2023 Little Easy Bean Network - Beans Beyond The Colors Of A Rainbow

[Zeedman]

Of the two lima bean varieties I'm growing, "Berrier's" was just picked clean by a friend yesterday. "Sieva", in the rural garden, will be picked clean the next time I go there - when I will harvest anything remaining, bean or otherwise. The common beans there are almost completely done anyway. Still quite a few pods left though on the cowpeas ("Kirby" and "Zipper Cream") and the runner bean ("Tucomares Chocolate"). Anything not dry next time will be shelled out green & cooked. I'm actually looking forward to sampling the two "peas" together, especially since I've never tried either of them green. I may shell out all remaining pods of the two runner beans I'm growing too.

The yardlong beans are almost done as well. Plenty of dry seed already collected for all of them... which is a good thing, given that mice (or birds?) have begun extracting the seeds from all remaining pods, top to bottom. I still have a ton of dry pods to process yet. Those pods don't thresh well & take a long time by hand, so I probably won't get around to those until some time next week. My time is mostly being taken up by tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos now (and trying to clear the living room of dry pods as quickly as possible).

 

[heirloomgal]

My first experience with Divine Intervention to mature network beans.

Zugdidi Flat Cake ‘60’ done!

Lavender Swirl ‘60’ done!

Didn't get a better close up than this yet-

By September I started having real doubts that these two network beans would be capable of maturing in my zone. Lavender Swirl is possible here only in a good year, but Zugdidi Flat Cake is simply a miracle. It started flowering at 100 days old!

Anyway, SO GLAD that these beans are done, are of nice quality and will be able to fly back home safely to you @Bluejay77. Looks like every single network bean this year succeeded. No need to try again with any of them!

Other good news, the ‘Bolita’ beans gifted to me by @Jack Holloway also somehow managed, at least some of them. They were poles, or tall semi‘s over 5 feet, and I thought they were bushes so that was my first mistake with them. I planted too late as well, but the plants in the sunnier spots managed to dry some pods. So I can grow them on supports next year as they require.

Does anyone have any info on this bean? I can only find bush versions online. I wonder if this is the same bean called ‘Pinks’?

 

[flowerbug]

...
The yardlong beans are almost done as well. Plenty of dry seed already collected for all of them... which is a good thing, given that mice (or birds?) have begun extracting the seeds from all remaining pods, top to bottom. ...

i'd vote for birds if it is top to bottom as i've never observed chipmunks caring at all what direction they harvest from and mice/etc. are normally more bottom oriented. do you have any goldfinches around there?

 

[Blue-Jay]

Does anyone have any info on this bean? I can only find bush versions online. I wonder if this is the same bean called ‘Pinks’?

Is this bean a bush or pole. The bean I have simply called "Pink" is a semi runner. The bean I have looks exactly like your photo. Color tone and shading around the eye look spot on. Did you get this one from me ?

 

[Zeedman]

i'd vote for birds if it is top to bottom as i've never observed chipmunks caring at all what direction they harvest from and mice/etc. are normally more bottom oriented. do you have any goldfinches around there?

Birds are a possibility, the neighbors on both sides of me have bird feeders. No goldfinches, although I've had them in the past & know how destructive they can be... but rather large resident flocks of ?sparrows? or some other grey/brown bird (which I have seen in the gardens). But the damage to the pods - holes chewed into the side above the seed - are more typical of what I see in mice. The yardlong seed has been almost surgically removed. Probably not chippies, as they would most likely pull the pod down & leave debris on the ground.

 

[heirloomgal]

Is this bean a bush or pole. The bean I have simply called "Pink" is a semi runner. The bean I have looks exactly like your photo. Color tone and shading around the eye look spot on. Did you get this one from me ?

I got this bean from @Jack Holloway earlier this year. The packet didn't indicate the growth type, and I researched 'Bolita' online and most of what I found said it was a bush bean. It wasn't though, it was more of a semi-runner, probably climbing to 4 or 5 feet. After looking around for information about Bolita I started wondering if Bolita, Pink and Santa Maria Pinquito are all the same, or maybe all very closely related. Native Seed Search has 4 'bolita' varieties as well. It seems like 'small/little pink bean' is the tie that binds them all of their names together.

 

[Blue-Jay]

I got this bean from @Jack Holloway earlier this year.

Where did Jack Holloway get the bean? He should remember something about it.

 

[flowerbug]

@Zeedman i know about those kinds of pods... the Yellow Eye are tough pods, but also the Painted Pony or Appaloosa are both also on the more difficult side of things to shell out. but even tougher than those are the Venda, those pods are difficult because they are hard shelled but they also are like some of the greasy beans where the shell sucks down to form a tight grip on the seeds so you have to pry them out of the bits of pod even if you manage to get them open. it's ok, i did those early and only grew enough for a few hundred decent quality seeds. i'm always hoping though that the Purple Dove will cross with all of these and make them easier to shell in new varieties with all the other good traits preserved. so far i'm not sure what i'm getting but it is looking interesting.

Tinker's Fire is of the Appaloosa and Painted Pony pod quality line of breeding i'm sure. not easy to shell but at least not Vendaish either. so it could have been worse.

 

[Blue-Jay]

The Yellow Eye's are tough pods, but also the Painted Pony or Appaloosa are both also on the more difficult side of things to shell out. but even tougher than those are the Venda, those pods are difficult because they are hard shelled but they also are like some of the greasy beans where the shell sucks down to form a tight grip on the seeds so you have to pry them out of the bits of pod even if you manage to get them open.

I got a bean that I believe is the ultimate toughest to shell that I have ever shelled. They were so hard to shell that I put the pods of this one in a pillow case and worked the pillow case with my foot. I should send you a couple of seeds for you to grow and let you try them out. You can grow them on a fence somewhere. It's a pole bean called Petit Gris.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I got a bean that I believe is the ultimate toughest to shell that I have ever shelled. They were so hard to shell that I put the pods of this one in a pillow case and worked the pillow case with my foot. I should send you a couple of seeds for you to grow and let you try them out. You can grow them on a fence somewhere. It's a pole bean called Petit Gris.

Assuming you ever try and grow them again, next time, you can shell them the old time fun way; put them on the floor of a large clean room, put a tarp over them, call over some friends, put on some music, and dance them open!