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  1. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    I think you should grow Seneca Allegheny and GaGa Hut next to each other next year so that you can join in the debate as to whether they are different. I grow both, but not in the same year due to the risk of confusion. I plan to grow both in a community garden plot some year when I don't need...
  2. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    Seedlings and their tiny root systems aside, I'm not convinced moles do much damage. They always love my bean rows and the only time it causes problems is when the yellow jackets find out there's a pre-made tunnel down there.
  3. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    I suspect it's just not obvious which caption goes with which pic. I'm pretty sure the picture with the yardlong beans (the first sneaker pic) is oxalis. Specifically yellow wood sorrel (O. strica). Here's a better version: The soybean picture does have some Zebrina Mallow in it. A better look...
  4. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    Swedish Red peas doing what peas do when it gets hot. There are some nice full pods drying down. Smith's Vermont Cranberry which I got from Leigh Hurley (VT PI L) many many years ago. This row has also become a volunteer strawberry and purple potato bed. There's a lot going on but the beans...
  5. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    The beans on the right are Seneca Allegheny Pinto. The trellis is sagging a bit because the bamboo I used has a long internodal length and the string is sliding. I should do something about that. If you squint and use your imagination you can see some peas in the upper left. More on those soon...
  6. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    Front row - Yardlong, Yancheng Bush (@Zeedman ), Black Kabuli chickpeas (Giving Ground) Next row with the trellis - Red Turtle (@Bluejay77 ) - they're taller than they look. More on that in a minute Side view of the same area to show how the Red Turtle beans are going to visit the tomatoes...
  7. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    I have friends with a farm in the green triangle in Cali who have motion controlled paintball guns that shoot pepper spray balls. I don't think it's deer they're worried about but it might work :)
  8. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    Y'all know that there are places where 'preparing for the weather' involves a jacket and not a bunker, right?
  9. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    Aww thank you, @heirloomgal ! Those pea varieties are some of the ones I found after we talked last winter! The cabbage is a mix of Brunswick, which is my most reliable variety, and Ruby Perfection F1 which made it to the start tray as a last minute backup. It's been a pleasant surprise. The...
  10. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    This is the same garden I posted pics of the other day with the 60' row of pinto beans. I took this one from a different angle to be more honest about the wall o weeds encroaching from all sides. Plus the garlic looks pretty cool right now ;-) These are at the other end of that garden. I...
  11. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    I isolate 3 varieties per year for seed and do experiments in a separate community garden plot. My closest two varieties that I'll replant are 400 feet apart, and the most isolated from those is 44.61 straight-line miles away! Ok, fine, I'm sure there are other beans somewhere in there, but I...
  12. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    That's all ancient hay from a friend's hay loft. I think we put it in around 2009 or 2010? I think it's another Eastern Abenaki variety from Maine! I used to have a dark purple variant that I liked but it was also less productive. I was going to keep my pictures more on target today buuuut...
  13. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    These are the beans growing in my community garden plot. I sometimes have trouble killing the pretty weeds, but I swear I ripped out 90% of the poppies this year. Still, they're awfully pretty right now. Especially those purple flag poppies in the background. They aren't doing the beans any...
  14. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    I use the sort of mid-string slip knot where you twist the string into a loop and then pull another loop through it. There may be a better solution but I've tied this one thousands of times and don't have to think about it. I can picture that! The worst for me is when one row blows into another...
  15. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    That garden is semi-sheltered from strong wind by a greenhouse but it can admittedly still be hit or miss in a strong thunderstorm, especially if it's not brand new bamboo. The top line of twine is all tied on with slip knots just so that if I have to cut it to fix a broken pole the whole thing...
  16. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    I hammer in a 4' cedar stake every 5' feet or so, and then push in a 6' bamboo stake every 2.5'. The cedar is to help the bamboo support the stress later in the summer when the beans are up and this is essentially a 60' long sail against the wind. I run baling twine horizontally with one string...
  17. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    Token bean trellis picture, mostly so that @heirloomgal can see what I mean when I tell her how far ahead she is. These are Seneca Allegheny Pinto. The garlic in the background is mine but the stuff in the foreground is the farm owner's.
  18. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    I had a baby rabbit get trapped inside the electric fence around my garden last year, and it chewed through the base of several beans, leaving the tops to wither. That said, it's the only time I've seen one do that. Setting the hounds on them is a good plan! Our back yard is (admittedly...
  19. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    My peas in my cold gardens are beautiful this year, while the ones that had 90F heat soon after planting still don't look great. I was snacking on some of the Amplissamo pods today, and they are quite good when eaten like a little snow pea! I snuck in a post about sorghum to unintentionally...
  20. jbosmith

    2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

    I can't speak to Zeedman's experience, but I thought you'd be amused to know that some of your sorghum that I ordered last year came out so nice that my partner won't let me thresh it. She combined it with some 'Amber' that I got from a friend, and it now lives in our kitchen, on top of the...
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