2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[heirloomgal]

I'm so blown away by your generosity and kindness @meadow. I'm one of those big time, worry wart people when it comes to the network beans and that you were so willing to help me out....it's just . It's really important to me to be able to send @Bluejay77 back all his seeds. I may actually have some good news with Lazy Wife - I've got the pole leaning in the corner of my room right now (PEW! ), and though it was still VERY green when I pulled it, it also had bulging pods that are now yellowing!! I'll get to crack some open hopefully within a week!

 

[heirloomgal]

FINALLY was able to shell some Bolita! Wow, is that one easy to shell! The pod is like paper. What a pleasure.

Nice! I love those pods!

 

[Blue-Jay]

So what causes the seed coat to be incomplete?

In 2012 we had a very, very hot dry summer. Painted Pony produced only half it's seed with fully formed seeds. I have a pole bean doing that to a large extent this year. It maybe some beans are stressed about something in the enviornment. Heat, drought, soil type something. Painted Pony has not had poorly formed seed everytime I've grown in since 2012. I'm getting a lot of shriveled seed this year amongst a lot of pole bean varieties. I have a few beans that have produced well formed seed every single pod I've shelled. Grown in the same soil and went through all the same envirormental changes. I have several varieties that have such poorly formed seed I didn't not harvest any of their seed this year. Every single seed of these few varieties are severely shriveled. Some sort of stress has occured for some of these beans.

 

[jbosmith]

bigger tubs are too hard to move. i had one at first here to start with but it was too hard on me so i eventually switched it out for more buckets. at one time i was up to 17 buckets but that was too much room taken up so now i'm down to 10 and that is working ok.

I feel like I'm getting way off the thread topic but - They're bigger in terms of container volume, not in terms of how much I put in them. The 5 gallon tubs weigh about the same as the 14s.. they're just lacking in airspace above the bedding.

 

[meadow]

In 2012 we had a very, very hot dry summer. Painted Pony produced only half it's seed with fully formed seeds. I have a pole bean doing that to a large extent this year. It maybe some beans are stressed about something in the enviornment. Heat, drought, soil type something. Painted Pony has not had poorly formed seed everytime I've grown in since 2012. I'm getting a lot of shriveled seed this year amongst a lot of pole bean varieties. I have a few beans that have produced well formed seed every single pod I've shelled. Grown in the same soil and went through all the same envirormental changes. I have several varieties that have such poorly formed seed I didn't not harvest any of their seed this year. Every single seed of these few varieties are severely shriveled. Some sort of stress has occured for some of these beans.

None of these seed are small or shriveled, it is only the color that is not fully encasing the seed. If the white coat was paint on wood, you'd think it had been poorly applied at one tip (right at the edge).

Oh, wait a second. I think I see what you mean. So even the incomplete seed coat like I've described is a type of 'not being fully formed' and is due to some type of stressor? (sorry to be so dense!)

 

[Paul G]

Welcome @Paul G !

So great to have another bean grower here! I adore European bean varieties, and am curious what some of your favourites to grow & eat might be!

Lately I've been looking at some of the European seed houses, like Deaflora & Samenfest. So many gorgeous beans. This year I grew the bean Quedlinberger Speck and thought it was pretty fantastic.

We love pix here too!

My top three is :
-A gout de Chataigne d'Echenans (taste good like chestnut, are firm and with a soft skin).
-Succotash (excellent flavor, shapes is like a corn seed and keeps is color after cooking)
-Orteil de precheur (Phaseolus coccineus) taste good and is MASSIVE, (once coocked bigger than a thum), also perennial in warm climates)
Did I mentioned that purple is my favorite color =P
I haven't looked into german website so many place to see...)

 

[flowerbug]

None of these seed are small or shriveled, it is only the color that is not fully encasing the seed. If the white coat was paint on wood, you'd think it had been poorly applied at one tip (right at the edge).

right, or sometimes you will have a split of the seed coat or have bare parts of seed interior sticking out the end. other times i have seeds that don't look like they're shaped correctly with an end smaller than the other or lumps. hollow and lighter feeling (or sounding seeds when you drop them on a thin tray).

i think they are still viable if they don't have a fully covered seed coat or are mostly formed but i've never explored the limits in the other direction.

Oh, wait a second. I think I see what you mean. So even the incomplete seed coat like I've described is a type of 'not being fully formed' and is due to some type of stressor? (sorry to be so dense!)

yes. heat and uneven watering seem to be the two things that cause havoc here. a dry spell followed by heavy rains may shut things down too. some of the largest beans are the most challenging for me to get decent results and is why i tend to select for smaller beans in the crosses that come along.

 

[meadow]

i think they are still viable if they don't have a fully covered seed coat

Yes, at least the type that I'm describing is viable (some of the seeds these were grown from had the same issue).

yes. heat and uneven watering seem to be the two things that cause havoc here. a dry spell followed by heavy rains may shut things down too.

That would be it then. Both beans are the only glossy white beans I've grown; they were both grown in an isolation bed in front of the house bordered by a sidewalk that reflects heat (but were well mulched). DH took care of handwatering them. Well, good to know. Thanks!

some of the largest beans are the most challenging for me to get decent results and is why i tend to select for smaller beans in the crosses that come along.

Tarbais is a large bean and Lazy Wife's is small.

 

[jbosmith]

My top three is :
-A gout de Chataigne d'Echenans (taste good like chestnut, are firm and with a soft skin).
-Succotash (excellent flavor, shapes is like a corn seed and keeps is color after cooking)
-Orteil de precheur (Phaseolus coccineus) taste good and is MASSIVE, (once coocked bigger than a thum), also perennial in warm climates)
Did I mentioned that purple is my favorite color =P
I haven't looked into german website so many place to see...)

Ohhh these are all beauties! Welcome, Paul! Is Succotash named for the Narragansett dish?

 

[heirloomgal]

My top three is :
-A gout de Chataigne d'Echenans (taste good like chestnut, are firm and with a soft skin).
-Succotash (excellent flavor, shapes is like a corn seed and keeps is color after cooking)
-Orteil de precheur (Phaseolus coccineus) taste good and is MASSIVE, (once coocked bigger than a thum), also perennial in warm climates)
Did I mentioned that purple is my favorite color =P
I haven't looked into german website so many place to see...)

Beautiful beans. In 2019 I grew Succotash, it was so incredibly different and looked so much like purple corn. I didn't get to eat many since I had not many plants and production was on the lower side. I think I might try it again in 2023 and see if I get a better harvest. Do you find it productive in your gardens?

I LOVE Gout de Chataigne D'Echenans! I grew that one last year. The original seed I planted was beige, and I was harvesting dry pods from another variety called Kaiser Friedrich, which had purple seeds, with it. Well, when I shelled all those pods out I mixed them up because all the GD'E were now purple - not beige. I collected a huge jar of great seed....for both together.

Any ideas for how I might ferret out Gd'E in the future? Telltale characteristics?

Have you seen @Bluejay77 ''s Fagiola Viola Assiago? Gorgeous! I grew Zwolse Paarse (I think it translates to Sultry Purple )this summer and it's just a gorgeous purple too. Blue and purple beans... .