VA_LongBean
Deeply Rooted
I thought that I should give a rundown of the seed I grew this year and what I thought.
Striped Hull Greasy Cutshort pole bean:
I didn't actually eat any of these. The size of the pods was disappointing so I decided to multiply my seed instead. On the other hand these were planted in a bed shaded on the east by native cherries, on the south by my house, and to the west by a maple tree. The pods are attractive and seed set was excellent. They were growing in a mix of leaf compost, woodchips (2014) from a neighbor's tree, and the worst kind of unimproved VA clay. I can just about guarantee these will have no contamination from other bean varieties due to extreme isolation. Any takers?
Violets Multicolored Mix limas:
This is a very attractive and variable blend of limas. Plants grew very well, but didn't start setting pods until late. As they are growing 5 feet south of the Striped Hull beans poor sunlight may have been a factor. These vines set pods all up and down, hiding quite a few within 2 inches of the soil and I only found as dried out or moldy pods. Vastly multiplied my seed and I'm looking forward to eating these in 2016.
Comtesse De Chambord bush bean:
The weeds got most of them
, but I managed to save seed from a few pods. I have about the same amount of saved seed as leftover seed from Russ.
Tohono O'odham cowpea:
These were shoehorned in between the native cherries and the limas. Vines were rampant and seed set late, but was productive despite it. I got 1 cup of seed from the few I planted. These will get a better spot in 2016 or 2017 to grow out. These are hard to get out of the pod unless it is completely dry.
Blue Goose cowpea:
Despite only planting a few plants between the Violet mix limas and a line of young catnip plants (perhaps I overplanted this year), these did well and produced constantly all summer. With a longer row I should have enough to eat heartily from. Waiting on taste test. These needed a trellis of some kind.
Black Crowder cowpea:
I planted about 8 seeds into unimproved soil next to my deck. They received shade from the house in the mid afternoon and in the morning from an ash tree to the east that is due to be removed this winter. Despite this they did well and grew up about 9-10 feet. Pod set at all levels of the vines, but was sparse. I harvested a couple of cups of seed, but over 1 cup was immature or damaged (these were cooked up this morning and tasted good enough to grow again). These make a very dark and aromatically pleasing potlicker.
Rattlesnake pole bean:
Very tasty, attractive and productive, despite also being planted right into the clay next to the Black Crowder cowpeas. I harvested a moderate amount almost every other day all summer and will definitely be growing these again, though they may get a better site. Vines also gave me a good amount of seed.
King of the Garden Lima:
A toothsome delight. The packet these came in had about 25 seeds total and I lost half of them to the washer and failure to germinate. I had these in 2 spots (growing up the Jerusalem artichokes behind the basement door and in the main veggie garden {14x24}).The handful on the artichokes took a long time to grow and produced few seeds. The neighbor's oak provided excessive shade and 3 branches need cutting back if I can get his permission. The ones in the garden grew rampantly, but seed didn't begin setting until late in the season, perhaps due to flooding. I like the size and flavor and hope to grow a larger row in 2016.
Brown Crowder cowpea:
These descend from seeds collected in grandmother's raspberry patch. She wasn't much interested in them and I'm not sure why we bought the seeds in the first place so they just limped along self sewing from year to year. I planted them in 2014 in two places and had a bumper crop. Despite pulling out hundreds of self-sewn seedlings I still got a yield of 1-2 pounds. This one can sprawl or climb with equal satisfaction. No idea which catalogue the seed came from or the true name. Robust flavor and dependable growth in the face of drought and flood. This is a dependable cowpea.
"Uncle Chan" longbean:
These make white pods that are mottled with black streaks and dots. Seed are half to 3/4 black and white. One plant yielded seed with a variety of colors in a wedge between the black and white, indicating possible genetic contamination from my source. Pods can get a decent length and when overmature are bigger around that an adult thumb. I'm not thrilled with the flavor of young pods, but they are attractive. Seeds are large for a longbean, really cowpea sized. I may try this again in future.
Galante longbean:
The twine trellis collapsed some time in August, but before that this produced a steady stream of meaty pods. Good quantity of seed too despite my heavy picking. This is a new favorite.
Ozark Razorback cowpea:
This was a strong grower and produced a lot of seeds. Not thrilled with pod size, but the description said they were short. Flavor more than made up for size for me. Flooding didn't faze these, but the dry spell that followed did. I might make more effort to water them in 2016. Vines kept spreading into the main garden and it could benefit from a tall trellis.
Headrick Greasy Cutshort pole bean:
This is a dependable producer and had decent flavor. I collected lots of seed later in the season. These are edible for a long time after the bean forms in the pod. I plan to grow them again.
Liana longbean:
I'm not impressed with the flavor or the pod texture. Pod set was reliable, but I may not grow these again.
Pencil Pod bush bean:
Again, not enthused with the flavor, but I'll give it another try in 2017.
Black Valentine bush bean:
I liked the flavor, but didn't put them in a good spot. Not sure if I have room for 2016, but will grow again by 2017.
Bountiful bush/half runner:
These grew rampantly and had a staggering pod set. Not sure if I like them or not. A maybe for 2017.
Sierra Madre longbean:
I grew these in 2006/2007 then lost the seed. Pods need to be kept dry as they mature and my family loved them so we mostly failed to save seeds. Here at MY house it's just me so I held back some pods for seed. Despite the rainy year I got a decent return and hope to grow them again next year.
Woods Mountain Crazy Bean bush:
WOW! I LOVE THIS BEAN AND PLAN TO GROW IT EVERY YEAR FROM NOW ON! Pod set, flavor, tenderness even when nearly mature, an the pod coloration too. I have some seed, but probably not enough to share with many people.
Jim Su longbean:
My old family standby, a vigorous grower in Virginia with good pod set an flavor. But compared to some of the new varieties I have had these aren't very special. :/ I plan to grow some each year, but these are no longer my standby.
Piet Special pole bean:
Three seeds grew rampant vines that yielded an impressive several pounds of seed in enormous pods. This was the first bean to mature in my garden this year, perhaps because they were transplants. Not sure of the flavor, but I hope to taste them in 2016.
Solwezi pole bean:
This was also a transplant and it set flowers early, but pod set was very late. Nevertheless I got a lot of seed from the three plants and hope to taste this variety in 2016.
Bush Blue Lake:
These were moderately productive and like most of the "bush" beans I grew were semi vining. I wasn't too pleased with the flavor, but mom grew some and loved them so I gave her my seed yield.
Royal Burgundy:
This bush variety has always been something I or my grandmother grew, but my seed stock was low so I just grew out for seeds. Yes, I could have bought more, but why buy when I could grow my own.
Purple Trionfo Violetto:
Again, we always grew a pole and a bush purple pod bean, but I only had 8 seeds left so I decided to just grow for seeds. The few beans I snuck tasted like I remembered, ensuring their place in my garden.
no-name hyacinth bean:
An unscrupulous eBay seller from Shanghai (name on request only)sold these as catjang, and to be fair that was on the package from the seed company. After I told them about the mixup they apologized and went on selling the same incorrect seeds as before. The pods begin as a faint purple, then go green, then bone white. Flowers are profuse on huge panicles and can be controlled by letting all the pods set (for no flowers) or picking the mature pods (for rebloom). I found the floral aroma nauseating even though the plants were attractive. This was a heavy yielder for the 3 seeds in the packet that grew. Not sure what to do with it. Any takers?
Buckskin Girl bush bean:
Another from Russ Crow. These plants were in my north bed, in shade, yet still produced a moderate crop. These were separated from other beans by still more jerusalem artichokes.
Inkosi Uhmlaba cowpea:
Got this in a trade from @baymule I think. She grew it for Russ in the 2014 Easy Bean Network. Plants were in too much shade to get vigorous, but did finally produce a few pods. I still have a lot of seed to play with and will try them in a sunnier spot in a future year.
Red Speckled mix lima:
These are a variety offered by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and were very interesting. They were sold as pole, but grew mostly as a semi-vining bush. Seed color did not match the original seed, but there is good reason. These were sold as potentially mixed-up seed that was sold to them by mistake from a vendor. I want to see if my F3 looks more or less like the Jackson Wonder these were originally supposed to be. I only had room for a couple of them, but will grow more in 2016 if I can give them sufficient space. These were my earliest lima and set seed all season. The taste was unremarkable, but the seeds were picked immature then allowed to dry.
Striped Hull Greasy Cutshort pole bean:
I didn't actually eat any of these. The size of the pods was disappointing so I decided to multiply my seed instead. On the other hand these were planted in a bed shaded on the east by native cherries, on the south by my house, and to the west by a maple tree. The pods are attractive and seed set was excellent. They were growing in a mix of leaf compost, woodchips (2014) from a neighbor's tree, and the worst kind of unimproved VA clay. I can just about guarantee these will have no contamination from other bean varieties due to extreme isolation. Any takers?
Violets Multicolored Mix limas:
This is a very attractive and variable blend of limas. Plants grew very well, but didn't start setting pods until late. As they are growing 5 feet south of the Striped Hull beans poor sunlight may have been a factor. These vines set pods all up and down, hiding quite a few within 2 inches of the soil and I only found as dried out or moldy pods. Vastly multiplied my seed and I'm looking forward to eating these in 2016.
Comtesse De Chambord bush bean:
The weeds got most of them
, but I managed to save seed from a few pods. I have about the same amount of saved seed as leftover seed from Russ.Tohono O'odham cowpea:
These were shoehorned in between the native cherries and the limas. Vines were rampant and seed set late, but was productive despite it. I got 1 cup of seed from the few I planted. These will get a better spot in 2016 or 2017 to grow out. These are hard to get out of the pod unless it is completely dry.
Blue Goose cowpea:
Despite only planting a few plants between the Violet mix limas and a line of young catnip plants (perhaps I overplanted this year), these did well and produced constantly all summer. With a longer row I should have enough to eat heartily from. Waiting on taste test. These needed a trellis of some kind.
Black Crowder cowpea:
I planted about 8 seeds into unimproved soil next to my deck. They received shade from the house in the mid afternoon and in the morning from an ash tree to the east that is due to be removed this winter. Despite this they did well and grew up about 9-10 feet. Pod set at all levels of the vines, but was sparse. I harvested a couple of cups of seed, but over 1 cup was immature or damaged (these were cooked up this morning and tasted good enough to grow again). These make a very dark and aromatically pleasing potlicker.
Rattlesnake pole bean:
Very tasty, attractive and productive, despite also being planted right into the clay next to the Black Crowder cowpeas. I harvested a moderate amount almost every other day all summer and will definitely be growing these again, though they may get a better site. Vines also gave me a good amount of seed.
King of the Garden Lima:
A toothsome delight. The packet these came in had about 25 seeds total and I lost half of them to the washer and failure to germinate. I had these in 2 spots (growing up the Jerusalem artichokes behind the basement door and in the main veggie garden {14x24}).The handful on the artichokes took a long time to grow and produced few seeds. The neighbor's oak provided excessive shade and 3 branches need cutting back if I can get his permission. The ones in the garden grew rampantly, but seed didn't begin setting until late in the season, perhaps due to flooding. I like the size and flavor and hope to grow a larger row in 2016.
Brown Crowder cowpea:
These descend from seeds collected in grandmother's raspberry patch. She wasn't much interested in them and I'm not sure why we bought the seeds in the first place so they just limped along self sewing from year to year. I planted them in 2014 in two places and had a bumper crop. Despite pulling out hundreds of self-sewn seedlings I still got a yield of 1-2 pounds. This one can sprawl or climb with equal satisfaction. No idea which catalogue the seed came from or the true name. Robust flavor and dependable growth in the face of drought and flood. This is a dependable cowpea.
"Uncle Chan" longbean:
These make white pods that are mottled with black streaks and dots. Seed are half to 3/4 black and white. One plant yielded seed with a variety of colors in a wedge between the black and white, indicating possible genetic contamination from my source. Pods can get a decent length and when overmature are bigger around that an adult thumb. I'm not thrilled with the flavor of young pods, but they are attractive. Seeds are large for a longbean, really cowpea sized. I may try this again in future.
Galante longbean:
The twine trellis collapsed some time in August, but before that this produced a steady stream of meaty pods. Good quantity of seed too despite my heavy picking. This is a new favorite.
Ozark Razorback cowpea:
This was a strong grower and produced a lot of seeds. Not thrilled with pod size, but the description said they were short. Flavor more than made up for size for me. Flooding didn't faze these, but the dry spell that followed did. I might make more effort to water them in 2016. Vines kept spreading into the main garden and it could benefit from a tall trellis.
Headrick Greasy Cutshort pole bean:
This is a dependable producer and had decent flavor. I collected lots of seed later in the season. These are edible for a long time after the bean forms in the pod. I plan to grow them again.
Liana longbean:
I'm not impressed with the flavor or the pod texture. Pod set was reliable, but I may not grow these again.
Pencil Pod bush bean:
Again, not enthused with the flavor, but I'll give it another try in 2017.
Black Valentine bush bean:
I liked the flavor, but didn't put them in a good spot. Not sure if I have room for 2016, but will grow again by 2017.
Bountiful bush/half runner:
These grew rampantly and had a staggering pod set. Not sure if I like them or not. A maybe for 2017.
Sierra Madre longbean:
I grew these in 2006/2007 then lost the seed. Pods need to be kept dry as they mature and my family loved them so we mostly failed to save seeds. Here at MY house it's just me so I held back some pods for seed. Despite the rainy year I got a decent return and hope to grow them again next year.
Woods Mountain Crazy Bean bush:
WOW! I LOVE THIS BEAN AND PLAN TO GROW IT EVERY YEAR FROM NOW ON! Pod set, flavor, tenderness even when nearly mature, an the pod coloration too. I have some seed, but probably not enough to share with many people.
Jim Su longbean:
My old family standby, a vigorous grower in Virginia with good pod set an flavor. But compared to some of the new varieties I have had these aren't very special. :/ I plan to grow some each year, but these are no longer my standby.
Piet Special pole bean:
Three seeds grew rampant vines that yielded an impressive several pounds of seed in enormous pods. This was the first bean to mature in my garden this year, perhaps because they were transplants. Not sure of the flavor, but I hope to taste them in 2016.
Solwezi pole bean:
This was also a transplant and it set flowers early, but pod set was very late. Nevertheless I got a lot of seed from the three plants and hope to taste this variety in 2016.
Bush Blue Lake:
These were moderately productive and like most of the "bush" beans I grew were semi vining. I wasn't too pleased with the flavor, but mom grew some and loved them so I gave her my seed yield.
Royal Burgundy:
This bush variety has always been something I or my grandmother grew, but my seed stock was low so I just grew out for seeds. Yes, I could have bought more, but why buy when I could grow my own.
Purple Trionfo Violetto:
Again, we always grew a pole and a bush purple pod bean, but I only had 8 seeds left so I decided to just grow for seeds. The few beans I snuck tasted like I remembered, ensuring their place in my garden.
no-name hyacinth bean:
An unscrupulous eBay seller from Shanghai (name on request only)sold these as catjang, and to be fair that was on the package from the seed company. After I told them about the mixup they apologized and went on selling the same incorrect seeds as before. The pods begin as a faint purple, then go green, then bone white. Flowers are profuse on huge panicles and can be controlled by letting all the pods set (for no flowers) or picking the mature pods (for rebloom). I found the floral aroma nauseating even though the plants were attractive. This was a heavy yielder for the 3 seeds in the packet that grew. Not sure what to do with it. Any takers?
Buckskin Girl bush bean:
Another from Russ Crow. These plants were in my north bed, in shade, yet still produced a moderate crop. These were separated from other beans by still more jerusalem artichokes.
Inkosi Uhmlaba cowpea:
Got this in a trade from @baymule I think. She grew it for Russ in the 2014 Easy Bean Network. Plants were in too much shade to get vigorous, but did finally produce a few pods. I still have a lot of seed to play with and will try them in a sunnier spot in a future year.
Red Speckled mix lima:
These are a variety offered by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and were very interesting. They were sold as pole, but grew mostly as a semi-vining bush. Seed color did not match the original seed, but there is good reason. These were sold as potentially mixed-up seed that was sold to them by mistake from a vendor. I want to see if my F3 looks more or less like the Jackson Wonder these were originally supposed to be. I only had room for a couple of them, but will grow more in 2016 if I can give them sufficient space. These were my earliest lima and set seed all season. The taste was unremarkable, but the seeds were picked immature then allowed to dry.
