2021 Little Easy Bean Network - Bean Lovers Come Discover Something New !

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug
I harvested the first two Huey dry pods today. Plants end their vegetation. Lower leaves turn yellow and fall off.
Looks like very early bean. I will send 50 good quality seeds in autumn to @Bluejay77.

if you peek at some seeds at the shelly stage they should have a notable pinkish hue (hence the name ) in between the brown stripes, as they dry down the pink isn't as noticeable but compared to a regular Tan Goats Eye bean they're distinctive enough. select out the nicest beans with the most pink to red hints and discard the rest as i don't want to continue the off-types as the named variety. whatever you wish to do with them, i'm so glad you've been able to get some beans. it's been fun! and the good thing is that they've continued to be early as i hoped and while i was also hoping for bush beans a semi-runner is also acceptable since it looks like they did well for you. you must have really good garden soil there as your plants look fantastic.

 

[Triffid]

Unexpectedly, these beans released the runners, and look at the inflorescence of one of them. It looks like runner bean. Color of flowers like the color of pink tomatoes.

The remaining 5 plants have normal flowers and pods. Could I have found a cross between common bean and runner bean? In 2019 Piękny Jaś grew in the row opposite. I'll be watching this freak closely.

Goodness me, it would appear you've been blessed with the fabled common bean x runner bean cross. These look very similar to the 'Angel' variety in my first post. However, such crosses appear to be unstable for the red flowers, and much to my dismay the Angel plants I'm growing are showing white flowers (so far, but not all are in bloom yet, so I still dream).
Cherish these plants!

 

[Triffid]

@heirloomgal Thank you for sharing this information!
It would appear to explain the agronomy behind the traditional practice of runner bean trenches - permanent beds filled with all kinds of rich decomposable material, left to mellow over winter and spring, before planting the runner beans in the same bed for another year.

It also explains why many of my bean transplants look sad after a month. Until that point they had enough N, but afterwards I do very little to supplement it at their time of peak N uptake! Lessons learned. Perhaps a little dose of fish meal today will do the struggling vines some good. Many trenches to dig this winter...

 

[Zeedman]

Nimbus

Wow! Look at that pod set! Beautiful!

 

[Zeedman]

I have a big riddle. This year I sowed more Arikara Yellow beans. Among the seedlings, I found 6 with two-colored cotyledons. 2019 seeds. I checked my notes. Thibodeau Du Comte Beauce grew next to Arikara Yellow then, probably outcrosses appeared. I planted them in the gap between the chokeberry bushes, because it was the only place where I found some free space. Unexpectedly, these beans released the runners, and look at the inflorescence of one of them. It looks like runner bean. Color of flowers like the color of pink tomatoes.

View attachment 42694

The remaining 5 plants have normal flowers and pods. Could I have found a cross between common bean and runner bean? In 2019 Piękny Jaś grew in the row opposite. I'll be watching this freak closely.

Whatever it is, it may be fertile cross, since a pod appears to have already set.

 

[Marie2020]

I'm not sure what the laws are like in England, but from a technical direction, making mead is quite easy. Besides the fermenter and yeast (which you can get from any brewing supply company) and the corks and corker (same place) all you really need is some bottles (I use old wine bottles). Ingredients wise all there is is water, yeast and honey. And of those. the only one that can get sort of expensive is the honey (well, expensive for me, but I make mine from rare and exotic honeys). Just mix them together to make the wort, add the yeast, pour into the fermenter, and wait. There are a few other tricks to make GOOD mead, but I can cover those later.

Brilliant thank you. I have a large bottle that stored cider vinegar. That's got a cork have too find out what else. I wish I could use my sourdough too do this but can't see that working very well.

I'm totally a novice at this kind of thing.

Back asap, I'm tied up for the next couple of days.

 

[Marie2020]

I have a big riddle. This year I sowed more Arikara Yellow beans. Among the seedlings, I found 6 with two-colored cotyledons. 2019 seeds. I checked my notes. Thibodeau Du Comte Beauce grew next to Arikara Yellow then, probably outcrosses appeared. I planted them in the gap between the chokeberry bushes, because it was the only place where I found some free space. Unexpectedly, these beans released the runners, and look at the inflorescence of one of them. It looks like runner bean. Color of flowers like the color of pink tomatoes.

View attachment 42694

The remaining 5 plants have normal flowers and pods. Could I have found a cross between common bean and runner bean? In 2019 Piękny Jaś grew in the row opposite. I'll be watching this freak closely.

Wow

 

[Marie2020]

I can't write that everything is going wrong because I would lie. I have varieties that do well in the weather I have this year. Most of them are not network beans and that worries me. I have no obligations to them. Fate is malicious.

A few of today's photos.

Snow Cap
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Nimbus
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Dapple Grey
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Potawatomi Lima
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Wild Gonny
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Brown Lazy Wife
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I could eat these raw. They look yummy

 

[Blue-Jay]

Another noteworthy point is that commercial bean growers turn in stems and foliage at seasons end back to the soil. I mention this because probably most of us compost the plants, or dispose of them one way or another, but we are removing them from our garden.

Interesting about planting your beans in the same place every season. I've been doing that for about the last 10 years. I also have always taken my lawn mower and when all my marker steaks and other paraphernalia are removed from my bean gardens. I shred all the plant material with my lawn mower and till under all the stems and leaves.

 

[Zeedman]

Interesting about planting your beans in the same place every season. I've been doing that for about the last 10 years. I also have always taken my lawn mower and when all my marker steaks and other paraphernalia are removed from my bean gardens. I shred all the plant material with my lawn mower and till under all the stems and leaves.

Same here. The only possible reason not to turn under garden remains would be if there were diseased plants... and I remove & destroy any as soon as they show up. I rotate bean locations every year though. Not because they need it, but because other things (like garlic, corn, tomatoes, and squash) need rotation. It avoids problems with diseases that affect those plants, and helps to even out nutrient consumption over time.

I have a row of large pots along my front sidewalk though that is dedicated to varieties needing extra TLC... but nearly always has a combination of beans & soybeans. I replace a little of the soil occasionally, and the beans there have shown no loss of vigor over time.