2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[jbosmith]

I used to have living rooms, etc. that looked like all of yours but this year I finally got a couple of sets of 2x4' (~60x120cm) shelves. Each shelf fits 4 beer can flats or 3 bus tubs. One set has 5 shelves while the other has 6. It's amazing how consolidated and tidy everything feels. While my lovely partner has always tolerated my bean (and garlic, and squash, and wheat, and cabbage, and ..) piles, I also think she's a whole lot happier not having to watch where she walks.

As an added bonus, some of the shelves turn upside down rather nicely to hold beans like a giant bowl. There are over 4 gallons of pintos on the top shelf in this pic, and about 2 gallons of @Bluejay77's Red Turtle. There is both cardboard and paper towels to protect the shelves from damage and to keep the beans from falling into the crack around the edge.

The other set of shelves is one of the steel wire sets and I zip tied a whole bunch of cheapo Berina shop lights to them for extra spring grow space. Don't mind the random jar that I was too lazy to move. That's the new home for the red beans once it dries completely.

 

[meadow]

Most of my beds run north to south, but it has more to do with locations, water flow, and access than anything else. I'm not sure it makes a difference otherwise. If you plant the tall stuff at the northern edge it won't shade anything but itself. Unless your beds are super crowded or you're growing incredibly tall things, it'll be fine regardless.

Yeah, that's what I've thought too.

But this year I grew GaGa Hut on a trellis that ran East to West. This was an abnormally tall trellis (using scraps at hand) which gave me a good view of the final height of each plant. The tops were at an angle, with the tallest being at the eastern end of the trellis. A line drawn from tip to tip would have formed the hypotenuse of a right triangle with a little less than a 30 degree incline. Which is what got me to wondering "Why?" and if the row orientation makes more of a difference than I'd thought.

@Bluejay77 Which way do you run your bush bean rows?

 

[Triffid]

Similarly, beans and pods strewn everywhere here. I feel slightly less guilty about it now that I've seen other abodes fully bean'd out.

@Bluejay77 Russ, the network beans are all dry and ready to go bar one; Pink Tip Greasy is taking her time and no, she is not sorry for the wait. Such fabulousness does not happen over night

 

[heirloomgal]

If your pods are very swollen with seed and you might be within two weeks of a hard freeze. You can cut the vines at the soil line and let them dry for a while. Then harvest them before a freeze even if the pods are still green. If you have judged that you need to allow your green pods to continue to develop all the way up to just before a frost and your pods are swollen with seed go ahead and harvest them and dry them indoors. Most pods give me smooth well filled out seed with good color. Your seed will color up during the drying process in the pod. Sometimes I get a few shriveled seed but that can't be helped. I am drying my entire Andromeda pod harvest from 99.99% green pods. I'm drying my Forelle Fleiderfarben pods from green pods. I cracked a couple open yesterday and they look fabulous. This year will be one of the best Forelle Fleiderfarben harvests I have had in 8 years. My Rio Zape that I have been growing from time to time since 2012. I have never harvested Rio Zape from a dry pod off my plants. The variety is so late here I'm always harvesting the pods green. You will see all the seed of every variety that I have grown this year. Good or bad or in between. After I get all the shelling done. I'll be doing photos of every single kind I grew.

Funny coincidence, but this is my best year yet with Forelle Fleiderfarben too. I got it back in 2016, and have always gotten a pretty small, and very late, harvest. Sometimes the seeds looked gently dented in places. This year I got over a pound and all the seeds filled out well.

@Triffid I guess the name for Pink Tip Greasy was literal, it does actually have pink tips!

 

[heirloomgal]

The verdict is in!

60 Lazy Wife network beans - comin' right up!

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Bluejay77 Which way do you run your bush bean rows?

This year my bush rows ran east and west. Next year they will be run north and south. With the sun so high in the sky during the peak of summer I Don't think it much matters which way the rows run. I look at fields of soybeans around in this county and you will see row orientation in both directions. I don't think the farmers think is makes much difference either.

 

[Blue-Jay]

The verdict is in!

60 Lazy Wife network beans - comin' right up!

The Lazy Wife beans are beautiful. All your beans have been beautiful. Love and enjoy all your photos.

 

[ducks4you]

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed growing beans this summer!!
Mine grew east to west, along or at the bottom of five 12 ft rows that I built for tomatoes in 2021.
They were much more conducive to vining beans and cucumbers.
I planted below and on the north side of the chicken wire fencing and all of the bean plants tried to move to the south side! Not surprised.
What surprised me is how much produce I got from this Fall/late planting, which was mostly in August. Today I will remove the tarp that I had to tie down, and the chicken wire helped with That, too, and I will get my last harvest.
I freeze is predicted tonight, from 9PM on. The old storm window goes on the LR porch window today. No drafts when it's on.
We will be below 32 for the next 5 nights. So much for the Farmer's Almanac predicted a "warmer than average October."
Right now I have 15 quarts of green beans downstairs in the pantry. I plan to add to it today. Last harvest from this vine was 5 days ago.

 

[meadow]

This year my bush rows ran east and west. Next year they will be run north and south. With the sun so high in the sky during the peak of summer I Don't think it much matters which way the rows run. I look at fields of soybeans around in this county and you will see row orientation in both directions. I don't think the farmers think is makes much difference either.

Do your semi-runners sprawl?

 

[mahon67]

Yes Welcome @mahon67, So glad you are here. You will enjoy this thread and you might have things to teach us too. I have one grower already in Isparata.

Thanks. I am very happy to have discovered this forum. I don't think I can find this much knowledge and experience about beans anywhere else. So, I am so glad about this. I want to share my little experiences here.