2023 Little Easy Bean Network - Beans Beyond The Colors Of A Rainbow

[flowerbug]

groundhogs will eat the more tender tops of plants after they've been growing a bit and then leave the lower parts of the plant alone. deer will sometimes also do this.

last year was the first time i'd had complete plants being eaten by the deer and what they didn't eat they trampled into oblivion. i didn't even plant that garden with beans this year at all as i put onions in the top part and have left the bottom part to grow turnips and whatever else pops up in there that i like to leave alone (pinks, and now i see some poppies which i really do not want in there so that plant is coming out before it can drop seeds).

it does not look like this season that the three deer family has been coming back and for that i'm glad. not as many tracks in the gardens so i'm guardedly optimistic at the moment. just a few deer have wandered through and the most recent one walked right through a garden of sprouting beans and ignored all of them.

 

[Zeedman]

When Deer find a place where they like what they ate. They seem to remember it and come back again and more frequently.

I'll vouch for that. There is a deer trail running through the back of my property, and there are things they will come back to eat
EVERY.
SINGLE.
YEAR.


Like my hosta, purple aster, and the buds of my beautiful day lilies (which apparently I will never see unless I fence them). They just ate 1/2 of the flower stalks last night, and will probably finish the job tonight unless I protect the remaining stalks. Those buds & tender stalks must really be tasty.

All of my vegetable gardens are fenced to over 6', or I'd only be feeding the deer. And chicken wire low (with buried edges) or I'd only be growing soybeans to feed the rabbits.

 

[flowerbug]

I'll vouch for that. There is a deer trail running through the back of my property, and there are things they will come back to eat
EVERY.
SINGLE.
YEAR.


Like my hosta, purple aster, and the buds of my beautiful day lilies (which apparently I will never see unless I fence them). They just ate 1/2 of the flower stalks last night, and will probably finish the job tonight unless I protect the remaining stalks. Those buds & tender stalks must really be tasty.

daylilly buds are very edible, i've tried them from the common ones we have out front, peppery kinda like okra to me.

 

[heirloomgal]

When I used to get Deer visiting my offsite gardens. Occassionly my beans would look like this. It looks like Deer have munched on your beans to me. When Deer find a place where they like what they ate. They seem to remember it and come back again and more frequently. I hope you aren't going to have deer problems. Deer like beans and tomatoes and tomato plants.

I am so glad that we don't have much deer up here this far north! The hunters on my street drive down to Southwestern Ontario to get them. A rogue is not impossible though . We typically have only one ungulate around, moose, and it's only the oddest occasion they venture into the suburbs - usually spring to drink the salt water at the sides of the roads. But we are having a groundhog explosion right now - I've seen a lot of them dead on the road. It's really weird & this is a new thing for sure.

The damage is so odd - for all the plants that are out there they could be eating many more than they are. Whatever the creature is, it isn't big. I actually suspect it's a baby something or other. I can also see that it's choosing plants along the corridor of my Southern facing wall and the entry point is from the street, not the bush behind us - my dog led me right to where it had been this morning and the direction it came from. I think my neighbours bean plants got a little shave too.

I wasn't too crestfallen about the P. vulgaris variety he had eaten, I can get more seeds of Pois Feves Laliberte. This morning I found the creature had now eaten some of the Hawkesbury Wonder bean; again, I can get more of those and they may even still grow to make seed since he left a lot of plant behind, plus I over planted. But when I saw he got into the next row - rare European beans - now that's war. Not puttin up with that. So I went out and spent 100 bucks on chicken wire, some makeshift 'posts' and zip ties. I looked at hardware cloth and it would cost me almost 300 dollars to do it that way, so I thought I'd give the wire a try. Holes are 1 inch. My hope is that once these beans get bigger they'll finally be safe and i can take the wire down. I also hope this is just one of those random things because I've never had critters eat my stuff before.

On a sidenote, when the kids and I were walking the dog this morning we chose a hilly country road about 10 minutes away, where the mines are excavating sand. Lots of lovely views up there and Star Wars like dunes out there. At one point a coyote actually crossed our path about 50 feet ahead. This is my 2nd coyote experience this year - so I'm hoping these guys are sensing there's a good lunch to show up for.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

daylilly buds are very edible, i've tried them from the common ones we have out front, peppery kinda like okra to me.

They are also a crucial ingredient in hot and sour soup.

 

[heirloomgal]

Well, the fence is up. I also went around putting pots where possible on a few nearly plants in the bed across in case they decide to move on to other areas. I REALLY hope this ends the marauders ambitions.🤞 The gardens now look AWFUL!

 

[Decoy1]

'Frauenbohne' bean is the only one of the bunch that seems to really be vigorous.

I’m growing Frauenbohne too and, like you, have found it to be vigorous. Mine are also throwing out runners. I’ve just given each plant a short cane for support and to see if they climb round the cane at all.

 

[heirloomgal]

Looks like my fence worked.

First little beans are starting on some of the plants! It's a glorious moment 🤣

 

[Branching Out]

What adorable baby beans.

 

[Zeedman]

The favas are wilting, and have begun blackening & dying one by one. I've heavily mulched 1/2 of the row at home, to see if keeping the roots cool makes a difference. The plants are only 12" tall & flowering, but not setting any pods. If I don't see improvement in a few days, I may just pull them & use that space for some sprouted soybeans left over from one of the potted plantings.