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

[heirloomgal]

Rained all day today. It's a bit chilly too right now, 63F but going up to 75F tomorrow. I love a nice long rain like this, I won't have to water any beans for several days. Even better, the plants respond to rain much better than they do to my watering even though most of my water now is captured & off grid. I tried to track down what the plants looked like last year around this time. I'm ahead of what those photos show, which is great. There were a few network bean varieties last year that barely matured in the nick of time (partly due to an early fall); I'd rather be not so close to the wire. The Mountain White Half-Runner network bean is really impressive. I don't think I've ever seen a bean vine with so many flowers on it. Just loaded top to bottom! Really excited for this one and Parker's Half Runner too, which is also doing much the same.

Network bean Weaver. The rabbit really liked this bean plant, but despite his nibbling several leaves off a few weeks ago, it's doing fine. I think I see a bean in there.

 

[capsicumguy]

I'm joining this year's thread just now, exceedingly late! I was prompted by this Globe and Mail article about Blue Jay beans that a family friend shared with me, knowing how much I love beans. I don't think she even knew that I was growing Blue Jay beans acquired directly from @Bluejay77 !

I'm growing out Dean Family Greasy Cutshort, the very few seeds I have left. Germination was so poor last year, I'm not sure I even got one. Germination is still patchy tis year, but I think I'll have enough to give back to the network -- along with all the other beans that I grew last year for the network that I was afraid to send back. Some people might recall that I was worried that they were all diseased with mosaic, but this year the plants from saved seed are all super healthy -- not a sign of mosaicking. Now I wonder if it was just a really miserable year for beans last year and the plants were all just grumpy.

Full list of what I hope to be able to supply this year (60 seeds of each):

* Nona Agnes (grown 2022)
* Mbombo Green (grown 2022)
* Cranberry Flieder (grown 2022)
* Dean Family Greasy Cutshort (grown this year)

I tried to grow two other varieties last year -- P'Town (AKA alubias pintas alavesas), of which not a single seed germinated, and Blue Speckled Tepary, which dried down but never got blue speckles. No platns this year (pretty sure it was a watering issue; some seeds germinated but were gone shortly after). I think my growing season might be a bit too short. @Bluejay77 would you prefer I send you back the non-speckled seeds I have, or try again in my greenhouse in 2024?

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Bluejay77 would you prefer I send you back the non-speckled seeds I have, or try again in my greenhouse in 2024?

Try them again next year in your greenhouse.

Have I mentioned that those sending back seed from other countries need to be aware that the Green/Yellow labels have an expiration date of 11 December. You probably should mail back any seeds you plan to send about two weeks before that date. Your seed should be plenty enough dry by then.

 

[heirloomgal]

I did some measurement tests out in the pole patch today, just as a curiosity really. Last year I cut most birch poles about the same height, mostly so they'd all match and because I thought that was pretty tall. The year before they were a bit shorter. They were mostly at about 6 feet after being sunk. This year I didn't bother cutting them for uniformity purposes, what trees I took down I left as is, except for super crooked ends. Some poles were about 11 - 12 feet tall, not counting what we sunk underground. I'm going to take some pictures to show heights; I'm really curious how high they would have climbed on 25 foot poles because many have already breached the tops of the tallest trees.

 

[heirloomgal]

Bean soup! First green beans of the season, Selma Zebra & Annelino di Trento. Boiling beans, Yellow Eye.

Added some onion, carrot, turnip, potato, celery and some of the garden herbs: oregano, parsley, lil bit of basil. Was so good!

 

[jbrobin09]

We are hoping to master the art of fermenting green beans this year, which from what I have read (I took out every available book on fermenting from the library-- twice!) seems like a rather nuanced endeavour.

I have fermented snap beans for years now. Let me know if you need any help. They are a big hit with us, and so easy to do.

 

[Branching Out]

I have fermented snap beans for years now. Let me know if you need any help. They are a big hit with us, and so easy to do.

How wonderful! Any assistance would be most appreciated. I note that there is a already a general fermenting thread on the forum, but it talks mostly about cabbage and sauerkraut-- so I just started a new thread called 'Fermenting Green Beans'. Might you be willing to add your helpful hints for easy fermented snap beans to that thread please? If so, I would be eternally grateful.

 

[Branching Out]

One of the Royal Burgundy bush beans that I planted at my folks' house has taken wings. It's either an out cross, or I else I made a mistake with the seedlings. According to my mom it's

climbing 6" a day and outgrowing it's 9' pole. So my husband made a slip knot, reached up and attached it to the top of the pole, and then tied it down on a railing about 12' away. I am hoping that the bean plant will continue to twirl, but downwards. My mom loves watching it grow. 😊

 

[heirloomgal]

I went out today to check pod development on the pole beans, flowering statuses and of course do the daily tucking in of wandering vines before they try and climb a neighbouring plant. We've had 2 deep rains in the last week and another apparently coming tomorrow so there has not been any watering to do. The only one in the bunch not yet flowering, that went in as transplants (not seeds), so far is network bean Zugdidi Flat Cake ⬇️ (front plant). The vines are beautiful, to 12 feet, healthy and deep green. But not a single flower blossom anywhere! The plants are just past the 75 day old mark, so they still have time, but I think it's fair to conclude that this is indeed a later maturing variety. I really like this bean so I hope it flowers soon. 🤞

Network bean Parker's Half Runner. I took the pic earlier this week, the pods set is really fantastic, right up the plant. I snuck a single bean (sorry @Bluejay77 !) and it was delicious, a really great tasting, great textured snap bean.

The bean rows are getting really dense and tall, like walls; DD and the dog have taken to playing A LOT of hide and seek in here. I love the jungleyness, but because the poles are so tall this year - most to at least 11 feet - I also feel a bit like Wendy in the Shining during the end of the movie, the shadowed labyrinth vibes.

The bush bean bed before the last rain earlier this week. Got one surprise in the 18 varieties in there with a variety that is a little reach-y. I'm tempted to remove the chicken wire at this point but I don't know if the rabbit might eat dangling bean pods. He did finish off my last two unfenced soybean plants not long ago. Might be safer to keep it up.

 

[Zeedman]

Common beans & runner beans have been languishing this year. I've lost far more plants to disease than usual (probably due to the weather) and growth has been far slower than normal; but they are beginning to recover & send up runners, so I'm still hopeful. Picked the first hand full of "Emerite" today, but most of their runners have yet to reach the top of their trellis. Ironically, "Toby Poe's Purple" - in pots, and the last to be transplanted - is furthest along in pod development, many already beginning to bulge.

Had to rogue out one more of the Tarahumara runner beans, because it had white flower buds... so it is not yet fully stable. Peanuts are healthy, but still growing slowly, even in this heat. The adzuki (in pots) have suffered some leaf burn due to the heat on the deck, but are putting out a lot of new growth & forming a dense canopy.

The two pole yardlong beans require constant training; their runners are growing quickly now - as are the 3 cciwpeas, and the bush yardlong in the rural garden (which is beginning to flower). The pole limas too are growing vigorously & already setting pods.

The big winner in beans so far this year appears to be the bush hyacinth bean "Khyati", which has dense growth, no insect or disease issues, and is now flowering heavily. I'll post a photo soon.