Recent content by P Suckling

Enjoy a really fab holiday in Florida, Russ.

Always sad when the summer veg are finished, but an extra 3 weeks is not to be sneezed at. I bet you made good use of it. I feel a bit cheated by our unusually early frost, but apart from one handpollinated squash that did not make it, everything else was still safely gathered in in time...

Well the big harvest for us is not summer, but early autumn. And this is so busy, it can get overwhelming at times. But then when we can take one packet after another out of the freezer and one jar after another from the pantry over the winter months, it was definitely all worth it. Also the...

Almost all of mine are podded too. An untimely early frost forced taking in all remaining mature pods for seeds to dry fully indoors. And those that were not yet at that stage, went to the kitchen. Advice I got from Decoy (originally Russ) was this - if in dire need for seeds, pull up and...

I believe it is called 'inverse' but reversal is perfectly understandable and it is caused by the way the bean seedcoat is formed, which is in layers. A seedsaving friend asked OSU years ago on my behalf, when I first discovered this with a cranberry type of bean. If the seedcoat starts to...

I would agree, phaseolus vulgaris, not another species of beans.

Then there are really no drawbacks here. Sounds and looks good.

This is attractive indeed with the speckles. And the not dropping trait is a bonus, but do you have to open each husk to see whether the fruit is ripe with this one?

No confusion at all, thank you for the extra info Decoy. Appreciated.

@heirloomgal , here is some information about the origin of Bela Putersnica. https://www.bohnen-atlas.de/drucken/2022-bela-putersnica

Flowerbug, thank you for this article. Never knew that we have to thank Mr Lobitz for the Golden Sweet pea, which I have used in my own pea crosses to good effect. And I have just podded the lovely Red Swan beans here (to bring the post back to the bean topic with a jolt). Very interesting read!

You are welcome. They are the identical strain to those from HSL. Both originated from Mr Yeoman's Gardening Guild, and he had them from the USA, from Brook Elliott's Appalachian Heirloom Conservancy. All of Mr Yeoman's special varieties have found a home at HSL after his passing. Just hope...

I should have added that Rose is one of those beans that has a slighty higher tendency to cross than most. Maybe bag a couple of flower trusses from white flowering plants for guaranteed pure seeds for yourself. Then next time you don't have to mark which plants are which and can start with...

White, according to my notes. https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/seeds/climbing-french-bean-rose-bean

And you have 5 seeds in a pod, is this usual for you or an exception? Mine tend to have 4 only by and large. There must be something that makes your garden particularly suited to them. I harvested pods at this stage in early October, not in mid August. The seeds look identical.