2021 Little Easy Bean Network - Bean Lovers Come Discover Something New !

[Artorius]

@Zeedman
Thanks for the recipe. There is no tradition of eating beans in this form in Poland. We don't even have a name for it, also for greasy and cut-short beans Maybe I'll try it next year.

 

[flowerbug]

@Zeedman
Thanks for the recipe. There is no tradition of eating beans in this form in Poland. We don't even have a name for it, also for greasy and cut-short beans Maybe I'll try it next year.

the beginning of a new foodie tradition in Poland would be something pretty exciting IMO in that you would be referenced in the future as a visionary of culinary delights. haha!

i'm still very happy that Huey made it over to you and that it grew well.

 

[jbosmith]

The other runner bean I grew this year, "Insuk's Wang Kong", did much worse.

The only runner I have multi-year experience is a selection of Insuk's that was nearly all black. They were great when they did well but they were super unpredictable from year to year and I eventually stopped growing them. I kind of assumed that it was just because I was trying to grow runner beans in an area that doesn't usually grow them but maybe it's the variety?

 

[flowerbug]

The only runner I have multi-year experience is a selection of Insuk's that was nearly all black. They were great when they did well but they were super unpredictable from year to year and I eventually stopped growing them. I kind of assumed that it was just because I was trying to grow runner beans in an area that doesn't usually grow them but maybe it's the variety?

the best results i had in the past was from plants started in gallon pots that were then later transplanted. i don't have enough room here to start things so those starts were given to me by the greenhouse guy.

 

[jbosmith]

the best results i had in the past was from plants started in gallon pots that were then later transplanted. i don't have enough room here to start things so those starts were given to me by the greenhouse guy.

I start most of my beans in 72 cell extra deep trays but they're in the garden as soon as their true leaves are visible and before the roots get to the bottom of the cell. Any more than that and my own experience is that they just sit for a while after transplant and that time negates most benefits. I've never tried anything as large as a gallon pot though.

I do this in two rounds for my two growing climates so there usually aren't more than 4-5 trays going at any one time and they're generally just on the floor in a corner somewhere. They're not inside long enough for light to really matter.

For me, those few days have more to do with controlling germination temperature than anything else. One other side-benefit is that it's easy to spray a tray with kaolin clay before the true leaves appear, and having that on the stems seems to deter flea beetles for a little while.

 

[Zeedman]

The only runner I have multi-year experience is a selection of Insuk's that was nearly all black. They were great when they did well but they were super unpredictable from year to year and I eventually stopped growing them. I kind of assumed that it was just because I was trying to grow runner beans in an area that doesn't usually grow them but maybe it's the variety?

I've been growing "Insuk's Wang Kong" since the OS traded it to me & others in 2007. The first 3 grow outs were very successful, and until last year, I considered it to be very reliable. But my grow outs the last two years have been dismal... only 3 seeds last year from a 20-foot row (!!!) and just barely more than what was planted this year. In fairness, 4 of the last 5 summers have been abnormally wet (2 records broken), including 2020 & 2021. I've been growing runner beans for seed since 2005, with 100% success - until the last 2 years, when none of my runner beans have done well. I'm still unsure of the cause, although weather is the likely reason for this poor performance.

There has been a lot of incorrect source info posted about Insuk's in SSE & elsewhere. Gardenweb member Jim Wright was the original source; "Insuk" refers to his Korean wife's nickname, "Wang Kong" is "king bean" in Korean. His original strain contained white beans as well; but because I was able to eliminate those by selection in one generation, several of us who grew Insuk's believe that it was more of a mixture than a land race. Most of the white has since been eliminated, including by Jim himself. Others have selected for the all-black, with mostly favorable results. I've kept my strain as a balanced mixture of mostly-purple seed & black seeds. Like the OS, we eat them as shellies... but I've observed that the black seeds seem to be more flavorful.

There is a long-running thread on Insuk's here , with a lot of historical info from the first years of its distribution. Another thread, about my early search for methods of using runner beans, is here . (I was a newbie about cooking runner beans then, and it shows ). I'm still searching for the original thread posted by the OS, where he freely offered seed to anyone interested; I will post it here if I find it.

 

[jbosmith]

I've been growing "Insuk's Wang Kong" since the OS traded it to me & others in 2007. The first 3 grow outs were very successful, and until last year, I considered it to be very reliable. But my grow outs the last two years have been dismal... only 3 seeds last year from a 20-foot row (!!!) and just barely more than what was planted this year. In fairness, 4 of the last 5 summers have been abnormally wet (2 records broken), including 2020 & 2021. I've been growing runner beans for seed since 2005, with 100% success - until the last 2 years, when none of my runner beans have done well. I'm still unsure of the cause, although weather is the likely reason for this poor performance.

There has been a lot of incorrect source info posted about Insuk's in SSE & elsewhere. Gardenweb member Jim Wright was the original source; "Insuk" refers to his Korean wife's nickname, "Wang Kong" is "king bean" in Korean. His original strain contained white beans as well; but because I was able to eliminate those by selection in one generation, several of us who grew Insuk's believe that it was more of a mixture than a land race. Most of the white has since been eliminated, including by Jim himself. Others have selected for the all-black, with mostly favorable results. I've kept my strain as a balanced mixture of mostly-purple seed & black seeds. Like the OS, we eat them as shellies... but I've observed that the black seeds seem to be more flavorful.

There is a long-running thread on Insuk's here , with a lot of historical info from the first years of its distribution. Another thread, about my early search for methods of using runner beans, is here . (I was a newbie about cooking runner beans then, and it shows ). I'm still searching for the original thread posted by the OS, where he freely offered seed to anyone interested; I will post it here if I find it.

Thanks for the history! The stories behind varieties are always fun. I got mine from Dar Jones in Alabama and they were mostly black when I got them. I just kept planting the blackest of them for a few years because I wanted a giant black bean.

Have you grown Sicitialian Black Swamp / Dibramo beans? They're a P vulgaris, and a little late for this area, but they also make great large black shellies. They aren't the most productive bean for me but I suspect that's also climate related.

 

[heirloomgal]

I can send you Bird Egg #3 though I suspect @Zeedman could do it better. I have a handful from the original packet but wouldn't trust my growout to not be crossed. I also need to freeze those as they have bugs and they aren't perfectly dry...

Aww, thanks @jbosmith that's so kind of you.

 

[heirloomgal]

This year I was brought to my knees by Potawatomi Lima. I have not had such a large crop of limas yet. Plants grew on a new place that I carved out of the swamp, fairly moist all the time, but not wet and they were well sheltered from the wind. And most importantly, there were no moles there. Besides, all the beans grew well there. I will extend this area in the spring.
Other beans that I am very happy with are:
- pole: Snow Cap, Brown Lazy Wife, Slut and Kroatische Stange
- bush: Dapple Grey, Elektra, Smith River Super Speckle
- half-runner: Huey, Robert Hazelwood, Nimbus project

How productive was Kroatische Strange? Looks so pretty on bohnen atlas.

 

[heirloomgal]

Runner beans have higher soil fertility requirements than common beans.

I didn't know that! Maybe that 's part of why mine were so productive, it was brand new manured soil.