Ms.Byrd68]

Yeah that plate made me hungry!

[@1940dhudson]

I planted 400' of pole lima's and used crop netting. I don't know if it's better to have my butt in the air picking bush lima's or breaking the lima bean vines away from the netting. It's kind of a trade off, easy picking vs time breaking the vines.

[@1311182244]

You do a good job of explaining, but I'm still a little confused: are the butter beans simply immature lima beans or does the plant produce both sizes? Thanks.

[@mhpgardener]

Karla Nava It's a smaller bean overall. Sometimes the butter beans are called baby limas. I guess it depends on where you live.

[@thefruitshowstheroot7844]

Thanks for the video brother. Will you be selling any of the seeds by chance? Also, have you tried "perfect pick" zucchini seeds from Jung seeds? It requires no pollination so it could be grown inside your green house. I got about 10 seeds for about $2.35 or so. So far, they produce big seedlings and now in November, they are about a foot or two tall. No fruit yet because they are still babies but they do have little male flowers forming. I'll keep you posted on the progress. Thanks again and God bless.

[@HealedandOpenHearts]

Hello. I am trying to figure out how much to plant by understanding how many pounds these beans produce per plant. I was wondering if by any chance did you weigh how many pounds or get the volume that each plant yields on average (per season or picking, please let me know which)? If you don't know or remember, I heard you say you used a five gallon pail. It would still be helpful to know how far you filled it up (e.g., all the way up or halfway up) in one picking. Also, it would help me to calculate the yields if you would let me know a) how many plants did you plant? and b) about how many times did you go out an pick? Any insight you could give me would be much appreciated. Many thanks in advance!

[@josephdeleon903]

hi my name is Joseph , this is the second year that I've been growing a vegetable garden with my family. I am interested to learn and what kind of organic fertilizer liquid organic fertilizer are you using for your vegetable garden to yield so much vegetables

[@olensoifer9901]

Hey Bobby...Last year you were all "hot" on hydroponics, and also hinted that you might also try aquaponics...but all I see is "dirt farming" this year, inside and out. What's with that? Did you do any hydro this year???

[@mhpgardener]

Olen Soifer It's not about being "hot" on any one aspect of gardening. I just show what I happen to be doing at the time.

[@judahbelle1]

did you use any kind of fertilizer on these?

[@brightpurpleviking]

When you grow beans outside, how do you deal with Japanese beetles? I also get stinkbugs in my garden...jerks! I would love some advice!

[@gardensandmore1614]

There are a lot of videos on those bugs and some seem to be having good luck with organic pest control options.

[@mhpgardener]

brightpurpleviking Most times, when the beetles show up the plants are fairly mature. They go after the beans and okra, but both seem to be able to withstand the beetles without me doing any spraying.

[@wildchookMaryP]

Nice wall of beans growing towards the Heavens :D

[@oldshield]

Your trellis for the beans: did you just run wire between the poles? If so, what was the spacing? I want to try this this spring.

[@erich.82]

Looks like you found a winner. How did you fertilize these, if at all?

[@stevegillaspie8566]

mhpgardener, Missing you guys. Hoping all is well. Steve

[@cicco1838]

beans are so weary god woow it's wonderful

[@TGSureal]

Interesting you say the little beans are the butter beans and the large ones are limas. When I go to the store, the little ones are called lima beans, and the big white ones are called butter beans.

[@mtodd4723]

Good To plan ahead .

[@MrMrclean01]

have you stopped doing videos?

[@pressuredprepper4232]

He is have hunted the strike Gn a beans do you know where you got them? Thanks allot.

[@neldaisom9174]

What are you feeding those beans

[@theresabollman8061]

Amazing...

[@lauracarpenter5283]

Bobby, I've been checking online and having trouble finding the seeds. where did you buy them?

[@michaelnagle8250]

Good luck! Last I found any was at a seed-preservation site several years ago, and most of theirs were deformed and would not grow. Wish you luck, they are very good butter beans.

[@joannhopkins1396]

you got that backwards lima beans are green, butter beans are the larger White full grown lima beans

[@melodycapehartmedina2264]

Do you sell any of your seeds?

[@mhpgardener]

Melody Capehart Medina No, I've never gotten into the seed selling.

[@chazborn7654]

Bobby you should've called them telephone pole beans

[@robertroesler8023]

I've always thought butter beans were big lima beans, not the other way.

[@KnightTemplar1977]

They're the same thing. Just called different things in different countries/regions.

[@sqwrrl]

butter beans, lima beans. (B) utter for BABY, (L) ima for LARGE. Got it!

[@ElGatoLoco698]

Speaking of butter beans and size, you ever seen the heavyweight boxer named Eric "Butterbean" Esch? He's a big ole white dude. He should probably change his name to Limabean. Butter bean small, lima bean big.

[@NaomiChambers]

buttabeans such a cute accent :-)

[@DoktorKarp]

Gblu friend

[@billieb]

Want to sell some beans to us followers!?