Provider Bean

15Reviews
SKU: 1505
$3.95 to $11.55

Item Details

Known as the most dependable early green bean, this easy-to-grow variety offers excellent flavor and is one of the best for freezing and canning. It germinates well in cooler soil, adapts to diverse soil and climate conditions, and is disease-resistant. Round, straight pods grow heavily on compact plants. Introduced in 1965 by horticulturist Dr. Hoffman of the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory in South Carolina.


  • 50-55 days
  • Conventional
  • Bush bean
  • Snap bean
  • Excellent flavor
  • Disease resistant
  • Cool weather tolerant

This variety works for:

  • Fresh eating
  • Steaming
  • Roasting
  • Canning
  • Freezing


When preparing your snap beans, clean off the ends and wash before lightly braising them with garlic and tossing with bacon. You can also add them to salads or serve them with dip or hummus as an appetizer.


Try using them for spicy refrigerator pickled beans or canning them in the summer for a winter treat. Their uniform, straight pods make for easing packing in canning jars.

Growing Instructions

Instructions - Sow seeds outdoors after danger of frost has passed and soil and air temperatures have warmed. Harvest frequently for increased yields.

  • Direct Seed: 2" Apart
  • Seed Depth: 1"
  • Rows Apart: 36-48"
  • Light: Full Sun

Ratings & Reviews

15 reviews

They really do provide!

by

Best beans for home garden bar none. Hardy plants that bear a large number of beans per plant. Two nine-foot rows produce enough for a family of four to eat all they want and to can a dozen or so quarts for the winter. I plant the rows a week or so apart so we can enjoy them fresh for longer.

Early and Long Producing

by

Planted 5/1 (Zone 6A) and produced right on time. Planted every two weeks. Great taste, nice size, and many weeks of production. Some plants were taken over by nearby squash and were ignored after a while yet still had many usable beans when "rediscovered" weeks later. Will certainly start the season with these again.

An excellent bean.

by

We live in growing zone 5, and 2020 brought us both late spring snow/frost and an early snow. We still got two crops of Provider. They seem to be especially good for freezing- no mushy texture, and they even smell fresh picked when thawed. This is my string bean of choice now.

Its growing in shade!

by

I am very impressed with this bean. Insects seem to avoid it, its growing under the shade of a tree. Other bean varieties are struggling in the same area.

Tasty, productive, easy to grow

by

Zone 7b
There were bites in the young leaves in early spring, but the plants recovered and produced wonderfully and I have more beans than I expected.

Provider!

by

We won against the rabbits and woodchucks this year. Wow , provider is an understatement. Planted in early may here in central Massachusetts. Had beans in June and they are still going strong in mid September.

First bean every season....

by

I love beans and I grow a lot of different varieties - bush and pole, fresh and dried. Provider tolerates cooler soils than most beans, and it's the first one I direct sow every year. Keep the plants watered and picked and they just keep on producing delicious beans. Love this bean.

Very very slow to produce beans

by

I must be doing something wrong as these Beans are taking a very long time to produce flowers and beans. The plants keep growing but no flowers or beans. Possibly these beans 50 days maturity is much longer than other Bush Beans I have planted. Hope I get some before frost lol !

Our New Favorite Bean

by

We are in zone 6. This is our first year using provider. It is exceeding all our expectations. The flavor is very good. We have kept them watered and even with the exceptionally high temperatures in June they have continued to produce beans. They also held their blooms through the heat. We are very happy with this outstanding bean. It has become our bean of choice.

Unruly

by

Good tasting bean, but unruly plant. Not a real bush bean, and had trouble germinating compared to other beans.

Sturdy, productive little plants

by

These beans produced a good steady flow of tasty but small green beans. They grew well although got hammered by leaf miners and rust at the end of the summer. We started a new batch for fall and they are growing well. Great variety! Even the killer summer heat (zone 96) didn't bother them too much

Great Bush Bean

by

We have grown this bush bean for years and it never disappoints.

Lives up to its name

by

Prolific and steady output--truly lives up to its name.
Delighted by the production and flavor. A new favorite

Best bush bean I have grown.

by

This has been my most reliable bean over the last 3 years! Heavy bearer, delicious bean!

Waste of money and time

by

2023 was not the year for this bean. Planted not once but twice as nothing germinated the first time… Nothing. Second planting was less of a failure BUT bean plants only grew to 10” tall and only a few actually flowered and produced. 150 seeds planted and my family of 3 had only 2 meals of beans. Waste of money and time.