Orient Wonder Yardlong Pole Bean Seeds

Days to Maturity: 85

Pole Bean

No thicker than a pencil but as long as a shoelace, these baby Yardlong Beans (also known as Chinese Long Beans, Asparagus Beans, or Dau Gok) are crisp, succulent, and absolutely delicious. Harvest them at "just" 15 to 18 inches long for indescribably tender flavor with a nice bite.

Orient Wonder is the best name in yard-long beans, renowned for its adaptability to different climates and conditions as well as for its heavy yields and dependably delectable flavor. Super-vigorous vines will produce like crazy, and if you don't pick the beans young, the pods will grow to 30 inches long in no time—sometimes adding an inch or more a day during the heat of the summer. (It's almost worth letting a few go just to watch the phenomenon).

These tender baby beans reach the peak of flavor when prepared in oil, either in slow sautés or quick stir-fries. They can also be steamed, of course. They're lots of fun to arrange on the plate, their 15- to 18-inch flexible size lending itself to twists, spirals, and more.

These 9- to 12-foot vining bean frees up the horizontal rows in the vegetable garden for other varieties while bearing abundant harvests. They're easier than bush beans to harvest as well.

Direct sow after all danger of frost, and for best harvest, keep sowing at 3-week intervals until late spring. For fall crops, begin in late summer and continue until a month or so before first frost date. Support the vines on a trellis, tower, or poles spaced 3 feet apart. Sow seeds 1 inch deep and expect to see the shoots in just 8 to 15 days.

Pkt of 100 seeds (plants approx. a 6- to 8-foot row)