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

[heirloomgal]

yes, those are shellies.

Aha! Do you cook those simply @flowerbug, or do you cook them with other flavours? I did them with only butter and salt, and thought, meh. I felt like something was missing for some reason. Like a full compliment of amino acids; almost made me hungrier after eating them.

 

[flowerbug]

Aha! Do you cook those simply @flowerbug, or do you cook them with other flavours? I did them with only butter and salt, and thought, meh. I felt like something was missing for some reason. Like a full compliment of amino acids; almost made me hungrier after eating them.

i rarely cook beans with other things (for one it can sometimes make the skins tougher) just plain water/steaming them is normal. also i don't salt beans as i cook them. when they are done i may put some butter on them which does have some salt in it, but not that much.

the limas i normally grow the most are Fordhook bush type and there's some complexity to these which i do enjoy, at times i think of it as a maple sort of flavor or note, other things too. i'm pretty sure these flavors are lost in processing because i've never noticed them in limas from the freezer section at the store. i have a pretty good sense of taste and bland foods won't bother me.

every lima bean i've had so far has a different taste.

my body is pretty well used to eating beans but for most people i don't ever recommend making an entire meal out of just beans.

it could also just be a simple thing like different tastes and preferences too.

 

[Zeedman]

One would wonder how such a pea could be used back in Africa. Who would want one that was basically unshellable. Maybe they pound it in a mortar like millet and knock off the pods and the seed coats in one go.

Perhaps those cowpeas are cooked in the pod (most likely in the green shell stage) then either shelled out, or run between the teeth to extract the beans. A long-time SSE member who has spent a great deal of time in Latin America once stated that he had observed beans being eaten that way. It might be interesting to see how strongly the hulls would cling to the seeds, if the pods were cooked before shelling. "Cowpea edamame" might be another good experiment for this year. Who knows, the beans might just fall out when the pods are cooked.

The clinging hull and/or membrane sounds like the trait I often find in yardlong beans. I have cooked those, after a great deal of shaking, crushing between hands, and winnowing. It is very time intensive (which is probably why I still have several years worth uneaten). Ironically, it is the yardlongs with the highest dry seed yield (black-seeded) which have the most stubborn clinging membranes.

 

[flowerbug]

everyone must be busy planting!

 

[Zeedman]

everyone must be busy planting!

Good guess. Only a few things so far, since I always seem to be planting when rain is approaching. So far, only 2 beans (Bert Goodwin and Jembo Polish), two soybeans (Grande and T-239), and one pea (Yokomo Giant).

Starting a lot of transplants though, including several rescue attempts for old seed. I'm hoping to get at least one plant from my 2004 seed of Ralph's Italian Pole, since that variety is becoming scarce. Also hoping to revive my 2012 stock of 4 soybeans, with 200 seeds of each planted indoors in pots.

 

[Ridgerunner]

We've been having a little rain down this way. A few of my beans have just barely started maturing, a few days later would have been better. When this happens I pick the individual pods and move them into the dry so the seeds don't sprout in the pod. I don't wait for the pods to start to dry, I try to get them just as they start to turn color and get rubbery. I've lost too many sprouting in the pod to be casual about this. My goal is to get viable beans that will sprout. Sometimes the color is not fully mature.

Cock 'n Bull is one of those this year. Some of these will darken in color and a few will shrink as they dry but I think they are all viable. That one on top is not moldy and that is not a membrane. Occasionally one bean in a pod will look kind of weird like that even when they are fully mature. I don't know if it is a reverse or something else is going on.

Russ, this is from the Will Bonsall #32's. It looks like it may be stabilized this year but I'll wait until the harvest is over to be more sure.

For comparison this is the bean planted. Some interesting markings on it.

 

[Blue-Jay]

everyone must be busy planting!

Planted 33 beans yesterday 5/20/21 at my house. About 6 of them are Ping Zebra related. I actually wrapped them in moist paper towel Monday and when I planted them many of them had the roots starting to protrude from the seed. Got many more to go at my two offsites. I like how this May is warming up earlier than I have seen it in years. Hope to take advantage of this earlier warmth with my pole beans and get them in sooner. I would like to see and extended warm period in September and October too. No frost until November 1st.

 

[baymule]

We have had 8 3/4” of rain in less than 2 weeks. Mostly it’s been a drizzle, just enough to keep us inside, then hard showers, back to drizzle. Other places have got a lot more than us. We are high, but there is flooding in low places and water over roads. Most has drained off, but more rain coming next week.

At least I got three varieties of the purple podded green beans planted and two are now coming up.

Cassies Purple Pods

Grandma Robert’s Purple Pole Beans

 

[heirloomgal]

I like how this May is warming up earlier than I have seen it in years. Hope to take advantage of this earlier warmth with my pole beans and get them in sooner. I would like to see and extended warm period in September and October too. No frost until November 1st.

I am experiencing the same phenomenon @Bluejay77 - a warm May like I have never seen before. We have actually had an uncomfortable heat wave the last 3 days and it has been SO tempting to start poking beans into the soil. The long term forecast is really good, but I still feel cautious to plant earlier than normal. I started 3 beans of every pole bean I'm growing this year in little pots. I can't face up to planting all my bean seeds in pots! I have a large list to grow this year and I'd prefer to plant out plants not seeds.....but that is a lot of pre-planting! Plus, I always worry about the beans staying too moist in the pots in starter mix. In-ground they dry out daily, but those pots stay moist much longer.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Shellies are what I grew up with. They are what almost all the local cowpeas and limas are picked as because of our high humidity. If I want dry beans I have to pick them when the pod is just starting to turn yellow or they simultaneously sprout and mold in the shell. I’ve had roots poking out of lima pods still on the plant after a heavy rain before. Personally I think cowpeas/black eyed peas aren’t nearly as good dried.