2021 Little Easy Bean Network - Bean Lovers Come Discover Something New !

[Artorius]

@Artorius if you don't have enough of Huey or Lemon Slice to send back to @Bluejay77 i can include those in my returns.

i grew about a kilo of Huey this year and have plenty and i should also be able to find enough Lemon Slice too for some to go back.

@flowerbug
Once again I wrote not very clearly. This is because I am trying to write in English, but I am thinking in Polish. Forgive me.
I have collected a lot of Huey and Lemon Slice seeds and can send back the right amount with no problem.
What I meant was that they are not on the list of varieties I need to return, and I was sure they were there

 

[Artorius]

@Artorius,

I can not find the Coon bean on Bill Best's Sustainable Mountain Agriculture website. Can you tell me what page it's on. I've looked all through his beans twice and can't see it.

@Bluejay77

Coon Bean

Southern Appalachian Heirloom Seed Bank Providing a Source to the Public of Yesterdays Wonderful Seed Varieties

www.heirlooms.org

And Cherokee beans that I also wrote about.

Cherokee Long Greasy

Sustainable Mountain Agriculture Center Berea, Kentucky

www.heirlooms.org

Cherokee Greasy

Southern Appalachian Heirloom Seed Bank Providing a Source to the Public of Yesterdays Wonderful Seed Varieties

www.heirlooms.org

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Artorius,

I ordered the Coon bean for you this morning.

 

[flowerbug]

I didn't think you were going to send back any of flowerbugs seeds to me. I figured you must have made an agreement with him that what I was sending of his to you that was banked in my freezer was going to be a gift. Make whatever revisions you need to make on the papers. Just keep in mind that the labels on your packets must agree with your list.

yes, that was what i thought too, but now that i read the other post by @Artorius i understand what is going on.

i consider them a gift to anyone who wants them in the bean growing community and not actually LEB network beans, but i'd be honored if they ever make it into the heirloom status (in what about 50 years ) ? lol

i'm also still glad that they made it overseas and were successfully grown.

i do all of this because it is fun and interesting and in the end i hope useful to others and those who come along later and want different beans.

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug
Once again I wrote not very clearly. This is because I am trying to write in English, but I am thinking in Polish. Forgive me.

completely ok with me. thank you for the clarification.

 

[heirloomgal]

What do you do with the soybeans? Use them like other dry beans or something specific? I've never grown soy but it's on my tentative list for next year!

I love bean resilience stories. I had some last year that were eaten by bugs early on, I replanted with transplants covered in kaolin clay which did fine and ripened normally, and then I noticed a second layer of other beans that had regrown from the stubs of the first wave!

I am trying to build a seed collection, and up until last year I had no soybeans/edamame in there, so I tried some in 2020 - Agate, Sayamusume and Beerfriend. They were all productive, especially Agate. So I've got 3 now, plus this year I grew Hokkaido Black, Gaia, and another black one whose name I can't remember at the moment. Didn't have near as good luck as last year! But it's a start. Because my supply is just beginning I haven't cooked many up yet (but I admit I quite like the taste of raw, fresh edamame seeds) but I've bought frozen edamame and liked them. Plus, the seed companies here are really running low on soybean seed stocks, I'm guessing because the nutrition profile is so good on them, so I thought it might be wise to get some for that reason too.

I just love bean survival stories too @jbosmith ! I was out today in the garden and saw a bunch of beans that must have fallen from plants when I harvested dry pods. I hadn't even seen any open pods, let alone seeds on the ground, yet low and behold, I have a bunch of bean plants starting right now out there, in mid October ! Frost will come soon I'm sure, but it amazes me that they sprouted in October and have managed to put out true leaves!

 

[heirloomgal]

I tried lentils last year, which was fun but I think that harvesting is best left to people with equipment

How was the return per plant? Did you find it worth the space they required? I've always been curious about growing those.

 

[heirloomgal]

@Bluejay77 Earlier in the year you mentioned that sometimes growers will send you back extra seed on varieties that did super well for them. There are some varieties where I could send you back extra, but I don't think this would be possible with our shipping arrangement over the border? Or is it? There are even a few network beans on your site that I didn't get from you but I'd be happy to send you some seeds if you'd like, as I happened to grow a few of them this year. I'm not sure what is possible in terms of sending you some extras because I think the return package is counted to the bean exactly. Any ideas?

IT WAS SO FUN TO GROW ALL THOSE BEANS!
I am just thrilled to have all these new beans!
What a wonderful opportunity to get some special & rare varieties!
SO grateful to you @Bluejay77 !

 

[heirloomgal]

Every time I check on beans I'm impressed with how nice these look. Norridgewock from Maine. The red is a little more wine colored in person.
View attachment 44388

Gorgeous beans!

 

[jbosmith]

How was the return per plant? Did you find it worth the space they required? I've always been curious about growing those.

Well, I'm not sure about total yield because the deer nibbled on them quite a bit early on and I had a small planting, but the main problem was the pods. There is ONE TO THREE lentils per pod. Picking them is painfully slow, let alone shelling them! I don't know anything about the following site but there's a picture at the top. The plants are certainly lovely!

How to Grow Lentils in 3 Simple Stages

By the end of this article, you'd not have only learned how to grow lentils, but also some other practical tips you can use in maximizing...

www.hortzone.com

I tried growing cow peas this year and, though I had marginal luck with most varieties, the few pods that I got had more like 10 beans per pod. They're a little bigger too of course, but still pretty small. Still, that many beans per ponds makes them far less time consuming to manage. The two varieties that have done the best for me so far are Fast Lady Northern Southern and Grey Speckled Palapye in case you're interested. They're in my warmest garden though so a surprise comeback by another variety is still possible.