2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[heirloomgal]

I completed my network bean counts tonight, everything makes the 60 seed return except for Zugdidi Flat Cake; there were 8 seeds in the packet, and I only planted 4 so I'm all set to try again. Unfortunately, that one was really set back it appears by flies and set only green beans by 1St frost with no even partially developed seeds. But given how many beans I grew out I'm pretty happy that all minus one made it! And I'm happy with the quality of the seeds as well, though one or two could be a little more perfect.

As you know @Bluejay77 there were 2 beans from last year still to be returned - Greek Cypriot and Rose Creek - which didn't succeed last year. Greek Cypriot did fantastic this year for me and Rose Creek.....

To recap. So, last year Rose Creek grew some nice bushes then as fall rains began there was quite a lot of rot and very few good seeds made it through. I didn't like the look of the ones that I collected so decided to regrow it this year. They were some of the first bush bean transplants to be started in early May. When transplanted all 6 plants were gorgeous, healthy, vigorous. Then we got cold, wet weather near freezing for a week in late May, early June. The flies descended. Nevertheless, the bushes grew and had a great pod set, totally loaded. Zero rot occured this time. As mid August came around I was curious why the pods didn't seem to be drying up. On closer inspection I realized EVERY POD WAS EMPTY. The flies had eaten enough roots to impair seed formation!!! I could only brace for impact on what disasterous results might follow for the now SECOND YEAR.

So I waited and waited and eventually hung the green plants fearing the worst and the bad news I imagined I might have to deliver, AGAIN .
Eventually I gathered the *oomph* needed to check the pods, and wonder of WONDERS, many of the pods had just enough strength to make a SINGLE seed. Not all, but some. By the time I was done picking through the pods I had found exactly 65 seeds in total. A few were rather imperfect so I had 5 I could switch out. Hallelujah! Rose Creek is done!

 

[flowerbug]

...
So I waited and waited and eventually hung the green plants fearing the worst and the bad news I imagined I might have to deliver, AGAIN .
Eventually I gathered the *oomph* needed to check the pods, and wonder of WONDERS, many of the pods had just enough strength to make a SINGLE seed. Not all, but some. By the time I was done picking through the pods I had found exactly 65 seeds in total. A few were rather imperfect so I had 5 I could switch out. Hallelujah! Rose Creek is done!

do you mean Purple Rose Creek (a RL bush bean?)

that one was the latest bean for me too, but i did get enough seed to send back a good supply plus some extras if you don't think your quality was all that good.

i have no plans of growing them again here as they are too late for our location so while they did ok in the end they don't fit with my early beans are better philosophy and i don't want too many later season genes wandering around the bean patches... i'll keep a small sample for historical records but that's about it for them.

 

[Zeedman]

Nearly all dry beans have now been shelled. Although I had feared some beans might not have time to dry after my very late planting (and it came right down to the wire in a few cases) all beans produced enough seed to save & share.

I'm particularly happy with how the Gigandes runner bean performed. In my first grow out, it seemed poorly adapted to my climate, producing only a hand full of dry seed. DW really loved the shellies though, so my hope was that through successive grow outs, it might gradually become better adapted. The 2nd grow out performed a little better, which allowed me to share seed with a few people.

This year was the 3rd grow out. Since they were planted late, the best I could hope for was that this generation would have adapted enough to produce at least a little dry seed. Happily, that turned out to be the case.

Gigandes dry seed 2022 (24 ounces)

The seed is healthier & better filled out than when last grown. I also was able to make 2 meals of the huge shellies, and freeze 3 pints of those for the winter. These large white runner beans will never be the highest-yielding beans in my garden (I wish!) but the delicious shellies are pure bean ambrosia.

 

[Blue-Jay]

A nice bought of mild October weather. Spent yesterday in my yard. Mowed the lawn a bit shorter. Took down all the poles of the pole beans in the backyard plot. Took down all the cages for the tomatoes. My tomato cages consist of 4 x 8 hog panels where the tomatoes are growing between two of them about 12 inches apart. Then shreded everything with the lawn mower. Tomato plants, dead Zinnias, and dead pole bean vines. Backyard plot will get tilled in a couple of days

Today we had 60 degree weather and I hadn't visited the big pole bean plot since I shredded all the dead vines a week and a half ago. So I got hot on it with the tiller and tilled the 2,214 sq ft plot twice today. This plot will be the permanent home of my bush bean grow outs. The pole beans don't seem to do well enough in this plot. They will go out to Bean Acres behind the deer fence where there are more hours of sun. Photo below. See that line of pine trees that is the west side of the plot. In July there is already a shadow cast over more than half the plot at 4 in the afternoon. Where my Bean Acres plot the sun is till shinning brightly on my beans at 7:30 in the evening. The pole beans I think need more hours of sun to grow, mature and dry well. The bush beans do very well in this big plot even with the pine trees shadowing then in the afternoon. They mature sooner.

All Done till next Spring. When it will be a new page again.

My hard working helper

All packed up and time to go home

 

[heirloomgal]

The end of beans for 2022!

Because we've been renovating here (energy costs have gone up 33% in the last months, so we're reskinning the house upping the r value, and lowering u value) DH hasn't been able to do the annual years end tilling of the gardens. I found some steel toes I forgot I had, and decided after 14 years of standing on the sidelines watching to take the plunge. It's only a 5 horsepower but I had a wee case of jitters. Kinda proud of myself I did do it! A few gardens have wooden edges so I was afraid of cutting into that, since reverse is on a spring and must be held back with one hand while in gear and it's not easy for me. I found making hard turns with momentum takes practice. I was shooting up a bit of dirt on some of my turns. Whoops!

I was mostly worried the tiller tines would bite me when it would jerk into reverse! But I remain unscathed! And the gardens are all tilled.

 

[jbosmith]

But I remain unscathed! And the gardens are all tilled.

Jeeze, my version of tilling excitement is when the broadfork gets under a rock that's too big to pry out without risking damage to the tines. No tales of harrowing (har har har get it?) bravery here

 

[Zeedman]

I was mostly worried the tiller tines would bite me when it would jerk into reverse!

Oh the daze of old back tines...

 

[heirloomgal]

Oh the daze of old back tines...

Imagine making contact with a shin?

 

[Zeedman]

I still have some of the Bird Egg #3 pods left unshelled; unless harvested when fully ripe (with the red stripes turning purple) the pods will often tear rather then open. So I went through the pods picked just before frost daily, only opening those which had changed color. Last night I blanched all of the BE#3 shellies that were open.

Bird Egg #3, shelly stage

Half BE#3 shellies, half Madagascar limas

BE#3 has a long DTM & was planted late, so it came right up against the frost (and beyond) to get dry seed. The whole row was covered (and heated) for the first 2 frosts. The extra week gained was enough to get 1 pound 13 ounces of dry seed (and a lot of ripe shellies).

 

[Zeedman]

Imagine making contact with a shin?

Been there, done that, with the walk-behind tiller I bought in 1986 (and still use occasionally). Between that & hitting all of the "knee knockers" during my Navy years, I've got the toughened shins of a ninja.

And many a sore back, when that 8 horsepower tiller would suddenly dig in & yank me forward.