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

[Pulsegleaner]

Mine I'm just letting climb up on their own in the "whiskey barrels" (now a misnomer, as the actual half whisky barrels disintegrated ages ago and were replaced with large plastic pots.) They seem to be fine with it.

If you are planning to EAT any of the seeds at the end, read up on lathyrism (i.e. why you should take it easy on them). In general, the paler the seeds the less ODAP and BAPN they will have, and the safer they will be. So when and if yours flower, you should be marking the WHITE flowered ones for eating. (generally, the Italian ones tend to be lower in the nasty stuff than the Indian ones, and bigger seeded, so you should have less problems.)

 

[Eleanor]

I didn't know what a grass pea was... but upon further research, discovered that I am growing it this year under a different name. The seed given to me was called "Italian Cicerchia" (but helpfully, also had Lathyrus sativus on the label). Never having grown this, I'm curious what growth habit I should expect? Photos on the Web mostly focused on the flowers, pods, and seeds. Do the plants require support?

Sicilian Cicerchia have sturdy, yet wispy trailing branches that do not climb. Planted with a 4"-6" spacing, they are self supportive though I suspect they'd appreciate tomato cage support to help keep the branches off the soil. They are aboard Slow Food's Ark of Taste and are wonderful in soup - we've had them in Zuppa di Cicerchie. You'd have to consistently and heavily eat cicerchia for an extended period of time before lathyrism becomes an issue. We soak ours overnight and boil them for about an hour before using.

ETA: in checking my notes, they do have tendrils so while I have always grown them as self-supportive bushes, I do think they'd climb like peas. Plants reach ~2.5 feet in our gardens.

 

[Zeedman]

Thank you for the info, @Eleanor . I will plan on growing the plants between small poles, and supporting them with several string loops wrapped around the plants (I do much the same for peas, to keep them on the trellis).

 

[flowerbug]

i have two surviving Fort Portal Jade plants out there and the Purple Dove are just breaking ground.

if both of these survive the next few nights i'll consider it a good thing. i still haven't found my other FPJ seeds to poke more in the gaps of the row i planted already, so perhaps that's an ok thing...

 

[Blue-Jay]

We have had frost here in Woodstock, Ilinois this morning May 29, 2021. Some people are worried about global warming. I don't think so. This is the latest I have ever seen frost in my lifetime. Nothing down on the ground thank God. It was all on the rooftops of houses. I have little bean babies that came up during our recent warm weather.

 

[baymule]

I’m glad your beans didn’t get frosted!

 

[Pulsegleaner]

As of yesterday, all remaining beans are in their places outside.

The one leftover long bean went into the stump garden. At this time I saw three shoots that are either additional long beans or Bambara groundnuts (I planted both at more or less the same time in more or less the same area, and they are closely related, so at this point it could be either).

And the three mystery lima beans that actually germinated went into their pot on the patio. Though I have doubts as to whether one of them will do anything (it lost a cotyledon when it sprouted. I know that doesn't actually mean much, a plant can get along perfectly well with only one, but I also note the radicle doesn't seem to be doing anything either which is a less good sign.

I have reservations about putting all three in the same pot (since there are two kinds, and I seem to recall lima beans will cross more readily than common beans. But space was limited so what can you do? (Then again, since I am not sure one of them is a lima bean, it might not mean much [remember when I finally get pods, I am relying on someone of you to be able to give me better intel from a good picture of them])

The general mystery pot plants are doing fine, and now ALL have permanent leaves, including the one that hadn't emerged last time (considering how comparatively large the seed is, the actual shoot and leaves are tiny).

 

[flowerbug]

well the frost warnings showed up today. normally when there is a frost warning from the weather forecast it is rare that we come out better because we are lower in elevation from the forecast station.

the two bean plants i worry about the most i put a bucket over each of them and then i watered all the rest of the bean sprouts so perhaps they'll be ok or not, we'll find out tomorrow once it warms up again.

 

[Myrthryn]

well the frost warnings showed up today. normally when there is a frost warning from the weather forecast it is rare that we come out better because we are lower in elevation from the forecast station.

the two bean plants i worry about the most i put a bucket over each of them and then i watered all the rest of the bean sprouts so perhaps they'll be ok or not, we'll find out tomorrow once it warms up again.

My brother up in the UP told me he was expecting 25 degrees last night..and that halfway through mushroom season. Most of his "green" is inside though.

 

[heirloomgal]

well the frost warnings showed up today. normally when there is a frost warning from the weather forecast it is rare that we come out better because we are lower in elevation from the forecast station.

the two bean plants i worry about the most i put a bucket over each of them and then i watered all the rest of the bean sprouts so perhaps they'll be ok or not, we'll find out tomorrow once it warms up again.

I saw a frost warning too on my weather station ; every day the last 'frost' chance seems to change. I guess this was a good year to do so many beans in pots, I can tuck them into the greenhouse at night and not run around throwing sheets and pots over everything.