The 2014 Little Easy Bean Network - Get New Beans On The Cheap

The soil temperature chart is pretty neat I'm going to bookmark that one.

Went to check on my big bean garden plot yesterday. Was going to roto-till it up real good and start planting. It had rained on it a lot monday so I thought it was rather too moist to till yet. Don't want to leave a bunch of clods and have them bake like bricks. Want that soil to crumble nice under the tillers tines. Let the 82 degree sun work on it yesterday, and today and probably till it tomorrow.

Anyway when I went to check the plot. I found in addition to the one bean volunteer I saw on May 8th. There is another 5 of them growing. So that's got to be a real good sign the soil is ready and warm enough to grow beans.

I thought I had pretty much cleaned every single pod off the plants when harvesting seed last year. The seeds of these volunteers got to be pretty lucky survivors. I took my lawn mower at the end of the last growing season and shreded the old plants. Those seeds had to survive being split to pieces. Then I tilled everything under and they survived laying in frozen damp soil all winter covered with snow that was probably about 18 inches deep all winter long. Our frost line went about six feet into the ground this past winter. Those were tough little buggers.
 
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Hi Journey,

If you read the text under the bean photos on page one of this thread. I think I told you where the bush and pole beans started and ended. Now there was a group of them that I didn't know how they would grow, and neither did the donor of the seed. Also if there are any semi-runner types among the bush varieties I have no idea which those could be either. I'm hoping everyone will jot down any info on how these beans grow as to wheather they are true bush beans in form, semi-runner, or how vigorous of a pole bean plant some of them might be. Also try to jot down when you get the first dry pod from the time you put the seed into the ground. That will give us some idea on their maturity time.
 
Got my first sprouts today from my May 16 planting. Lazy Housewife Red, Timbavati, and Volta all have sprouts. Seven days after planting, not bad. Now I can plant the other half of those seeds I was holding back. Now to wait on the Cape Sugar #3 and Mahlathini. :fl
 
my beans came up finally but the beautiful copper garden markers did not hold their names so I will have to wait till they are done and sort by color!! :he
 
been watching and waiting on the beans i got in the ground about a week ago. here's hoping i can keep that critter out of the garden this year so i can send you what i owe from last year.

didn't someone mention spreading bone or blood meal over the garden would keep certain animals out of the garden?
 
Hi Chickie'sMomain

Here's hoping you will probably have a better growing season this year. Many times a hard to deal with growing season is followed by a better one.
 
Yesterday got out into my big bean plot that I had tilled on May 8th. I found a total of 14 volunteer bean plants. Dug up 4 of them and brought them home and planted them in my flower bed (which is not really a flower bed but more gardening space). Watered those little beans and they are doing fined this morning. Got enough of a root ball on them when I dug them up that they didn't even flinch. I was just so curious to see what produced those seed that was able to overwinter like that, especially in a winter like we had this past one. Late August to early September will tell me what varieties I rescued.
 
What fun! I have seen a few volunteers myself this year. I could compare where they are to what was planted there, or wait for late summer as well.

Wouldn't it be interesting to be able to plant beans in the fall and have them germinate at exactly the correct time and place for them?
 
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