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

[Blue-Jay]

So you've seen my offsite bean patch and how poorly it's done. Now I have the photos of my plantings in my backyard and in a flower bed by my house. What a total difference in the way these plants developed, and I had planted all this seed the same time I planted my big bean plot six miles away from here. The soil in my offsite bean patch in not poorly drained clay soil. It's beautiful dark black topsoil. You've seen it before in photos. The soil in my back yard gardens was brought in by a landscaper who I had remove an area of the grass sod and dug out about a foot of the clay soil and replaced it with what ever he had. It's very sandy, very well drained. With all the rain we had in the early part of June up until the middle of July. Everything I planted in it has developed wonderfully.

Hal will enjoy the look of my tomato plants again this year. This year the tomatoes look even healthier than last years condidering that it is now the middle of August when many tomato plants in this area is starting to show signs of Septoria leaf spot or other similar looking bacterial blights.

My Early Girl Descendants. Now in the fourth year after the Hybrid F1 generation.

Fowler snap beans. Row on the Right. I've been picking snap beans for over two weeks.

Three double rows of carrots. First two double rows are Atomic Red and then a double of row of orange

A row of Fort Portal Jade climbing all over my two foot high rabbit fencing.

The pole beans are doing just wonderfully in a narrow flower bed growing near the back of my house.

The Painted Lady Runner beans are just blooming and growing pods like crazy.



I visited my big offsite bean patch Friday, and the little plants are blooming like crazy. The deer keep them shaved down to less the a foot tall. All I have on those plants are lots of little tiny pods. The kind of pods you see after the blossom petals have dried up and withered, and pods are then just beginning to be noticable. I think this is due to the fact the deer are keeping the tops of the plants eated down all the time. Maybe better luck next year. I should just about have fully developed dry pods by now this time of the year.

 

[aftermidnight]

@Bluejay77 Mr. Fothergill's are sold here too although it's late in the season I'll have a look for them while I'm out and about, it might be late winter before the racks are filled again for the coming season. I saw a picture of them just like you described on Dave's Garden not the best but is this the one you're looking for?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/39751/
'Let me know if you find them' until then I'll keep looking, I even have a few contacts in the UK. For me the hunt is half the fun, keep your fingers crossed .

Annette

 

[Blue-Jay]

Hi @aftermidnight,

Yep that is the one. If you can get a packet of them let me know how much you pay for them and I'll send you cash.

 

[aftermidnight]

@Bluejay77 I've already got feelers out for them, it might take awhile but hopefully I can track them down, in the meantime if you find them let me know.
Annette

 

[aftermidnight]

@Bluejay77 , I think I've found them, if this is the 'Prizewinner' runner from the U.K. which I think it is, I've got some coming my way but it probably won't be for a month or two. I'll check the seed coat as to the right color when they get here and let you know, rather than buying them from me perhaps another trade .
Annette

 

[Hal]

@Bluejay77 Your tomatoes are just beautiful, they are clean, vigorous and loaded with fruit.
I'm not surprised P.coccineus does well there, they sure make a nice ornamental display as well and some have incredibly huge pods.

 

[flowerweaver]

I think this is the bean you saw on my photo account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/flowerweaver/13416894064/in/photolist-mrB6aJ

This is a mix I bought as Hammond's Painted Lady from Amishland Heirloom Seeds. They are very skimpy with their quantities, this is all that came in a package. The owner also shorted me on some Limas, and never responded to two of my emails. She is not Amish, and most of her beans are grown by a man in the Pacific Northwest.

I planted them all, they even survived the tornado, flowered, but did not produce a thing. Everyone told me they like the heat, but I don't think they liked mine. It was my first try at runner beans.

 

[aftermidnight]

@flowerweaver as a rule runner beans don't do well in hot climates but, if you want to try a runner again look for one called Insuk's Wang Kong it stands up to the heat a lot better then most.
Annette

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Somewhere in my seed collection I'm fairly sure I still have a seed or two of the Ijevan #1 Runner bean Ricter's used to sell. If I do, I really should probably plant them next season, though odds are probably not great (I seem to recall that, when I planted the rest of the packet five or six years ago, none of them even germinated, and I can't imagine the intervening time has made whatever is left any more fertile.

 

[flowerweaver]

Annette, you're the first to confirm my suspicion about the heat, thanks. I have friends in Florida and San Diego that have great success with them, but I think their heat is ameliorated by ocean breezes. I wonder if they could be fall planted and overwintered here?

As foolish as it sounds, I am working on a heat-tolerant fava bean landrace. Last year I planted them in the fall and overwintered them. I got a handful of beans back, but it's a start. I kind of look at them as a cover crop that might eventually produce food, since I love eating favas.