2025 Little Easy Bean Network - Growers Of The Future Will Be Glad We Saved

[heirloomgal]

That is very similar to the random plant sickness I’ve been experiencing. I’m thinking some varieties are particularly prone to it. I had it quite big-time last year with Ruth Bible and this year, from a different source of seeds, I’m experiencing it again. And yet other growers seem to experience Ruth Bible as particularly robust.

Agreed, variety seems to play a central role. Probably some mysterious combination of variety and how it reacts with heat or lack thereof, soil composition, mineral presence, etc. Beans are pretty sensitive to micronutrients the agronomists tell me, so that may be a factor too. Then the individual genetics in each seed too.

 

[ruralmamma]

First blooms on two varieties of bush beans this morning: Ukrainian Comrades and Cold Creek. Railroad has buds and I'm sure it will be blooming by the end of the week. We've been getting a bit of rain and varieties that were just over the top of my head have shot up at least another foot.

 

[flowerbug]

today while weeding there was this bean plant growing that was not likely to do much as it was overgrown by several feet of beans around it. i removed it and noticed that it had a good 6+ inches of white blanched stem which means it had managed to sprout and come up through that much garden soil (somewhat heavy but not as bad as our worst gardens).

even after all these years plants can still surprise me.

 

[heirloomgal]

Pole beans have hit the point where the root systems are well established, and now the upper bodies are ready to take over the world. Glorious time of year. Let the show begin.

Life in the garden is full of ups and downs. Thank goodness squats are ultimately very good for us.

 

[heirloomgal]

today while weeding there was this bean plant growing that was not likely to do much as it was overgrown by several feet of beans around it. i removed it and noticed that it had a good 6+ inches of white blanched stem which means it had managed to sprout and come up through that much garden soil (somewhat heavy but not as bad as our worst gardens).

even after all these years plants can still surprise me.

An interesting experiment would be to see how far down you can go with a bean seed. I've done it with potatoes. I read that the deeper you go the more potatoes you get, so I went 3+ feet, and hilled a little bit. Yup, that made for lots of potatoes. Too many actually, lol.

 

[ruralmamma]

Last evening I went out with a Sharpie and refreshed the fading tags. Actually the tags that had faded the most I used a different brand of permanent marker on, but the Sharpie was fading too. I ended up not labeling one because the name was too far gone even though I was pretty confident of which variety it was. Checked my notes and confirmed the variety before going to the garden this morning. Also wrote the varieties on the front and back of the tag in hopes that one side will remain legible. Mental note for next year: bigger tags and a label maker.

 

[ruralmamma]

Plus, being outside all alone in the middle of the night with only a flashlight, I admit, it freaked me out a little. That's a lot of bush back there, creaking trees, snapping twigs, 'mystery noises' and the bush extends back there for kilometers.

I do good until I hear the coyotes howl and then I suddenly remember that I can't run as fast as I could a year ago.

 

[heirloomgal]

@ruralmamma Honest to goodness, now that I have a label maker I don't know how I ever lived without it. SO many issues for me with sharpie written tags, having to redo them mid season, cleaning them etc etc I feel like I tried it all to make the labeling of plants economical and also efficient, never worked until I got the labeler.

 

[heirloomgal]

Well @Blue-Jay I can confirm at this point that the network bean Fagiolo Ruviotti I'm growing for you is not a pole, but a bush. I thought last year maybe the vines were struggling because they never grew tall. But this year they look good and are staying as bushes. I have two separate plantings of them (2 poles each with 3 beans planted around them), most of the plants are making little beans. I guess they could surprise me and start climbing, but at this time in July I don't think it's likely.

 

[heirloomgal]

Network bean 'Barry Island' not only was the first to climb, but continues to blow all the other beans away in terms of height. It's probably over 6 feet already! Funnily enough the next height champion is 'Ryder's Top O' the Pole'! Ha! I thought it would be 'Vitalis' because that one was quick to get going on, but it got overtaken by RTotP.

Despite my significant struggles and losses I still have managed to keep a marigold between each of the pole bean varieties. I did have to replace some, but nonetheless the spots are full. Even the WAY tiny Gem marigolds I started from seed and were barely an inch tall when I put them in are starting to bloom and bush out. That's a shocker. They were far too tiny, I'm truly amazed they caught up.

Network 'Olga's Yugoslavian' is doing well in the front yard, along with 'Mazeppa' and 'Babcia Aniela'.

'Fagioli Ruviotti', the bush bean! lol

Pretty flowers on the semi-runner bean 'Old Joe Clark'. There is a prominent pink tone to the stems, which sweetly matches with the pink/coral/yellow/white blooms. One of the prettiest bean flowers I think I've seen.

I'm growing 2 bush beans that stand out somewhat this year, the growth habits are so compact and tidy, almost cute I'd say. 'Stanley' and 'Elektra'.

Network bean 'Slavonski Zeleni' update on it's growth (right). I don't know what it was with this bean earlier in the season, but it really didn't look great. And it looked terrible last year. However, as the season goes on it looks increasingly better. Leads me to believe that beans experience stress that can look like mosaic, but it isn't that.