2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[meadow]

Perhaps tomato growing enthusiasts can relate to the way I feel about growing beans:

Why devote garden space to a variety that isn't fabulous? I want to grow varieties that fill my heart with joy.

It's not like I can't appreciate other beans, or eat them in soup or something... but if I'm only growing a few varieties a year, what is the point of growing varieties that are subpar?

Was it fishy?

There's only one dry bean I've eaten and not been crazy about - navy beans. But with lots of onions and some canned tomatoes & parsley I can layer over that off taste and still make a great soup.

That probably was the flavor, but I can't remember for certain.

@flowerbug may have made the connection. Lazy Wife's was eaten primarily like a greasy bean (I don't know if it actually IS a greasy bean, as I don't know anything about them). I only tried it dry. It made a fine bean dip, but that just isn't what I'm looking for.

 

[BeanWonderin]

I am going to try to squeeze a bunch of 2022 bean photos in before the end of the year. First up - network pole beans.

Cherokee Trail Of Tears

We started our pole beans inside this year, which was a first for me. Unfortunately, I either waited too long to transplant or didn't harden them off well enough because all of the transplants did poorly. I direct seeded a second pole the same day I planted the transplants and the direct seeded beans did much better. After that I filled in some gaps by planting pre-sprouted seed and those plants did very well also.

This was a fun bean to grow and not hard to shell. The beans were a little smaller than I expected, but it seems like this one has potential to be prolific.

 

[BeanWonderin]

Lucie

My daughter choose this one to grow. I was happy to see that it produced well and true to the photos on abeancollectorswindow.com. It's a beatiful bean - large, a joy to shell, and with a nice coat. I had the same transplanting issues with this one as I mentioned in my precious post. This produced large, vigorous plants with large pods. I had to add supplemental support to my pole partway through the season.

 

[BeanWonderin]

Mugungi

This one did not do well for us. We tried to grow it as a pole bean but it wouldn't climb. It didn't produce well and the seed quality want what I had hoped for. I will try it again next year for the challenge, and to see if I can draw out the color and shine.

Does anyone have suggestions for coaxing a reluctant pole/semi-runner?

 

[BeanWonderin]

Prince Purple

What a handsome bean this is! Not our stongest producer, but large and with such a nice color. Two of my sons chose this one to grow.

I am pretty sure this first picture is Prince Purple at shelly stage, but don't quote me on that.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@BeanWonderin,

All the seed you turned in were just beautiful. Mungungi was the only one that was a bit off. They were all so uniform looking and filled out. Even the plain single colored beans, Marfax and Sulphur were just gorgeous. You are right up there with the best of the bean growers.

 

[heirloomgal]

Felt the itch to take some bean photos lately. Sorta feel like I didn't fuss with their hair & makeup as much as I ususally do when I took pics this fall. I rushed a lot with the pictures earlier this year. And it looks like I have a website that may launch in 23 (don't want to jinx myself saying that! ) so gotta get in gear with the photos.

I picked some of my superdupers from 2022.

Perona d'en Pep
Pole, and I think the name of this one has some association with Eva Peron. At least, one website I found said that. I think it's a green snap bean, but I didn't try it to be sure. A real gangster for production.

Kroatische Stangenbohne
Pole. Spelling may not be totally right, I seldom get them correct without the name written down on paper. I think this is a snap bean too, didn't try it though. Crazy good production and seed quality.

Berta Telaska
Pole. Snap bean & dry bean from Portugal. For such a big bean it was early and produced really well, though it wasn't a record breaker. Probably a good shelly bean too.

Halbhohe Reiser
Grew as a bush for me. Considering I only put in 3 or 4 plants thinking it was a pole I still got a pretty good harvest of seed. Plants are quite hardy I found. Not easy for bush plants to be surrounded by towering poles on all sides and still do well.

Jembo Polish
Pole. Another big mama bean, and it was a little late for my area but it still managed and I didn't lose many beans to immaturity. Was not very productive for me but it certainly is handsome.

Fissole Rassacher
Pole. One of my most favorite beans for 2022. SUCH a great bean, gangster production and super vigorous vines. One of the highest yielding poles of 2022. The pods are crescent shaped, like Italian shrimp beans, green with purple splashing. Loved it.

 

[BeanWonderin]

Felt the itch to take some bean photos lately. Sorta feel like I didn't fuss with their hair & makeup as much as I ususally do when I took pics this fall. I rushed a lot with the pictures earlier this year. And it looks like I have a website that may launch in 23 (don't want to jinx myself saying that! ) so gotta get in gear with the photos.

Such nice photos, @heirloomgal. I love them!

 

[BeanWonderin]

We grew several bush varieties of network beans this year. I appreciate that they generally ripen faster and don't require much support. A few varieties surprised me in both respects, however. I love the variety in beans, though - not only in size, shape, and color of the dry bean but also the plant growth habit and pod type. That unknown is part of what makes it so fun to try new beans. First of the bush beans - Brown Rice.

Brown Rice

This is quite a unique bean. Though listed as a bush bean, some plants threw runners and were pulled. We got loads of skinny pods on a few plants which ended up producing a huge crop - in number, not volume. The beans really do resemble rice and were fun to grow. They were not particularly fun to shell because the pods dry down to a thin, wrinkly, tough-skinned version of their former self. Even with all that work, I think we'll still grow them again. I might try shelling them before they are fully dry. This is a snap variety, but I don't think I tried any as snap. I will make sure to do that next time.

 

[BeanWonderin]

Cappuccino Nano

As I mentioned elsewhere, this bean did not grow well for us this year. We struggled to pull together enough seed to return and it didn't look like what we planted. I think the concensus here was that the seed we planted must have crossed, but I'm wondering if there could be some variability in the type. We will grow again next year and pay more attention to any distinguishing features between plants.