2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[heirloomgal]

I found a long range weather forcast for late summer and fall. We will see how this actually works out.

For September near average temperatures will prevail for Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Minnesota. I think this will also apply to where @heirloomgal lives.

For September the New England states will be above average in temperatures

October will be most above average for Northern, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota. I think this will also apply to where @heirloomgal lives.

Above Average tempertuares for October will prevail in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina. and the New England States.

I'm hoping here in Northern Illinois where I live we won't get a frost until very late in October like maybe the 25th or slightly later.

This is GREAT news! I had a great bean year last season, and most of that was because the first frost was so late, deep October I think. Usually there are quite a number of pods that just don't get enough frost free time, but I managed to mature almost everything last year with very few immature pods.

 

[meadow]

It's bad news for us. Hopefully some plastic sheeting can help protect the pods themselves from the increased rainfall.

 

[heirloomgal]

It's bad news for us. Hopefully some plastic sheeting can help protect the pods themselves from the increased rainfall.

If the beans have formed in the pods, even if they're still green, you can pull the plants and hang them under cover to dry instead. Do you have a place you could put them?

 

[meadow]

If the beans have formed in the pods, even if they're still green, you can pull the plants and hang them under cover to dry instead. Do you have a place you could put them?

They are not even close. But there is still time, so I'll do my best to get them covered (or pulled) according to their development when the rains arrive. Fingers crossed! 🤞

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I kinda think that too much petty criticism is like a 1,000 cuts.

In our house, it's sort of a no win situation. Criticize, and the other party will get in a huff and attack you right back, guaranteeing an escalation of a petty matter into something worth dying and killing over.

Ignore it, and they will not only keep doing it, but do it even more and even harder until you CAN'T ignore it anymore and you wind up right back at outcome #1.

 

[heirloomgal]

Some bean pics.

Mascotte bean
Slightly comparable with Uncle Ben's...

Whipple
This bean is quite large, though the photos don't convey that. Very nice bean.

Halbohne
Sweet little bean. Early too for a European selection.
It grew as a bush @Artorius?

Migliorucci
Last year was dismal, but this year it did fantastic! Very nice production.

Contents of the mystery purple pods from the Tremonti di Trebua network bean. It's a striking though very tiny little bean. Definitely an outcross.

Kiagara Mame, one weeny 3 bean pod... 😒
But I'll take it if the alternative is zero! Hope the few other pods do well so I can try again next year.

 

[meadow]

I got in there for a real good look this evening. Marfax is fine and cookin' right along, no problem. Ditto Dutch Bullet, although it was planted later but I think it will be fine. It is Swedish Brown that continues to be the 'problem child.' There are only a few pods that are filling out and the rest have a ways to go. But there is still time, so here's hoping.

One good thing about this year is that we're learning which varieties can be grown in poor conditions (wet, cold, dark). All of those days/weeks without sunshine really slowed things down here.

 

[BeanWonderin]

I am excited to see good growth on some of the pole beans this year. Red Marbles is much stronger then it was last year. Louisiana is a good climber also. We can't seem to get Mugungi or Blue Gold Star to climb much - they're a heap of runners. Red Calico is alright.

Mugungi and Blue Gold Star are in the foreground below. Red Calico, Louisiana, and Red Marbles are at the end. My Christmas tree poles are holding up for their second season but I'm not sure they will make it for a third.

Louisiana

Two more that are doing well are Cherokee Trail of Tears and Lucie. I think that's Owl's Head growing in the next row over on a rebar pole. The rebar is working well, but it's not really tall enough.

Cherokee Trail of Tears

 

[meadow]

Whipple
This bean is quite large, though the photos don't convey that. Very nice bean.

Oh great. 🤣 After much internal debate, I passed up Whipple in favor of Early Warwick yesterday when making a purchase from Adaptive Seed. sigh. Looks like I'll need to place another order. I love your photos!!

Whipple vs Early Warwick:

"95 days. Whipple is on our short list of favorite bean varieties that are adapted to the Pacific Northwest. Great rich flavor. We think it is especially good in chili and paired with copious amounts of garlic. Vigorous bush plants may have short runners. The beans themselves resemble Early Warwick but are larger and a darker maroon color. The Whipple Family, for which this bean is named, worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. before moving to Douglas County, Oregon, in the 1970s. Eventually Whipple dry bean was introduced to local growers and gardeners via seed swaps. Seed produced by White Oak Farm in Albany, Oregon."

"85 days. Early Warwick. Cool weather tolerant, small bushes loaded with pods. Stocky bushes yield heavy with small round, dark-red mottled beans. Early enough to mature in England, where it is from. Also very reliable here in Oregon. It was usually the first dry bean we would bring to market in the fall, a week or two before most of the others. Currently our favorite bean for chili and great for most bean dishes. Traditionally grown before 1890 in Warwick, England. Preserved by the Heritage Seed Library, England."

 

[jbosmith]

When leaf yellowing starts, check the pods for yellowing. Cha Kura Kake is a very early soybean, so they are probably approaching maturity.... from what I can see in the photo, that appears to be the case. For edamame, I try to harvest them at the first sign of leaves or pods yellowing (or earlier if the seeds in the pods are fat). The harvest window for best-quality edamame can be very short, so plants should be checked often when pods begin to fill out... the beans inside should be fat, but mostly green. Once pod yellowing is widespread & the beans change color, the cooked beans become more like limas. I have to confess that I prefer to harvest Cha Kura Kake when the beans show a little of their two-tone coloration.

Man you weren't kidding about short windows. These plants are dried down and nearly leafless now and the first pod I tried to pick exploded! Maybe not quite a complete bean-flinging shatter like some plants do, but it definitely had ideas of doing that. Whoops! On the bright side, the beans are super cool.

Smith's Vermont Cranberry Beans are also drying down their first pods at home.