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

[Zeedman]

Of the beans I planted at the end of May, the string of hot days which followed was nearly ideal. All beans came up, with nearly 100% germination. It appears I'm not out of the woods yet though... squirrels took an interest in the emerging seedlings, and began methodically digging them up. Not eating them, mind you, just destroying them for no apparent reason. They've done this before with pots (frequently on DW's hanging pots, to her great dismay) but never before in the gardens. All of the runner beans were dug up, and destruction began on some of the emerging string beans & limas. That was especially frustrating for the limas, given that I seldom get them in so early in the season, and only rarely direct sow.

As a rule, I have little faith in products which claim to "repel" animals, but a friend gave me something they've used to keep squirrels away from their bird feeders, and so far it appears to have stopped the damage. No worries yet about the lost plants; it is still early in the season, and I've already started transplants to fill in the holes.

 

[HmooseK]

This may be one of my few beans that produces anything. This is Chestnut Flavored and it's a rare one.

 

[flowerbug]

This may be one of my few beans that produces anything. This is Chestnut Flavored and it's a rare one.

i'm not sure if it is trouble because of the heat or because of drought?

a gardener friend down south grows a lot of cowpeas/field peas that seem to tolerate the conditions. i've not ever had very good luck with the longer season they need. all mine grow well at first, and fill pods, but the beans rarely look good when dried because of the later season rains.

also, have you ever tried growing chickpeas?

 

[Eleanor]

@flowerbug

If you want to try cowpea again, several varieties that have done well for me are Fast Lady Northern Southern Pea Cowpea, Grey Speckled Palapye Cowpea, and Potawatomi Rabbit Cowpea; I can share seeds, though your area of the mitten seems to get more rain than mine...

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug

If you want to try cowpea again, several varieties that have done well for me are Fast Lady Northern Southern Pea Cowpea, Grey Speckled Palapye Cowpea, and Potawatomi Rabbit Cowpea; I can share seeds, though your area of the mitten seems to get more rain than mine...

thanks. the thought is nice, though it seems i'm more in focus on beans. a friend sent me a bunch of his cowpea varieties to try and i never planted them. last year peas were ignored, this year, same thing, i meant to get some peas in and didn't, too busy with other things this spring and the frosts kept hanging on.

finally finished planting the last beans inside the fence and replanted a few spots that had gaps in germination.

we usually do not get as much rain as people north or south of us a few miles in either direction. the valley causes a lot of storms to fade out or split and go around us.

an average month is about 3 inches of rain, but we've had droughts where i had to rely upon the well water to get the plants through. last summer was pretty dry for a long spell.

 

[Blue-Jay]

4.3 inches of rain over the weekend. I hope the beans I planted this past week don't rot in the ground.

 

[Michael Lusk]

4.3 inches of rain over the weekend. I hope the beans I planted this past week don't rot in the ground.

It's like a monsoon here in Indy as well. Strange weather this spring, one extreme to the next.

 

[flowerbug]

@Bluejay77 from what pictures i've seen of your gardens they all look fairly sandy/loamy soil so they're probably ok as long as we don't get more cloudy/cold days. forecast looks good here for this week. only slight chances of rain Tues/Tues night.

 

[saritabee]

It's like a monsoon here in Indy as well. Strange weather this spring, one extreme to the next.

Here too! We got hail on Sunday -- biggest hail I've ever seen here -- and then it's supposed to hit 98 degrees by the end of the week. At least the hail didn't hurt the beans!!

 

[Michael Lusk]

I planted my last two network beans the last week in May and have mixed results. The Cape Sugar 2 germinated close to 100% and are thriving. The Joyce Fetterly's Red & White are about 30% and the handful of plants are looking a bit weak.

As for the balance of my network beans, they are all doing well at this point and climbing nicely (all poles).