New @ PNW Maritime WA-nearly-Canada

[MerryFiddle]

We've been growing a lot of our food for decades, so beans figure *highly* in that mix, because it's easy easier protein to tame and store than anything on the hoof. We loooove the heirloom varieties, and our standbys are the Scarlet Runner (about 5 gallons a year) , Gigandes, and Painted Lady.

But we fiddle around with a few new varieties each year for flavor and variety. This year it's Black Cocoa, a bush (dry), and Kentucky Wonder (a green bean climber).

My spouse used to farm, but hand gardening on a couple acres is a whole different animal than row crops on a few hundred, so we are still in the learning curve. And perpetually so, since we are always trying new things, except for our reliable pantry standbys which feed us.

I'm reading *everything* here. And it would be really helpful if, in the photos, there was something else of broad recognition in the frame, so the size of the bean can be gauged from the image.

Thanks for all your advice and photos!! And, we always have the above beans to share as seed .... here they are, just a sample from this year's crop, almost ready to harvest.

 

[flowerbug]

welcome to TEG from mid-Michigan. there's certainly a lot of bean growers here and you can find us in the bean threads and in other spots too. beans are my primary interest now and i'm enjoying the learning and journey they have taken me on.

a few acres is plenty enough to keep a few people busy. just a single acre is plenty. of course, i'd like to have at least enough land to give me a better buffer from surrounding fields.

 

[heirloomgal]

Welcome from Canada! I really love heirloom & heritage varieties too. I grew Black Coco last year and thought it was a lovely bean. I know what you mean about representing a beans' size realistically in a photo, it is part of the bean 'description' but so hard to do. I've seen people put coins into the frame for reference, or a ruler, but even that seems lacking somehow for me. Not sure what the best trick is for that.

Pretty beans!

 

[flowerbug]

Welcome from Canada! I really love heirloom & heritage varieties too. I grew Black Coco last year and thought it was a lovely bean. I know what you mean about representing a beans' size realistically in a photo, it is part of the bean 'description' but so hard to do. I've seen people put coins into the frame for reference, or a ruler, but even that seems lacking somehow for me. Not sure what the best trick is for that.

Pretty beans!

i'm eventually aiming for some kind of uniform background for the catalog of bean pictures and the uniform background would provide the cues for how large the beans are. i was thinking a tan burlap, but Mom didn't like that idea. a 1 cm cube would do it. if you wanted to be funny you could make a lego person holding a sign up or something. i don't know yet what i'll do, but it is important for me to have some kind of scale in the pictures. my original bean board (the avatar picture) has a mark on it which provides a scale.

 

[Zeedman]

From another heirloom gardener & seed saver, welcome to TEG! I agree about including something in bean photos for scale. For now, I'm using 1/4" ruled index cards to provide scale; but what I'm really looking for is something with a grid pattern + a color scale. I spoke to a local camera store about that & they just gave me blank looks.

 

[flowerbug]

From another heirloom gardener & seed saver, welcome to TEG! I agree about including something in bean photos for scale. For now, I'm using 1/4" ruled index cards to provide scale; but what I'm really looking for is something with a grid pattern + a color scale. I spoke to a local camera store about that & they just gave me blank looks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined.

I have a lot of trouble getting good photos, especially of beans. Different colors and patterns look better on different colors, I can get glare, especially with black or white. I often wind up taking them at an angle which can distort the scale or even focus.

Just for fun I'll include a shot from 2020 of some beans picked before they had matured and reached final colors. Fully dried beans can be really pretty but I find the immature colors are often very vibrant.

 

[heirloomgal]

Welcome to the forum from Louisiana, glad you joined.

I have a lot of trouble getting good photos, especially of beans. Different colors and patterns look better on different colors, I can get glare, especially with black or white. I often wind up taking them at an angle which can distort the scale or even focus.

Just for fun I'll include a shot from 2020 of some beans picked before they had matured and reached final colors. Fully dried beans can be really pretty but I find the immature colors are often very vibrant.

View attachment 43913

Beautiful colour and pattern assortment @Ridgerunner . That large, matte dark purple one is striking. I agree that the later stage shelly beans express the most vibrant colours, often more so than fully dried.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

A quilters square would help to provide sizing of the beans.

 

[Zeedman]

A quilters square would help to provide sizing of the beans.

Never heard that term, and had to look it up - it could work. There seems to be a lot of variation in size & color available.