2018 Little Easy Bean Network - Join Us In Saving Amazing Heirloom Beans

[Zeedman]

@Zeedman- I was impressed with your vole trapping, I need to do that but don't know how. What kind of trap and bait do you use, just the apricots? My problem with traps has been that I have caught birds instead, baited with peanut butter, which is heart-breaking. I tried one rat snap trap at the mouth of a vole tunnel and put it under a bottomless bird cage so nothing could get it above ground, but it seems slugs or something ate the peanut butter and I didn't catch anything. My main defense has been putting lava rock in my planting trenches, and cayenne pepper, and this year when they were chewing off my pole bean stems at the ground I poured castor oil and dishwashing liquid down some holes and along the rows and it did stop that.

Chewing off plants at the ground is one of the reasons voles can be so frustrating. That, and their often overwhelming numbers.

The traps I use are plastic snap traps, with bait cups. They are weatherproof, and last for years outdoors. The best ones I've tried are the Kness, my main trap. Bought 30-40 of them in 2005-2006, still have most of them:
http://www.kness.com/store/pc/Snap-E-Mousetrap-3p4.htm
Tomcat makes one which is similar, but they are actually too sensitive... too many false triggers. Even a rain drop will set one off.

The most effective way I've found to deal with a vole infestation is to "chum" with pieces of dried apricot in the affected area (taking a lesson learned from salt water fishing), then a day or two later, lay out a lot of traps at once. I like using pieces of dried apricots as bait because you can pack them tightly into the bait cups, they don't fall apart after a rain, and the strong scent attracts rodents. Place the traps under dense foliage (where the mice make their runs) and mark the locations with survey flags, so you can remember where you put them. Check the traps as necessary at least daily (especially after the first day) and remove dead mice promptly. Don't be surprised if you find half of the traps have mice after 24 hours! Most of the mice will be trapped in about a week, but watch for others that might move in from surrounding areas... or just bait those areas proactively, which is why I have so many traps.

There were years where I caught a few birds too, probably because some of my traps at the time were easily visible. Haven't caught a bird in years through, since I began hiding the traps under dense foliage.

 

[Decoy1]

if the question is seeds for saving, once the pods are fully plumped up and the beans inside are fully formed they aren't going to get any more nutrition from the plant. you can check this by opening a few pods and looking at the connection between the pod and the bean. if it is dry and hard enough a connection you can be sure there is nothing more going through there. so drying and shelling them out one way vs. another is a matter of labor or space saving for me. rescueing from frost and mold is what i have to do some checking today.

That is just so beautifully usefully clear and quite a relief. Thank you, flowerbug.

 

[Michael Lusk]

flowerbug will like these. Two new beans that I have acquired recently. Fist photo is a bush variety from South Georgia Seed Company called "Lady". Second photo is a pole bean from a fellow in Belgium called "Pale Grey Lavender" I try not to collect new varieties, but it just doesn't seem to work out well for me. LOL

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Pole grey lavender almost looks like a small rock, very cool looking bean...

 

[flowerbug]

I don't use scraps of paper, they don't fare well in a room with a fan on, I use masking tape in the bottom of my drying baskets.

i use box tops and other trays with edges up a bit so the pieces of paper are usually down far enough that any stray breezes won't catch them.

 

[flowerbug]

That is just so beautifully usefully clear and quite a relief. Thank you, flowerbug.

y.w. i can run on a bit... haha

 

[flowerbug]

Yes, I've found this to be the case too. I have Jembo Polish, which is a large flattish-podded bean, and it has been so slow to mature that I might not get any advanced enough to save as seed or dried beans. On the other hand, the other large one I have is Italian Snap from beansandherbs.co.uk which has been a little slow but has just about managed to produce a fair crop of drying pods. But it's interesting that the larger flatter-podded beans seem later - not that I have enough to make any sweeping statements.

i think it's really interesting that i can usually get three or four pickings off the Fordhook Lima beans and some of them are quite big and other times the beans don't finish up and i have partially formed beans in the pods. i'll eat those too so they're not really a loss, but it's frustrating when you think you have a decent crop and you end up with not much for the effort of picking.

in comparison some of the other large beans, nothing but nearly empty shells... same season, same soil...

besides the collecting and cross breeding possibilities this is also why i do grow a lot of different kinds of beans. some years some do better than others. though now i know a lot of it is basic soil conditions for the larger beans i can put those in the better soil areas and keep putting the more reliable smaller beans in the other spots and then i'll be down to a few test beans here or there to see what happens kinds of plantings...

 

[flowerbug]

@Decoy1, my network grow-out Sarcony 1 looks a lot like especially Mrs, Fortune's but I can't compare sizes.
@flowerbug I am interested that you are growing Munachedda Pale and finding it slow, as that is another of my Network beans, also really slow for me, it started setting pods really late and I'm worried about them drying down sufficiently before frosts, though sometimes our frosts can be really late. I'm considering draping a plastic sheet over it to try to keep it warmer.

where abouts are you located?

so far a hard frost hasn't come along yet to put an end to things. no hard frosts in the forecast (one night down into the 30s) for the next week so we'll see how that encourages things along.

it's been raining quite a bit the past four days. checked the rain gauge and that was over 4inches. no sun to give energy to the plant to help it finish up.

so far the beans i've shelled from those plants are definitely pale and without markings. quite different from what was planted. i wonder how long it takes before the seed coat markings start to show up... with the Yellow Eye beans it can take a few days - the MCPs definitely take longer.

 

[flowerbug]

Chewing off plants at the ground is one of the reasons voles can be so frustrating. That, and their often overwhelming numbers.

The traps I use are plastic snap traps, with bait cups. They are weatherproof, and last for years outdoors. The best ones I've tried are the Kness, my main trap. Bought 30-40 of them in 2005-2006, still have most of them:
http://www.kness.com/store/pc/Snap-E-Mousetrap-3p4.htm
Tomcat makes one which is similar, but they are actually too sensitive... too many false triggers. Even a rain drop will set one off.

The most effective way I've found to deal with a vole infestation is to "chum" with pieces of dried apricot in the affected area (taking a lesson learned from salt water fishing), then a day or two later, lay out a lot of traps at once. I like using pieces of dried apricots as bait because you can pack them tightly into the bait cups, they don't fall apart after a rain, and the strong scent attracts rodents. Place the traps under dense foliage (where the mice make their runs) and mark the locations with survey flags, so you can remember where you put them. Check the traps as necessary at least daily (especially after the first day) and remove dead mice promptly. Don't be surprised if you find half of the traps have mice after 24 hours! Most of the mice will be trapped in about a week, but watch for others that might move in from surrounding areas... or just bait those areas proactively, which is why I have so many traps.

There were years where I caught a few birds too, probably because some of my traps at the time were easily visible. Haven't caught a bird in years through, since I began hiding the traps under dense foliage.

thanks for all of that. a lot of good sense in there.

those traps look much nicer than the ones i have now and look like they'll last. the ones i have now are all black plastic and the trigger wears quickly after a few uses they won't hold a set any longer. which is frustrating to me to spend $ on an item and then only have it last a short while.

how much per trap were those? i don't see pricing. will have to look for them. closest distributor is quite a drive away, but i may be able to have someone who goes out and about more pick a few up for me... we'll see...

 

[flowerbug]

flowerbug will like these. Two new beans that I have acquired recently. Fist photo is a bush variety from South Georgia Seed Company called "Lady". Second photo is a pole bean from a fellow in Belgium called "Pale Grey Lavender" I try not to collect new varieties, but it just doesn't seem to work out well for me. LOL

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i do! i do!

the first for the pattern and the 2nd one with the rounder shape.

the 2nd looks like a possible parent for the Dappled Gray...

 

[Blue-Jay]

i do! i do!
the first for the pattern and the 2nd one with the rounder shape.
the 2nd looks like a possible parent for the Dappled Gray...

I have an outcross that I have been growing since 2013 that has a seed coat similar to "Pale Grey Lavender", and another bean I got from a lady in Pennsylvania and grew this year called Giant Nilgiri. After I get all my photos of beans done you will see them all here. Will probably start posting my 2018 grow outs late next week.