2015 Little Easy Bean Network - Old Beans Should Never Die !

[flowerweaver]

@VA_LongBean I'm not sure how 'well behaved' my Magentaspreen or Tree Spinach (Chenopodium giganteum) is, but it is delicious, contains more vitamins than true spinach which we are unable to grow (devoured by field mice), and is lovely. It survives drought, heat, and light freezes (even last summer's tornado and huge hail!). It has spread from the garden to the wildflower meadow where my husband decided to burn some stalks last fall rather than introduce it into the compost. And it is also coming up in previous year's compost used in several fields and our lawns.

In general, I don't have time to do a lot of weeding; fortunately most of our weeds are wildflowers. The sprouts of Magentaspreen exhibit the magenta centers right away, so I weed them where they are in direct competition with my vegetables, and in other areas let them get big enough for use, then we eat our way through them! I only allow them to reseed in the garden in the previous photos (it is an enormous patch that also screens us from our neighbors), and the ones in the natural areas will be eaten before they reseed. It makes a great stealth crop and helps break up hard ground. It is a small price to pay for free food!

In the foreground are just a few of our native yuccas about to bloom. Their flowers taste and can be cooked like cabbage. The root can also be eaten, but it's too much trouble to dig one up. We harvest many natural foods on our place, including agarita berries and prickly pear cactus fruits. Note the Magentaspreen to the left of the fire pit in this photo.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

This was an article in the Sacramento Bee a week or so ago. Too bad they charge to read it on line. So I found it on a FB page of Slow Food Sacramento. "Elegant company produces really cool beans"

http://ireader.olivesoftware.com/Ol....ashx?document=MSB\2015\04\12&article=Ar07200

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

This was an article in the Sacramento Bee a week or so ago. Too bad they charge to read it on line. So I found it on a FB page of Slow Food Sacramento. "Elegant company produces really cool beans"

http://ireader.olivesoftware.com/Olive/iReader/SacBeePress/SharedArticle.ashx?document=MSB\2015\04\12&article=Ar07200

Immediately made me think of Marshall's "sex without strings" beans.

 

[the1honeycomb]

@flowerweaver nice bean posts! this might be a silly question but with these posts you don't rotate your beans? Love the look of so many happy plants!!

 

[the1honeycomb]

thanks for that post, very interesting. @TheSeedObsesser I planted my seeds the day I got them but my sisters dog got in the garden and dug and played and what a mess! so I will just have to figure out what beans are which when they are harvested no biggie.

 

[flowerweaver]

@the1honeycomb yes, every year we rotate the beans and the corn, and usually grow a cover crop over the winter. That means all the posts and irrigation are removed and the cages will be stored. It's a lot of work to make food happen in the desert! For a couple of years during the worst of the drought we looked at farms in your part of the world, but couldn't find a comparable place/house in our price bracket. We even got certified to teach in your state, lovely place.

 

[teamneu]

@flowerweaver
Magentaspreen sounds very interesting. Do you think there would be a nuisance problem with reseeding in an area with more rainfall, and presumably greater germination, than your area?
Of course, if the deer like it, we probably wouldn't have a problem...

 

[flowerweaver]

The Nyimo beans have sprouted! These are the three planted in the pot that I will cover and uncover. They germinated in 11 days. All of what you see came up overnight. The cotyledons must have stayed underground. The leaves don't look fully open yet, and have sort of a bronze coloration with pronounced venation, at least on the back sides.

@teamneu I suspect the Magentaspreen would become invasive in a wetter climate. The grower that shared a plant with me said 'remember, you asked for this plant!'. Since it contains oxalic acid, I presume it would not be greatly bothered by deer except in drought. They have not bothered the few in my front yard they could access.

 

[897tgigvib]

@flowerweaver Your Nyimo looks just as they did for me as they sprouted last year. The bronziness will probably reduce some to more green with a bronze cast, and the leaflets will widen some.
Here's hoping that with your conditions, skill, and wisdom to give them several placements that some may produce for you! I do have this feeling they may be a full year plant or nearly so.

 

[flowerweaver]

How many growing days did they have in your garden Marshall? And did yours get beyond just leaves? Our first real frost isn't usually until November, so they have some time. Often the weather gets nice again through December after a frost. They can always come into the greenhouse for a few nights, or to finish up if necessary.