2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[flowerbug]

31 C / 87.8 F today, don't think the newly transplanted beans will like this! No P. vulgaris or P. coccineus plants are wilting though. Fava bean plants were melting like ice cream though, but once the shade from the neighbouring tree hit them they perked up. So hot.

today is supposed to be cooler and we've already had several rounds of rains with more looking to be heading our way. we've needed some good rains so this is ok with me even if it means i don't get anything done today.

 

[heirloomgal]

Network bean 'Vulkan' wins the prize for first bean to climb it's pole. I am really looking forward to growing this one in particular, just something about it. I do like the pretty colours & the name, but we have watched several vintage episodes of The Next Generation in the last year, so maybe I'm being subconsciously influenced.

We had a nice moderate, warm rain last night at 2 a.m., just what the seeds and transplants needed. Was nice to be relieved of watering duty for today, had so many other things to do. Thank heavens temperatures are going to level off soon. What a wonky year for weather - all extremes.

 

[flowerbug]

we just had a few sprinkles, not sure we'll get more today or not. i'll wait and see because it would be better for the plants to have rain instead of well water, plus like you say it is nice to not have to water.

definitely cooler out there. brr! hopefully none of the warm weather plants will be too stressed by this much of a change in temperature. i don't think we go below 7.2C (45F) tomorrow night so that should be ok. the water temperature coming out of the well is pretty cold too so while that is nice for cooling things off in the hotter summer it still can be a bit of a shock to plants if i have to water deeply.

 

[Boilergardener]

Has anyone been having seedcorn maggot issues this year? (Little worms burrowing i to seedlings and seeds) I had some last year and have found some again this year. I spread the Sevin prills before i planted and i still have them chewing on the bean seedlings. Does anyone have a trick to get them? I dont want to spray with insecticides but i may be forced to. They come in from flies that lay eggs and wont transfer from seed to seed to my knowledge.

 

[heirloomgal]

Has anyone been having seedcorn maggot issues this year? (Little worms burrowing i to seedlings and seeds) I had some last year and have found some again this year. I spread the Sevin prills before i planted and i still have them chewing on the bean seedlings. Does anyone have a trick to get them? I dont want to spray with insecticides but i may be forced to. They come in from flies that lay eggs and wont transfer from seed to seed to my knowledge.

Yes, I've seen those this year @Boilergardener . They killed every lupini bean plant I had; the little maggots were eating away at the roots and stems under the ground. Luckily I have not seen them on any P. vulgaris bean transplants, though I found one in the head of a cotyledon in an emerging seedling in a starter pot. I've read that they are more active in cool moist weather. Heat and dryness damper their efforts to lay eggs in the soil I think. What I've done for prevention since I saw them is to put diatomeceous earth powder in a mustard type bottle and distribute some around the stems where they touch the soil. So far it's worked, though it was time consuming (so many plants this year) and fairly costly. But I think with these critters an ounce of prevention is worth more than a cure. I also put a thin layer of diatomeceous powder on the bare soil over the few rows of seeds I've planted in the ground. I doubt they'll lay eggs on that stuff. I think manure attracts them as well.

No they don't transfer to the seeds, they just kill the emerging seedlings.

 

[flowerbug]

only thing i've seen so far are a few cutworm damaged bean plants. chipmunks running around so that's going to be a challenge if i plant any soybeans. i may not plant those this season since i've refreshed my seed supply well enough for now.

of the four Fort Portal Jade seeds i planted i'm down to two healthy survivors and one struggling plant that went yellow for some reason. i did poke some other seeds into those pots so that i'm not wasting my effforts. the temperatures look moderate for the next week once we get past tonight where it gets down into the middle 40sF. so far no chipmunks have been bothering the potted beans at all. which is nice because in the past i've had them raiding those pots to find the seeds of some beans.

 

[Boilergardener]

Yes, I've seen those this year @Boilergardener . They killed every lupini bean plant I had; the little maggots were eating away at the roots and stems under the ground. Luckily I have not seen them on any P. vulgaris bean transplants, though I found one in the head of a cotyledon in an emerging seedling in a starter pot. I've read that they are more active in cool moist weather. Heat and dryness damper their efforts to lay eggs in the soil I think. What I've done for prevention since I saw them is to put diatomeceous earth powder in a mustard type bottle and distribute some around the stems where they touch the soil. So far it's worked, though it was time consuming (so many plants this year) and fairly costly. But I think with these critters an ounce of prevention is worth more than a cure. I also put a thin layer of diatomeceous powder on the bare soil over the few rows of seeds I've planted in the ground. I doubt they'll lay eggs on that stuff. I think manure attracts them as well.

No they don't transfer to the seeds, they just kill the emerging seedlings.

Good ideas. I was hoping the sevin prills would work, its like the kind used for grubs, i must not have spread it on thick enough or seedcorn maggots are not on the label for it. They have eaten a little bit of almost every bean variety ive planted, its almost like they pick favorite varieties which seems odd. but they really hammered the frost network bean which is a shame. I planted the last seed i had of that 2 days ago i hope it will be up in 5 days. I spread the area and seed hole with sevin dust so hoping that works for this last seed.

 

[Boilergardener]

only thing i've seen so far are a few cutworm damaged bean plants. chipmunks running around so that's going to be a challenge if i plant any soybeans. i may not plant those this season since i've refreshed my seed supply well enough for now.

of the four Fort Portal Jade seeds i planted i'm down to two healthy survivors and one struggling plant that went yellow for some reason. i did poke some other seeds into those pots so that i'm not wasting my effforts. the temperatures look moderate for the next week once we get past tonight where it gets down into the middle 40sF. so far no chipmunks have been bothering the potted beans at all. which is nice because in the past i've had them raiding those pots to find the seeds of some beans.

I havent seen a cutworm yet which is good!

 

[heirloomgal]

Finally got a bit of sun today, so I was able to take a few pictures. Always such fun when the beans first start climbing. Growing mostly poles and semi-runners this year, with about a dozen bush varieties. Each growth type has it's own bed or garden to grow in.

My 'Vulkan' image didn't download properly for some reason so I'll post one of the the Muffet beans, which is starting to twirl. A few seeds are in the ground as well which haven't sprouted yet.

Got the Vulkan image!

The bean forest.

I put in both transplants and seeds for the Blue Speckled Tepary beans and I'm surprised so many of the seeds emerged. It got quite hot and then quite cold for awhile and the seeds had already been planted, there wasn't much I could do. One thing I like about some wilder type plants is that the seed will 'wait' until an opportune time to sprout. It's like they can sense the weather. lol I'm curious to see how these will do. Cutest little mini seeds. The leaves are quite different.

The bush bean bed, Sycamore Mascara, Ugandan Bhimba, Migliorucci, Schwarze Dalmatin, Bis, Buckskin Girl, Victoria Brown Eyes, White Cloud Cannellini, Gaucho, Rose Creek...can't recall the others. A few went in as seeds. Here's a wild discovery - a few of the bush beans that weren't network beans I took a chance with - like Buckskin Girl. I had more than one plant in a pot and I didn't want to behead the extras in there, so I actually pulled the bean plants apart. Apparently that is a real no-no in the bean-a-verse. But howdy, they all transplanted just fine and are growing well.

Reach for the sky little beanies!

 

[capsicumguy]

@Bluejay77 I got a chance to spend some time swooning over the bean packets you sent this evening, and WOW, these beans are just GORGEOUS! I had gotten some wonderful beans from you last year too, but these ones, these are just so crazy beautiful. It truly amazes me how many astoundingly exquisite beans you have in your collection. The pictures on your website are very, very nice but even they don't convey how magical these niblets are compared to when you hold them in your hand, up close and in the flesh. It's like the greatest secret - ever - in the vegetable kingdom - how many jaw dropping beans are out there and most totally unknown!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to know beans so wonderful as these!

Just catching up on what turned out to be almost two months of messages I haven't read yet, whoops. This message caught my eye and I couldn't agree more. I expected to enjoy the new varieties I got but it went beyond that -- 'joy' wouldn't be an overstatement. I hear what you're saying @heirloomgal about the difference when you see them in person.

I work as a writer for a software company, and we're kinda close to the weird wild world of crypto (as in cryptocurrency). So I get to watch the crazy hijinks that the crypto folks are up to; the most recent craze of the past year has been 'NFTs' -- 'non-fungible tokens'. Translated into human, they're digital collectibles -- one-of-a-kind pictures and other things that you can 'buy' ownership of. I guess it's the prestige or something.

Anyhow, I just find it baffling that someone would drop $180,000 on a JPEG of an ape wearing a cowboy hat. It feels like such a small game, when you can get these little marvels for free, stick them in the ground, and get hundreds of one-of-a-kind permutations a couple months later. And the prodigal generosity too -- such a gift of artistry in the seed coat, tiny brushstrokes painted by mutations in the DNA, and their destiny is just a batch of burritos.

Here are some photos of most of the varieties I'm growing this year.

Clockwise from top:

1. Mbombo Green (network)
2. Dean Family Greasy Cutshort (network)
3. Blue Jay (freebie)
4. Fort Portal Jade (freebie)
5. Bird Egg Blue (freebie)
6. Blue Speckled Tepary (network)
7. Cranberry Flieder (network)
8. Centre: Nona Agnes (network)

1. Bush orca (from a friend)
2. Unknown pole dry/snap, gonna call it 'Il Vecchio Scontroso' after a grumpy old Italian gardener that my friend got it from
3. Nez Perce (Salt Spring Seeds)
4. Chester Skunk (Resilient Seeds)
5. Turkey Craw (from a friend)
6. Unknown brown bush kidney-style (from a friend)
7. Centre: Rockwell (Resilient Seeds)

Selections from Bantu (Salt Spring Seeds), sorted by my lovely children and me

(Not pictured: Gigantes, Sadie's Horse (both runner beans), Rattlesnake, Good Mother Stallard, Ojo de Cabra, True Cranberry, Tiger Eye, Ken Early, and a short-season peanut! And yes, I am seeking treatment for my addiction, thank you for asking.)

Also @heirloomgal that's pretty surprising weather -- snow on April 10th, 35°C a few days ago! West of you, here in BC, it's been cool and rainy, which is awfully odd for dryland interior. Not going to complain after the June heat wave and July/August fires last year; it feels so alive this year by comparison.