2023 Little Easy Bean Network - Beans Beyond The Colors Of A Rainbow

[heirloomgal]

It finally happened. A hard frost, white ground, frozen puddles. The good news is ALL the bean pods are dried, shelled, and the seeds tucked away to dry further! I finally have my living room and dining room back! I celebrated with a Victory Vaccuming. I can't believe I'm actually going to say it but....it's nice to have a little break from the beanzzz.

 

[Neen5MI]

Greetings, bean growers! I'm in mid-Michigan, and looking forward to next season already.

I wonder if anyone has experience with a bean called Hana Mame, or Flower Bean. My temporary housemate is Japanese, and describes these very large pole beans (1-2 inches wide), eaten as a sweet dessert after cooking with sugar. They are grown at elevation in Japan, because they require somewhat cool growing conditions. I've ordered seed from a company in the US that emphasizes Japanese varieties (Kitazawa). It's a highly sought after delicacy in Japan. I was surprised to have difficulty finding a seed source. Phaseolus vulgaris, also known as ingenmame, or Giant Runner Bean.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Welcome @Neen5MI !

Nice to have you joing us. I do not know anything about Japanes phaseolus beans. There are other people here that might. I take an interest in mostly American heirloom, old American commercial beans, European beans and outcross beans.

I don't know where in lower Michigan you live but the last Saturday in February there is a nice seed swap in Midland, Michigan you might enjoy.

 

[Zeedman]

Greetings, bean growers! I'm in mid-Michigan, and looking forward to next season already.

I wonder if anyone has experience with a bean called Hana Mame, or Flower Bean. My temporary housemate is Japanese, and describes these very large pole beans (1-2 inches wide), eaten as a sweet dessert after cooking with sugar. They are grown at elevation in Japan, because they require somewhat cool growing conditions. I've ordered seed from a company in the US that emphasizes Japanese varieties (Kitazawa). It's a highly sought after delicacy in Japan. I was surprised to have difficulty finding a seed source. Phaseolus vulgaris, also known as ingenmame, or Giant Runner Bean.

I wonder if perhaps you are looking for Shirohana Mame? That is a large white-seeded runner bean, Phaseolus coccineus. That species prefers cool conditions, as described in your post. As you no doubt already know, Kitazawa is currently sold out. There are quite a few comparable large-seeded white runner beans; I currently grow two of those, "Gigandes" and "Piekny Jas". "Royal Corona", "Bianco de Spagna" and "Bond's Orcas Lima" are also similar. If you are unable to obtain "Shirohana Mame", I would be happy to send you seed for one of mine.

Runner bean "Gigandes", shelly stage

Runner bean "Piekny Jas"

P.S. I would be very interested in hearing about the Japanese recipe for these beans, if your housemate knows it. It would probably be useful for other large-seeded beans as well. Right now I have a bucket of another runner bean, "Tarahumara Tekomari, waiting to be shelled... I'd love to try something new with those.

Runner bean "Tarahumara Tekomari" shellies (from a previous year)

 

[Neen5MI]

I wonder if perhaps you are looking for Shirohana Mame? That is a large white-seeded runner bean, Phaseolus coccineus. That species prefers cool conditions, as described in your post. As you no doubt already know, Kitazawa is currently sold out. There are quite a few comparable large-seeded white runner beans; I currently grow two of those, "Gigandes" and "Piekny Jas". "Royal Corona", "Bianco de Spagna" and "Bond's Orcas Lima" are also similar. If you are unable to obtain "Shirohana Mame", I would be happy to send you seed for one of mine.
View attachment 61654
Runner bean "Gigandes", shelly stage

View attachment 61655
Runner bean "Piekny Jas"

P.S. I would be very interested in hearing about the Japanese recipe for these beans, if your housemate knows it. It would probably be useful for other large-seeded beans as well. Right now I have a bucket of another runner bean, "Tarahumara Tekomari, waiting to be shelled... I'd love to try something new with those.
View attachment 61656
Runner bean "Tarahumara Tekomari" shellies (from a previous year)

You are very generous. I ordered a white variety through Amazon, from a source called Caribbean Garden. The Kitazawa seed I have on order is called Akahana Mame, and I'm hoping it's the same as Hana Mame. The description of use is the same as my housemate reports. The recipe is simple and straight forward; boil with sugar. Eat. 1 or 2 beans prepared this way is considered a serving.

Nobuko, my housemate, and I talk food a lot! Most of the bean topics (and there are many) involve soybeans. Adzuki beans, in the form of a sweet paste is also very common. It seems beans are included in every meal and snack in Japan. No wonder their life expectancy is so far ahead of the US. The discussion will continue.

 

[heirloomgal]

I’m feeling refreshed after a small leguminous furlough. Was inspired tonight to lurk around in the bean cupboard for my 'last of the last' shelled dried beans for 2023. I didn't get weights for any of the late, late ones. It's a love/loathe relationship with these - they really made me fret and sweat that they might not make it/ but they did and produced like beasts. Well, some of them.

I’ll start with the ones which made me feel slightly sweaty, and only medium level woebegone. I forgive them now though.

Cape Sugar network bean
(sorry kitchen lighting is dim and photos are bad, but you can see the scale number at least) 6 plants

Liscek network bean 4 plants

Grandma Gina 8 plants (direct seeded and you can tell by this yield, though I don't think this is a super yielder for dry beans anyway, all the energy goes into pods)
Still had some splitting with this bean as you can see, but not near as bad as I had in 2021.

This is the heart palpitation giving group. Little more intense sense of maturity related despondency.

La Vigneronne 4 plants

Gray Mountain network bean 4 plants
For some reason a single pod had seeds that were more purple. But the pod had been dropped on the ground and left in the rain, and I found it a week later. That might have caused some weirdness.

Lavender Swirl network bean 2 plants
I'm still in shock that I went from thinking I'd get no beans at all, to every pod actually maturing and drying down.

These ones are the real little kingpin bean guerillas, they take the meaniing of *on tenterhooks* to the next level. THANK GOODNESS only one of them was a network bean! But, hey, they made it! I got nearly every single pod of all three of these varieties to dry down. The last few of Sastre I pitched since the seed were too small.

Hope springs eternal in the bean world!!

Facciosa 4 plants

Zugdidi Flat cake, network bean 4 plants

Sastre 4 plants

 

[flowerbug]

@heirloomgal you've gotten a ton more production from those plants than i ever see for most of mine, but that is a big difference because of better soil, better conditions and pole beans vs. bush beans. kudoes!

 

[Blue-Jay]

(sorry kitchen lighting is dim and photos are bad, but you can see the scale number at least) 6 plants

Your kitchen lighting isn't that bad. I think the beans show up very well. All are so beautiful.

I got the last of my home dried bean pods shelled yesterday in the morning. Got all the bean photos done yesterday also. Shows you how small of a bean year I had. My bean photoing usually takes me about 3 days to get done. Tomorrow I'll weigh everything just for the record. Will start showing my photos when I come back from the seed swap in Berea, Kentucky. The Berea swap is Saturday November 4th.

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal you've gotten a ton more production from those plants than i ever see for most of mine, but that is a big difference because of better soil, better conditions and pole beans vs. bush beans. kudoes!

Oops! I forgot to include the info that those were all pole beans! Motherbrain in full effect.

 

[heirloomgal]

Your kitchen lighting isn't that bad. I think the beans show up very well. All are so beautiful.

I got the last of my home dried bean pods shelled yesterday in the morning. Got all the bean photos done yesterday also. Shows you how small of a bean year I had. My bean photoing usually takes me about 3 days to get done. Tomorrow I'll weigh everything just for the record. Will start showing my photos when I come back from the seed swap in Berea, Kentucky. The Berea swap is Saturday November 4th.

Yay! Can't wait to see you beanz!

Do you always find fun new varieties at that swap @Bluejay77? I noticed last time I was pressing my face against *the window*, there were some new goodies on display that I've never seen before. Looks like you switch it up every year? Take some out and put some others in?

It might only be November, but when I start looking over there thinking of 2024 my vibe is all