2020 Little Easy Bean Network - An Exciting Adventure In Heirloom Beans !

[Ridgerunner]

So @Bluejay77 Karachaganak has been semi-runners for you, between 2 to 3 feet. When I grew them they were half-runners around 6 to 7 feet. They would climb but not as vigorously as pole beans. That's why what I'm calling Kara Bush stuck out so much, it did not climb at all. Last year I thought of it as a bush but this year it's looking more like a semi-runner. It still did not climb but I did tie it up some to keep it off the ground. I did not want to lose any seeds I could help.

 

[Artorius]

My Karachaganaks (8 not 7, my mistake, I corrected) are currently 1.3 meters +/-. It's about 4.2 feet. They are still growing. I will watch the others. Maybe they are influenced by the weather.

 

[Blue-Jay]

So @Bluejay77 Karachaganak has been semi-runners for you, between 2 to 3 feet. When I grew them they were half-runners around 6 to 7 feet. They would climb but not as vigorously as pole beans. That's why what I'm calling Kara Bush stuck out so much, it did not climb at all. Last year I thought of it as a bush but this year it's looking more like a semi-runner. It still did not climb but I did tie it up some to keep it off the ground. I did not want to lose any seeds I could help.

Ok they are still climbing kind of beans. I thought maybe you had a true bush without runners at all. So I would not call them bush beans if they have runners of any kind and can still climb on support. I think mine last year grew to about 4 feet tall.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The original Karachaganak I grew were climbers, grew to about 6 or 7 feet and wrapped around wire and such to hold themselves up. The one I'm calling "bush" as a working name does not climb. It does not wrap around anything and was about 3 feet tall. I'd consider it a semi-runner from the way it grew this year.

Russ, where do we go with this? If what you have has stabilized as a semi-runner perhaps that should carry the Karachaganak name forward. I'd be happy with that. That's probably the simplest. And next year I'll go back to the half-runner version and try to stabilize that for my "special" name.

Maybe they are influenced by the weather.

Definitely. When I plant early spring down here I get what I consider "normal" growth. But when I plant a second round, which I'll try soon, I get more of a stunted growth. I typically get horrible harvests also. I think it is just too hot for good bean growth down here in the summer. I don't trust that to determine true growth habit.

 

[Blue-Jay]

The original Karachaganak I grew were climbers, grew to about 6 or 7 feet and wrapped around wire and such to hold themselves up. The one I'm calling "bush" as a working name does not climb. It does not wrap around anything and was about 3 feet tall. I'd consider it a semi-runner from the way it grew this year.

Russ, where do we go with this? If what you have has stabilized as a semi-runner perhaps that should carry the Karachaganak name forward. I'd be happy with that. That's probably the simplest. And next year I'll go back to the half-runner version and try to stabilize that for my "special" name.

Beans could perform a little differently in different locations. Weather or soil could make differences. Grow your Karachaganack a couple more times and see what you get. I will be growing Karachaganack again next year and lets see how they compare to yours.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Beans could perform a little differently in different locations. Weather or soil could make differences. Grow your Karachaganack a couple more times and see what you get. I will be growing Karachaganack again next year and lets see how they compare to yours.

It will be interesting to see what Artorius gets too.

 

[Betula]

@Ridgerunner - I'm growing a few Karachaganak, so I can let you know how my plants turn out.

@Bluejay77 - A quick update on the two network varieties I'm growing:

Pale Grey Lavender
Doing great so far. 100% germination, quick growing, already have some small beans growing.

Hemelvaartboontje
My notes are at home, but I think I got 80% germination - some were pre-sprouted, some weren't. Germination was slower than Pale Grey Lavender, the plants are growing slower, no flowers yet, etc. The plants look really healthy though.

Here's Pale Grey Lavender looking pretty after a much-needed rain:

 

[flowerbug]

rain, what a concept... pretty beans!

 

[flowerbug]

today i started putting up some support for the climbing beans.

last year i was really not happy with how the strings and sticks i used worked out so i will try something new this year. i pounded in some t-posts angled slightly toward the fence they are intended to top out on. then i put four strings on them, all they have to do is hold the plants long enough that they can make it to the the fence. the other part of this is that with the deer eating things on the fence i want the climbing beans to be up higher before they make it to the fence. we'll see how this works out... i don't think it can be worse than last year...

got the biggest garden (with the plants that were starting to have climbing tips on them) done this morning. no breeze and humid all morning. the other run of beans along the north part of the fence where i normally put climbing beans i have the poles pounded in but didn't get it tied up. will do that tomorrow.

aforementioned soybeans plants got raided by groundhog - they're still alive and i might get a crop but now i have no idea how it will turn out - they were such nice plants last week.

 

[baymule]

The Black Cattle beans are looking good. The Amish melons are trying to overtake them.

The Best Wax beans were slow to take off, but are doing great.