2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

flowerbug

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It is a mix of things; we've had soil from the bush trucked in, amended with manure, added lots of straw over the years, some peat here and there and used organic methods intended to keep the tilth and friability up . I do think that all the legumes I've grown over the years have added a great deal. There is a lot of gray clay in the soil in the area I'm in.

clay is a great fertility and soil moisture holding boost too, but too much of it certainly does present challenges at times. right now i'm trying to dig some quack grass out of a large garden and breaking up dry clods of this soil is like breaking rocks.

creating prime garden soil over the years here has taught me a lot about what is possible with organic gardening methods. i'm happy with the results. wish i could do more cover cropping, that's slowing the rate of improvement down by quite a bit.

i'm also envious of your garden soil for sure! :)
 

flowerbug

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@flowerbug that would be wonderful, thank you. 😊It's not especially difficult, or at least I haven't encountered any difficulties yet considering the new circumstances.

ok, i'll save some for you of each type i can find. a few dozen of each enough? :) i'm glad i didn't eat them already. :)
 

Artorius

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@Artorius I'm overjoyed to report that my last 'Floreta' bean sprouted!

:weee:weee:weee

I am so excited to grow this bean! It was in the top 5 top of my drool list.

@heirloomgal
It's a good news. My Floretas are growing nicely so far. There is a chance of more seeds in the fall

Floreta.jpg
 

Artorius

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@Artorius has Spotted Pheasant so i'm hoping his grow out this season of that one will go well :) but i'm not sure he planted them.

@flowerbug, I planted all the beans you sent me. That's how Yed grows.

Yed.jpg

I noticed that Spotted Pheasant seeds had two mottling patterns, so I planted them separately.
 

Blue-Jay

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@flowerbug,

When I send beans to the UK. I declare the contents as packets of crafting beads. I have these self adhesive address labels that I put in my printer. I don't print addresses on them, but I use the smallest type on my word processor which is 8 point type and I print several lines of Packets Of Crafting Beads on the labels. Then with a paper trimmer I slice off each line of type and trim off the excess white area at the beginning and end of the text. Then stick this text on the customs form at the spot where you declare the contents. Type is very small but very legible. I use four lines of text for each set of customs declaration dispatch note forms as there are 4 pages. Taking off the paper backing on my finished label is a bit difficult, but I have an instrument with a very sharp point on it the I can get the paper backing to lift off the label at one end then I can easily peel it off the rest of the way. Anyway just thought I would show you what I do. You might like to adopt the Packets Of Crafting Beads message. It works.

For Germany the text message is Jewelry Beans. For Canada Packets Of Garden Seed.

Self Adhesive Address Label Printed.jpg
 
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Pulsegleaner

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@flowerbug,

When I send beans to the UK. I declare the contents as packets of crafting beads. I have these self adhesive address labels that I put in my printer. I don't print addresses on them, but I use the smallest type on my word processor which is 8 point type and I print several lines of Packets Of Crafting Beads on the labels. Then with a paper trimmer I slice off each line of type and trim off the excess white area at the beginning and end of the text. Then stick this text on the customs form at the spot where you declare the contents. Type is very small but very legible. I use four lines of text for each set of customs declaration dispatch note forms as there are 4 pages. Taking off the paper backing on my finished label is a bit difficult, but I have an instrument with a very sharp point on it the I can get the paper backing to lift off the label at one end then I can easily peel it off the rest of the way. Anyway just thought I would show you what I do. You might like to adopt the Packets Of Crafting Beads message. It works.

For Germany the text message is Jewelry Beans. For Canada Packets Of Garden Seed.

View attachment 49651
Interesting. I've used the same method to send seeds outside the country, with the added step of mixing in some ACTUAL crafting beads with the seeds, so that they will look like a bead mix even IF someone opens the package (this works best with things like beans, which look sort of like beads anyway*.) Ask Telsing (assuming she is still a member here.)


*Of course, I have the advantage of selling beads anyway, so I always have a ready supply of ones I can spare.
 
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