2026 Little Easy Bean Network – Plant A Garden, Water Your Soul, Join Our Family

[Heliena]

welcome to TEG and the bean thread(s) @Heliena i was at MTU for 15yrs and loved the area. many days spent walking the streams of the Keweenaw fishing. as for beans yes to all of what you wrote.

Oh no way! My home is within walking distance of the lift bridge! There are lots of amazing gardeners and local farms here but so far I’m the only bean and bonsai nerd I know. Hah!

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Heliena said

I'm peeking in on this thread for the first time after finding @Blue-Jay's website on my quest for unusual beans.


Welcome Heliena ! So glad you are here. I think you've found the right place and are set to enjoy beans like you have never enjoyed them before. BTW what is young folk chaos?

 

[Heliena]

BTW what is young folk chaos?

Drinking, partying, boys, the sorts of trouble young folks tend to find. I was never really that way, but my Step-Mom was really concerned that I might be trouble-prone at the time.

Thank you for the warm welcome, I’m having a blast combing through your website, and I will certainly put together a request for the growing season.

 

[Triffid]

Curious about a few varieties and whether anyone here has growing experience and descriptions that they can share. Aside from a line or two on the retailers' sites, information appears to be quite scant.

Greasy Back
Luther's Crooked Greasy
Golden Hull Cornfield
Millard Oakley cowpea

 

[Heliena]

Bean nerd question: I'm at the "I want to breed my own bean" stage of things, I have a few favorites in mind for crossing, but are there any do's or don'ts for compatible parent plants? What carries the most success? I've got a good grip on genetics, but that's only in theory.

 

[Triffid]

are there any do's or don'ts for compatible parent plants?

I think it entirely depends on the intended outcome of your specific breeding project, what kind of bean would you like to develop? As a rule of thumb it's easier to select for and stabilise recessive traits.

 

[Heliena]

I think it entirely depends on the intended outcome of your specific breeding project, what kind of bean would you like to develop? As a rule of thumb it's easier to select for and stabilise recessive traits.

I’m charmed by how utterly massive and “antique” the 1000 year cave bean was in my garden last year, but I was only able to get a few seeds last year, and I ended up having to bring a section of the vine indoors to dry. My short season didn't give it much time to do its thing. If I could get a massive-leaved, similarly light green, productive and more quickly maturing shelling pole bean, I’d be happy as a clam. I have visions of this growing on my fruit trees, and being able to grow it on the same trellis with my similarly attractive runner beans without fear of cross pollination. And… as much as I hate to admit it, a beautifully colored seed and pretty flowers would be a huge plus.

Are there any available resources for what those traits are?

 

[Decoy1]

I’m charmed by how utterly massive and “antique” the 1000 year cave bean was in my garden last year, but I was only able to get a few seeds last year, and I ended up having to bring a section of the vine indoors to dry. My short season didn't give it much time to do its thing. If I could get a massive-leaved, similarly light green, productive and more quickly maturing shelling pole bean, I’d be happy as a clam. I have visions of this growing on my fruit trees, and being able to grow it on the same trellis with my similarly attractive runner beans without fear of cross pollination. And… as much as I hate to admit it, a beautifully colored seed and pretty flowers would be a huge plus.

Are there any available resources for what those traits are?

A belated welcome from me too, @Heliena.
I’m imagining that you have quite a short season and that breeding for a short season trait might well be a priority? Do you find that there are quite a lot of pole varieties which dry their seeds too late for your season? Others will advise on resources for genetic traits.
Very occasionally there can be crossing with runner beans so it’s not entirely unlikely when growing on the same trellis. I’ve mixed them and never had it happen so I think it’s rare. I believe I’ve read that purple podded beans are slightly more likely to cross with runner beans but I don’t know how reliable that is.

 

[Triffid]

I haven't grown the variety myself, but regarding resources for traits I've attached a bean gene list

 

[ruralmamma]

@Heliena, I grew the Cave bean twice and had a good harvest one year and was fighting the frost the second. My growing season is a few weeks longer than yours. I was amazed at how vigorous the vines were as they climbed to the top of the 8' trellis and spilled over the side.

Have you ever tried transplants? Last year was my first attempt at transplanting anything other than runner beans and was a success. We had a cold wet spring followed by a heat wave ànd I didn't get them out until mid-June. What I didn't transplant I presoaked for eight hours and left them in a tray lined with damp paper towels and a few of them had sprouted when I planted the next day.