2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[Boilergardener]

@Boilergardener

Thhe grower in Apalachin, NY that is in zone 4b has grown Hallados Grandos and they got the bean from Joseph Simcox "The Botanical Explorer". He brought in back into the U.S. from somewhere overseas. If we can figure out what language Hallados Grandos is from that's probably the country the bean comes from.

That is very interesting! It seems Joseph simcox finds a ton of interesting beans. I will see what google says!

 

[Pulsegleaner]

@Boilergardener

Thhe grower in Apalachin, NY that is in zone 4b has grown Hallados Grandos and they got the bean from Joseph Simcox "The Botanical Explorer". He brought in back into the U.S. from somewhere overseas. If we can figure out what language Hallados Grandos is from that's probably the country the bean comes from.

Seems to be Spanish. A rough translation would be "Big Find" or "Big Discovery" (thought why it's grandos and not grande I have no idea.)

Unfortunately, Spanish gives us Spain, plus pretty much the whole of the Americas from Mexico down.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Wow! I just heard about doing this. How long have you been cleaning up your beds like this, and, is it easier to plant there the next year?

When the bean pods are well filled with seed and a few have dried and some are yellowing there still could be many green ones waiting to dry. For pole beans I cut the vines at the soil line. That shuts off the water to the plant and leaves die and dry sooner and that gets all the pods that are on the plants drying faster. Bush beans I cut then clip off all the leaves and hang them on poles up off the ground on long 3 inch screws I've afixed to the poles. Gets the bush beans away from the moist soil and I wind up with beautiful seed. Cuts my seed losses quite a bit. I've been doing this with my beans for about the last 7 years. Also as the leafless plants hang drying rain doesn't seem to bother the seed in the pods. Sometimes I've gotten mold on the pods after they've gone through a rain or two, but the mold is very superficial.

When all the vines of Poles and Bush plants are harvested. I take my lawn mower and shred all the dead plants and shelled pods. Till them under and I have a nice clean plot to work with again the next spring.

Bush bean plants hanging and drying. This photo taken September 1, 2022. This bed is now nearly empty.

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal We're all set. Just give me the word and I'll send Lazy Wife's Pole Bean along with my other Network beans once they've all dried down sufficiently.

Best of luck tonight with the cold spell. I hope everything goes well.

Thanks @meadow!
We all just came in from blanketing and burlapping the few pole beans where it was possible. We had to use a ladder as some, like Lazy Wife, are 10 feet tall! Hopefully they will make it through, but they are still pretty green. This is what I get for not having transplants for everything!!! I tried to, just was one of those inclement weather years. All things considered, most things seemed to work out well, but network beans can cause me to stress out when things like this happen! Lol

There was a frost advisory on the WN tonight, but I've till got my fingers crossed. Hope springs eternal...

 

[Decoy1]

n doing my own searching through the old Burpee's catalogues, they listed it as "Lazy Wife's Pole Bean" which is what I think of as the correct name. But they did shorten it in later years too, so who knows? BTW, Burpee continued to sell it until the mid-1950's.

Real Seeds in UK, and possibly others, sell ‘ Lazy Housewife’ bean. It seems to be the same bean as it’s round and white, and they reference Burpee as first offering it.
I don’t know when the ‘house’ bit was adopted nor how widespread the use of that name is, but it seems clear that Lazy Wife’ is the original name.

They warn that it’s a late season bean and I’ve found that to be so. Getting dried pods here might be quite tricky.

 

[meadow]

Real Seeds in UK, and possibly others, sell ‘ Lazy Housewife’ bean. It seems to be the same bean as it’s round and white, and they reference Burpee as first offering it.
I don’t know when the ‘house’ bit was adopted nor how widespread the use of that name is, but it seems clear that Lazy Wife’ is the original name.

They warn that it’s a late season bean and I’ve found that to be so. Getting dried pods here might be quite tricky.

That is very interesting! I was under the impression that the Housewife name came in with the change in shape in the 1980's, although I do not recall what makes me think that. After seeing your post, I did a search and found that Burpee currently lists the round version as Lazy Housewife! Which begs the question: At what point does a name change become the name?

I would be willing to bet there was a clerical error at some point since the current Burpee listing says: "True heirloom ‘Lazy Housewife’ pole bean was originally introduced by W. Atlee Burpee Co. in 1885."

Since digital copies of the 1885-1953 Burpee catalogues are available online, we can confirm that it was never listed as Lazy Housewife during those years. The bean does not appear in 1958 (the next available catalog) and I don't know when they began carrying it again. Comparison between 1953 and 1958 show that Lazy Wife's was not replaced by another variety. Perhaps there was a crop failure, or it could be that customer interest waned after the introduction of Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake.

 

[flowerbug]

some beans flower in response to day length so even if you grow them in pots and transplant it won't change when they bloom and set fruits.

 

[ducks4you]

@bluejay, that is Great advice! I targeted one purple bean bush yesterday, for this. It is at the end of the row and will be easy to cut and hang after I see that is has some good sized pods with visible seeds. I intend to take your advice for ALL of my bean plants, including my lone yard long bean.
This week I heard advice about saving seed from plants and that they will adapt to your own microclimate. I have heard/read the same advice before, so it's worth doing.
Actually, my question was More about letting the roots rot in the ground where the vegetable plants have created their own tunnels and naturally tilled up the soil beneath the plant. Of course, when they rot they will feed next year's growth. They are, after all annuals, not like some weeds that will be happy to become perennial and behave more like a Japanese Maple tree! I have to dig/poison those if I really let them go, and I have two growing in front of my barn where the earthworms have created a lawn on top of gravel. Pretty difficult to dig!
I will cover where they grew in anticipation of the 2023 gardening in each spot.

 

[ducks4you]

Leaving old plant roots in the ground | Easy Guide - Eco Family Life

Leave the roots of annual flowers with small roots in the ground as they will ... Read more

ecofamilylife.com

 

[heirloomgal]

So happy, all the beans made it through unscathed last night. There was a frost but it didn't come down from the roof of the house. Another advisory tonight, hope it goes as well as last night.

I had no idea that Lazy Wife was considered a later maturing bean!