2024 Little Easy Bean Network - Growing Heirloom Beans Of Today And Tomorrow

[flowerbug]

...That would speed up the shelling, but we like shelling by hand, too. I think getting out dried down for combining might be tricky.

with these Robert Lobitz purple beans you may lose a lot to shatter. i've grown most of them.

i also prefer to shell by hand, these beans are very easy to shell out compared to many others.

 

[VegBaby]

Excitement for pretty beans, I can so relate! I can't wait for the upcoming season to start, I have so many great beans in the 2024 line up. Do you have any special new beans planned for your allotment?

I know, it's going to be great to get into spring ☺️

I am going to try maybe 10 climbing beans, a couple of bush beans, and a handful of broad/fava beans. My most excited are Madeira Maroon, Coco Bicolour, Tunny and Borlotto Lamon.

Are you growing any new ones this year? I have seen your past setup, and it looks pretty epic! A true bean forest 🌿

 

[heirloomgal]

I know, it's going to be great to get into spring ☺️

I am going to try maybe 10 climbing beans, a couple of bush beans, and a handful of broad/fava beans. My most excited are Madeira Maroon, Coco Bicolour, Tunny and Borlotto Lamon.

Are you growing any new ones this year? I have seen your past setup, and it looks pretty epic! A true bean forest 🌿

Tunny bean! I'm going to grow that one too this summer. I need to look up these other beans you've listed, I've not come across them in my bean travels, though Lamon seems familiar somehow.

Yes, so many new beans for 2024 🥰 Probably about 70 or 80 altogether, and I think with each garden season I'm even more thrilled to grow new beans! lol But Blauegraue, Ruth Bible, Nickell, Goose, Ranger, Petit Gris, Santa Maria Piquinto, Volga German Siberian I really look forward too....oh, so many! Lots are from @Blue-Jay's collection, and then some European beans I'm really excited for too.

 

[VegBaby]

Tunny bean! I'm going to grow that one too this summer. I need to look up these other beans you've listed, I've not come across them in my bean travels, though Lamon seems familiar somehow.

Yes, so many new beans for 2024 🥰 Probably about 70 or 80 altogether, and I think with each garden season I'm even more thrilled to grow new beans! lol But Blauegraue, Ruth Bible, Nickell, Goose, Ranger, Petit Gris, Santa Maria Piquinto, Volga German Siberian I really look forward too....oh, so many! Lots are from @Blue-Jay's collection, and then some European beans I'm really excited for too.

Snap! They are so pretty. Tbh for now that's how I'm picking my beans for growing out - pretty/interesting seed coats.

Most of the beans I have are from either BeansandHerbs or RealSeeds, both in the UK. And a few from the Heritage Seed Library too. They all have such lovely looking seeds.

Lamon is a nice looking climbing borlotti type, which will hopefully be a pretty wall of red beans while they grow.

Wow wow wow, that is a lot of different types! I can imagine it's a full time job keeping track of all of them lol. Your highlights sounds and looks nice 😊 I don't think I'm growing any purple-podded beans this year.

I actually found this forum when I found Blue-Jay's Collectors Window website, which is such a treasure trove.

 

[heirloomgal]

Snap! They are so pretty. Tbh for now that's how I'm picking my beans for growing out - pretty/interesting seed coats.

Yes! I love the blue beans (like Sacre Bleu) , and the purple beans especially. I mean, there is so many pretty ones out there! Kiagara Mame is another one that is rather unique in it's seedcoat colors. I love the intense bright pink of a freshly dried Junin bean too. Popping open those dried pods looking for goodies is such fun.

I love borlotti beans, I grew 2 last year Stephano Borlotti D'Avento from @Blue-Jay (which was a stunning plant and enormously tall) and also Borlotti del Vardano, a bush bean. Both wonderfully high yielding beans, and even though BdV was a bush variety the plants were quite large. I plant to grow Lambada this season, another one from @Blue-Jay 's collection and it's classed as a horticultural type, I'm not sure if that's synonymous with borlotti's, but the seeds look like borlottis. I bet your Lamon will be gorgeous, the pods on those types seem to light up with color as they mature.

That's how I found this forum too, through the Bean Collector's Window. I was amazed at the amount of beans on there, just shocked. I had no idea there were so many. When I recommend it to other seed savers I sometimes describe it as The Bean Encyclopedia.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@heirloomgal,

When you see all the the Lambada pods begin to mature their seed. Your grow out will be a blaze of red. You will love it. Take photos.

This photo is from my 2016 grow out of Lambada. August 16, 2016.

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal,

When you see all the the Lambada pods begin to mature their seed. Your grow out will be a blaze of red. You will love it. Take photos.

This photo is from my 2016 grow out of Lambada. August 16, 2016.

View attachment 64263

Beautiful! The reason I picked this bean to grow out was because of your mention of how pretty it was! And you've grown more beans than any other person I've ever known, so I knew it must be gorgeous!

 

[BeanWonderin]

Has anyone else grown Mugungi? I think it was more of a bronzy-gray when we grew it in 2022, but 2023's batch has a steely-blue color. I'm wondering if this is a common color variation.

 

[flowerbug]

Has anyone else grown Mugungi? I think it was more of a bronzy-gray when we grew it in 2022, but 2023's batch has a steely-blue color. I'm wondering if this is a common color variation.

wow! interesting color and pattern to those. never have seen before.

 

[Artorius]

Has anyone else grown Mugungi? I think it was more of a bronzy-gray when we grew it in 2022, but 2023's batch has a steely-blue color. I'm wondering if this is a common color variation.
View attachment 64265

@BeanWonderin
I had Mugungi last year. The seed color is graphite with a black ring around the eye. I didn't notice any blue shades. Small seeds, one of the smallest in my collection.