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I love the hat @Blue-Jay !! 💙 Sorry to hear about your bush beans. Not the best bean season for anybody it seems.

I didn't know about it either, until I talked with this seed saver who dabbles in breeding , which includes sunflowers. It looks like this inbreeding depression is recognized in the seed saving texts since I looked it up, so they recommend 20-50 plants and mention loss of vigor and so forth if...

Yikes is it cold. 🥶 With a turtleneck and a hoodie I'm still cold out there, it was 13C/55F today. Miserable. But it's going to warm up again. Looks like lots of places are having a cold spell too. Can't wait for this to be over!!!! I admit though, it's a nice break from watering! 🤣 Some beans...

Off the top of my head, let's see, Fat Man, Nickell, Juanita Smith, Granny, Ruth Bible, Ranger, Rattlesnake, Old Joe Clark, State 1/2 Runner (this year, so early!) Mountaineer, Frank Barnett, Red Eye Greasy (this years bean) is quite early too. Hastings is another good one. There's probably...

This is good to know @Decoy1, the next time I plant it I'll find a sunnier location, I didn't realize it was a later maturing variety. I'm even more glad now that it's getting some developed pods considering that it's in a slightly shaded spot. Some varieties from Italy, Portugal and Spain are...

I doubt they were cross pollinated ducks, an avid pea seed saver I know tells me it really is not that common for crosses to happen in even very large pea patches. And I've never seen it myself. Not impossible I guess though. It's possible the plants were dry as the peas were maturing, so the...

Ducks, why are you disappointed that the peas aren't smooth?

I made some bruschetta breads tonight with the Irish Liqueur tomatoes, Katya and Supergonets, a really nice Russian tomato. Oh my gosh - they were soooo delicious. Just perfect meatiness and sweetness in there with the garlic and basil and olive oil. Might be one of my favorite ways to eat...

The delicate 'Marie-Louise' bean. I love the name, and I love the color of the pods, reminds me a little of peaches. Portuguese bean 'Bragançano', sizing up to be a very nice variety! It's in a spot that gets some afternoon shade, which I think is slowing it a little. But the pods go from...

Tomato season is here in full swing. 💃 My 'earlies' this year didn't turn out as early as my 'earlies' last year, but then again, many of this years trials turned out to be larger tomatoes. 2024 was lots of cocktail sized varieties, so it makes sense they were quicker to mature. Lots of...

'Mazeppa' was one of the first network beans I ever grew. 🤎 I'm regrowing it this year because I've always wanted to increase the amount of seed I have in storage, having only grown a small number of plants back in 2021. It really is such a lovely bean, so delicate and pretty. Found the first...

Oooh! That actually sounds really good! 😋

Yes, so true. This species has a lot of advantages, the only catch I think is that the berries seem to be missing the sourness that Aunt Molly's have when slightly underripe. There is just sweetness and not a lot of tang, so I admittedly prefer slightly more the Aunt Molly's flavor. Dead ripe...

Another new to me bean, 'Largo Verde A Cornetto'. It was sent to me from Germany, and I never did get to researching what the name means. The pods are really large, and so far I quite like it. It's Italian I believe.

No, you can tell by the husk color how mature it is. And I'd say these tend to mature really fast, way faster than the other species. Probably 85% - 90% of what is out there is dead ripe right now, just because they tend to ripen en masse it seems.

Thanks @flowerbug , yes I see that daily in spring on the bush trails we walk, the torn apart stumps and rotting trees when they're after bugs. They don't seem to do that as much mid summer and fall, not here anyway. The blueberry crop this year was huge so I'm sure was a help to them. Ever...

Physalis minima. 🕺 My goodness the plants produce by the hundreds! Smaller than the average ground cherry, a bit sweeter with purple speckles. A nice perk is the fruits don't fall. It's a wonder that this type of ground cherry is so uncommon. Prettier, sweeter, more productive. I do miss the...

This is a bean that has turned out to be quite special - 'Kärntner Butter'. Not only has the yield been really good, but it's a very early variety. The pods are top to bottom on the vines. I was really shocked today to find, by accident really, some fully dried pods. So dry they may have...

OK good to know @Blue-Jay, I will double check with you when the time comes. Off the top of my head I know that the Olga's Yugoslavian, Slavonski Zeleni, Blue & White of Bernardo, Kruger's Speckled, Dule, Lambada, Volga German Siberian, Botosani Cyclops, Fagiola Ruviotti are all 2024 network...

Yes, after that huge row got raided I went and picked the rest of the pea varieties that were far enough along. Tricky to tell but I think I got them late enough in maturity, and the really green ones I had to leave behind and wait. There was only a little chipmunk raiding after that and now...