2019 Little Easy Bean Network - Come And Reawaken The Thrill Of Discovery

[reedy]

@flowerbug , I'm in south east IN. I don't have any bush beans saved pure. They aren't all crosses but they are all mixed up. Mostly various brown seeded, early producing types. Some names I remember as being in the mix are Contender, Top Crop, Burpee Stringless, Provider but that is just a few of what's in there.

I sowed a lot a couple weeks ago, not even in rows, mostly just to improve soil where I'm gonna plant corn. Wasn't really expecting them to do much but they are up and growing. They look so good now I may leave them to maturity and plant the corn a little later than I had planned, then I'll have the nitrogen from them growing and the vines for mulch. Wish I had planted my other beans then cause now it's wet, wet, wet.

Anyway, some seeds are a little old but apparently still good so if you want a pack message your address.

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug , I'm in south east IN. I don't have any bush beans saved pure. They aren't all crosses but they are all mixed up. Mostly various brown seeded, early producing types. Some names I remember as being in the mix are Contender, Top Crop, Burpee Stringless, Provider but that is just a few of what's in there.

I sowed a lot a couple weeks ago, not even in rows, mostly just to improve soil where I'm gonna plant corn. Wasn't really expecting them to do much but they are up and growing. They look so good now I may leave them to maturity and plant the corn a little later than I had planned, then I'll have the nitrogen from them growing and the vines for mulch. Wish I had planted my other beans then cause now it's wet, wet, wet.

Anyway, some seeds are a little old but apparently still good so if you want a pack message your address.

ok, thanks, will do momentarily...

we are close enough in climate that this should work out ok. i can try to sort them out eventually or just pass some along as a blend. not that i really need more projects, but i'd rather have more bush beans in my collection and so it is worth picking them up this way. thank you again.

there's a good chance i'll only plant a few dozen of them this season to see what they do and how they fare in our soils/gardens.

 

[Lady0bug]

Sad news on the Shumway Experimental seeds which were mostly shattered in the mail. Hoping to still get some to grow. Hoping others make it here safely.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Lady0bug, Well that's weird. The post office usually hand cancels those bubble mailers and handles them by hand like a package. I've got more I can send. Maybe I'll put them in some bubble wrap and and then in another bubble mailer. Eleanor is also growing them in Michigan this summer. How many of them are still good seeds unbroken? Some quart low was probably handling them.

 

[Lady0bug]

@Bluejay77 Six, maybe seven look ok. I'll just try with these this year and see if they like MN. No need to send more seed.
I was surprised to get the Shumway Experimental before the others. Were the other varieties for this year sent in a box? I am hoping they are not lost and we have better luck with shipping.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Lady0bug, Yes the other varieties are in a box. Mail circulation is funny sometimes. You should be getting the box soon.

 

[reedy]

We had some sunshine and drying breezes yesterday and I got a good part of my ground prepped and most trellises up. Sunshine and 80 F predicted today with lowest over next 7 days of about 50, highs from mid 60s to low 80s but some chance of rain about everyday. My job is just part time and don't matter much anyway so skipping out early and gonna plant all kinds of stuff.
What do others do to tag their plantings? Last year I sealed the labels in the bags they came in, wrapped it in heavy duty shipping tape and tied it to the trellis. Worked pretty good, the ink or whatever it is from a printer doesn't seem to fade in the sun.
The seeds all look very, very good and I expect good germination so I was thinking of sacrificing one seed of each to save in the return bag, a little extra insurance that I don't get them mixed up in case something did happen to my garden tags.

 

[flowerbug]

i draw up a map and plant enough that i can usually tell what is what. last year i made the mistake of not marking the end points of each small group and only planted a few seeds in some places so i got hopelessly confused about which were which until later when the seeds started ripening enough to tell.

this year i'm going to mark each group if i mix up plantings in a row. i'm also going to put more space between groups.

i don't use tags. things happen too often around here that can move or destroy a tags usefulness. markers (things i can put down in the ground deep enough that they won't get moved and they can survive being stepped on) can provide enough help.

if i could i'd sink a chunk of rebar in a corner of each garden and measure coordinates... we'll see how things go this year before going to that extreme... good luck with your plantings.

i am tempted to try some cool season plantings of beans but i have so few extra that i don't want to risk many of certain seeds. once i build up more stocks of seeds of those i can be more risky...

our last frost dates are weeks away yet, but in another week we get more firmly into the 25-0% range. with buckwheat starting to sprout we at least are getting warm enough soil temps... no frost in the forecast for this week.

it is all the rains that are slowing down garden prep this season. most of the garden beds inside the fence are ready enough. the larger gardens outside the fenced areas will be works in progress all season, so what i can get done in those always depends upon the weather and what ever else comes along.

gotta get that fence up. i'll try to work on that today. once the lilacs and honeysuckle start blooming it is impossible for me to work along that edge...

 

[Blue-Jay]

I never tag anything in the garden. The tags are usually destroyed by weather by the end of the season. I will put a steak between bean varieties (where a variety ends and another begins) if there are more than one variety in a row, and there usually is. So I have a diagram of my bean gardens on my computer. I know what is planted in each row. If my rows lie east and west I always designate row One as the first row on the south side of my plot. If my rows lie north and south the first row on the east side of the plot is always row one. I plot out everything on a word processing program and save it. I can print out copies if I need new copies at harvest time. I keep a print out with me on a clipboard. I can make notes about varieties if I want on that.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Saving a seed for comparison can help if you get segregations. At least you know what you planted. But also some beans change color as they get older. It can be interesting to see how much aging affects them. Whites may become tan or purple may become black. Stuff like that.

I don't plant as many different varieties as other people. I make markers by ripping 2x4's into stakes and writing the bean name on both sides with a Sharpie. I've started painting clear urethane over that but the side facing the sun still fades. The shaded side stays pretty well even without the urethane so I'll stop using it. The writing lasts for a season. I've asked at gardening stores if they have a marker that lasts, they look at me like I'm silly.

When I plant the beans I pay attention to colors/patterns so I put contrasting beans close to each other. I try to give enough room so they don't grow together but occasionally I can get a pole bean that goes crazy.