2015 Little Easy Bean Network - Old Beans Should Never Die !

[Blue-Jay]

It is known that beans like the soil well drained. Even if it's a heavy clay soil they will grow in it well as long as the amount of moisture isn't too high all the time. I think our netowrk bean growers here need to keep this in mind. Especially those who live in areas that might be prone to lots of torenchial rains. It is probably going to be a good idea for those growers to grow these beans in raised beds. Unless of course you know you have a more sandy well drained soil.

My problems with the heavy rain this spring at planting time does not usually occur here, but our spring here was one of those fewer and farther between events that don't occur every single year.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Ridgerunner thanks so much for your efforts in growing these beans this year. You've gained a new piece of experience. Certainly do hope you will be back with this project next year.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's the first time it's happened here since I moved here in 2007. Normally it's too dry and I water a lot. The whole garden was looking great with the extra moisture until one specific wet spell. But yes, lesson learned for valuable crops. Supposedly this next summer will be wet here too.

I followed the usual precaution of planting in two separate spots, which helped with the Imbotyi Imswi. The first place I planted it they all died. A few survived in that second spot.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Hi @Ridgerunner,

Your seed return showed up yesterday. They looked really nice. As good as seed grown in a good growing season. Just beautiful. I already put them on page three of the network on my website. Does everyone still remember how to get there? Thank you again for the great job on them. Certainly hope you will be back again next year.

I had sent out a record 40 samples to be grown out this year. We lost 7 and fresh new seed of 7 have been returned so far. 26 are still out. Hope those dry seeds are maturing and coming along just great.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Glad they got there. I'm looking forward to next season. How can a gardener not be an optimist?

 

[Blue-Jay]

I thought perhaps @TheSeedObsesser would enjoy knowing that I grew "Kabarovsk" pole bean that he sent me last year in 2014. I planted 4 seeds of these in my back of the house flowerbed which faces west. The plants got just the afternoon full sun from about 1:00 PM to 6:30 PM. This is the entire seed crop on a styro picnic plate. Beautiful large seed. Thanks for the beautiful variety SeedO.

 

[NancyJ10x]

Russ - Our frost held off long enough that I got several more Badda seeds. They have a pale color at the eye so hopefully they will develop the full color pattern. I have 25 or more of all the varieties except Fanoman ready to go. Fanoman refused to produce! I just found your address on my second email (which I don't check very often, sorry!) and will get them in the mail tomorrow. I have had a lot of fun with the new varieties in spite of the crazy weather this spring & summer. We still haven't had a killing frost though we are supposed to get one tonight.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@NancyJ10x,

If you got any pods on your Fanoman plants and they have yellowed and you are going to have a killing frost. Harvest those yellowed pods. Take them indoors and spread them out on cardboard and let them dry for about 3 weeks. You should have some nice seed from them.

 

[journey11]

'Long Tom' that @marshallsmyth sent me was the latest maturing bean I've grown yet. I didn't even get the first snap beans from it until Sept. 18th and it was planted at the same time as all the rest in June. We got a slightly earlier than usual first frost in the second week of October, so I rushed to pull up the plants--poles, roots and all and put them in my basement. At the time, the pods weren't even yellowing yet, although they were full and tough. I opened some dry pods a few days ago and I was really surprised to find that they contained some very shiny, pretty seed; plump and without blemish. All's well that ends well, it seems!

 

[897tgigvib]

Fanomen is a bit late, but not all that late. When I grew them a few years back, they were very productive, and had many hanging pods at the 8 foot level, and also some higher up and some low.
I recall they have meaty pods which were actually aromatic. I got over half a coffee can of beans from 4 plants, and a friend cooked some Fanomen dry beans up in a pulled pork recipe.

Yes, you'd be surprised how unripe pods can ripen indoors just leaving them to dry on top of a fridge. Wrinkled "premie" bean seeds can germinate and grow, but the percentage is lower. All in all, it is better to have wrinkled premies than none at all, even though they lack the glamor and shine. Sometimes in the fashion show they can still get applauded.

Some varieties simply turn out after a couple tries, to be better for a different climate. For example, I had to face it that Buxton Buckshot needed a different climate, cooler, than my garden could provide, so I sent them to @buckabucka in Maine.