The 2014 Little Easy Bean Network - Get New Beans On The Cheap

[PhilaGardener]

Yes, those are all pretty nifty, @Hal ! Thanks for sharing those great pictures with us!

 

[journey11]

Your ground sure does look dry, @Hal . I hope you get some rain soon.

And your Painted Mountain corn looks so different from what I grew this past summer. It's much prettier. Amazing that it has tasseled at such a short stature and I think I counted 4 ears beginning on some of those! I got mine from Swallowtail Garden Seeds. The ears came out like what they had pictured, but I didn't have any red stalks or striped leaves. Perhaps I got a bad batch.

 

[897tgigvib]

Sorry gang, it was the internet service. Just got it working again this morning.

It still hasn't frosted on my garden, but the beans are all done for the year. That one struggling Grandma Rivera's Puerto Rican Lima remains alive, but it may not make it to spring.
I harvested some of the last still green pods of the Canellini Runner bean and am letting them dry indoors to get a few more seeds of those, even if some will go into the wrinkles emergency spare mix.

Gonna redo my berry patch here soon. Indian Summer Raspberry is coming out. Giving those away to someone who wants rampant growing low producing small red raspberries. Going to divide up the fall gold raspberries and increase those. Removing the black satin blackberry and putting the burbank white blackberry there.
Also removing the himalayan blackberry that are trying to conquer the world by thorn.
Cutting the boysenberry plants very low. Tayberry too.
Going to be much increasing the Loganberry by cuttings and transplanting of earlier cuttings that took.
Much reducing the burbank thornless blackberry which has over multiplied.

All this will mean there will be a few more square feet in the berry bed for beans.

I have so many varieties and segregations to grow in the 2015 garden I'm gonna have to break some grow rules!

Plants will be seeded close, and each variety will have a grow/climb cage. (for the still segregating varieties). As soon as each early producing plant yields about a dozen seeds, it'll be removed for the later producing plants to produce a dozen or so seeds.
At least, that's the plan.
Also I'll be second crop planting in some of the hotter areas of the garden.

So much to do to prepare!

 

[baymule]

Sounds berry delicious! You should have a fantastic berry patch next year!

 

[aftermidnight]

LOL Marshal, it's such a slippery slope, all these beans. Take me, it all started when I was just trying to find out what variety of the Italian pole bean I had been growing for over 40 years, I knew it had come to my neighborhood around 1910 or so. I did eventually find out the history on this particular bean but while on my quest I ended up with a crisper drawer in the fridge full of heirloom beans that were sent to me to do a comparison, none matched but it did something else, started my bean addiction. I have over 200 different varieties in my collection now so I bought a small freezer to store them in as I sure as heck can't grow them all out each year LOL. I can't seem to say that's enough, there's more coming my way in the mail right now. I think I need a keeper .

Annette

 

[journey11]

Sounds like you've got your priorities all worked out, @marshallsmyth . Certainly not too early to start planning for next year.

Those Indian Summer raspberries sound like they will be as easy to give away as free kittens. LOL

Any guess how many bean varieties you will be planting next year? I would have a hard time only keeping a small sample of each. I have a tendency to hoard seeds. I did go through all of my beans the other day and slimmed down the bags to a more reasonable count of not much more than 200 or so of most varieties, enough for my use and to liberally share as the opportunity arises. Some I did not have that many of, but others I had a sandwich bag nearly full. I ended up with about 4 pounds of dried beans that I am going to go ahead eat. I'll be making 12 bean soup this weekend and those Good Mother Stallard left me with enough to make a whole pot them alone.

 

[the1honeycomb]

I hope you got the last of the seeds I owed you,I really enjoyed growing them.hope to try some new ones next year!!

 

[Blue-Jay]

I hope you got the last of the seeds I owed you,I really enjoyed growing them.hope to try some new ones next year!!

Hi @1honeycomb,

The bean seed you grew came in the mail today. Thanks so much. These varieties will live on.

Everyone that has returned seed of this seasons growing is very welcome back next year to grow some new beans that they have not yet known.

A very big Merry Christmas To Everyone in the Little Easy Bean Network, to all on the Easy Garden Forum and to everyone that reads the postings.

 

[aftermidnight]

Hi everyone, just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Great New Year especially in the garden . Everything here has been put to bed until it's time to get growing again, lots of new to me beans to try...A bush Hyacinth Bean that is day length neutral, a couple of different varieties from the UK. I'll be growing more varieties then I ever have before in my small garden.
Cheeres,
Annette

 

[897tgigvib]

I'm working on getting the box of bean seeds packed for you Russ. It'll take me a few more days.