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

[jbrobin09]

Yes I have seen the movie once, when it was on TCM.

And I would say the situation in Soylent Green is much. much more dire than it is in No Blade of Grass. Yes, the world there is in deep trouble, and there will undoubtedly be some pretty severe famines and a lot of social upheaval. But, with time, humanity WOULD adapt. Grasses make up the bulk of our starch supply but they don't make up ALL of it. Even in the movie, the goal of their trek is a rumor of a supply of potatoes. With time, that is what would happen in the world; we'd switch over to things like potatoes and quinoa.

Likewise, we very well might be able to adapt to a world without legumes (though it would probably become a major hurdle for many vegetarians and vegans. It'd be a lot harder on the lower classes of the world (since legumes make up an awful lot of the protein of those who are too poor to afford much meat or dairy.) And we might have to work in a world where we HAVE to add nitrogen fertilizer to soil to make it fertile (since no legumes might mean a lot less of a home for nitrogen fixing bacteria to live in) but we'd probably pull through.

Soylent Green, however, is a world that is pretty much circling the drain with no way out. They're not recycling people because they are cruel, they're recycling them because there literally isn't anything else LEFT. That's why the end of the movie is actually a lot bleaker than it even appears. So the hero has told everyone Soylent Green is people. So what do they do now? They can rise up against the rich who still get actual food, but there clearly isn't enough of that to go round. If everything is gone, it's literally keep eating people or starve to death. About the only major change would be that, with it out in the open, there are going to be people who decide that going through the trouble of waiting for people to reach termination age or be processed is not worth it, and will go for the more direct approach. All the protagonist has done in essence is potentially start people actively killing each other to cannibalize them.

And they're STILL all going to starve to death in the end. There are people who worked out the caloric rates of cannibalism, and one average person only had enough meat to provide the bare minimum of protein for sixty people for one DAY. That means that, in a year, a group of people need a little bit more than six times their population to get enough protein to survive. That's why no society has ever tried to rely on cannibalism as their sole source or food, or even of meat. It's always in either extreme survival scenarios (which tend to involve fairly limited numbers of people and for fairly limited amounts of time,) or for ritual reasons. If all you have to eat is each other, then pretty soon you won't have anything to eat AT ALL.

@Pulsegleaner it’s impressive but also a little unnerving that you've worked all this out…

 

[Pulsegleaner]

@Pulsegleaner it’s impressive but also a little unnerving that you've worked all this out…

Well, as I said, the tables on the nutrition value of a person were worked out by other people a long time ago. I read them in a chapter called "Cannibalism, a Poor Source of Fiber." in a book I had as a kid.

I will also point out that eating people also carries the risk of a pretty nasty prion disease, similar to Creutzfeldt-Jacob Syndrome (a.k.a. "mad cow disease"). It's called kuru, or "The Laughing Death". As With MCD, it happens when you consume infected nervous tissue (i.e. brain and spine and such). The symptoms are very similar, and equally as deadly. It was actually pretty common for a while among tribes that practiced ritual cannibalism, like the Fore of New Guinea. So you wouldn't just be dealing with desperate, staving humans but desperate, starving CRAZY humans, who, if you ate them, would make you go crazy too.

 

[Zeedman]

Three days with no bean post??? Intolerable!!! Maybe a good time to post my 2023 soybean results...


"Aan Tu Bai Hua La Da Dou", obtained from the USDA in 2006, originally collected from China. Short, stout, heavily-branched plants, with pods that dry to near black. The seeds are deep green, with the green cotyledon trait, and are slightly dimpled when dry. A very high protein content, ~50% dry weight. Not really an edamame type, but is exceptionally meaty (not sweet) eaten that way. This one was hit hard by the seed corn flies - the seed is from the single seed which germinated, which produced 1 ounce of seed. Late, one of the last soybeans to mature this year.


"Cha Kura Kake", an early edamame type. From the late SSE member Robert Lobitz 2005, who obtained it from the USDA, originally from Japan. Large seeds for an early variety (very large if well grown) and a 45% protein content dry, but a relatively low yield. I planted a long row, germination was good, and the yield should have been better... but the entire row was almost completely engulfed by volunteer tomatillos, to the point where I couldn't even get to the plants until the tomatillos were harvested & those bushes removed. Only 5 ounces of seed, which is much less than the 21 ounces in 2017.


"Ezonishiki", edamame type. From the estate of Robert Lobitz 2006, from the USDA, originally from Japan. Even earlier than "Cha Kura Kake", and smaller seeded - but with a much higher yield. Germination was spotty (probably the seed corn flies again) but still fair, and those plants branched & did well (two of those plants are visible in the tray). 12 ounces of seed, which is not bad given the age of the seed planted (from 2017) but less than the 2# when last grown.

 

[heirloomgal]

This is great to know about Ezonishiki; I tried Cha Kura Kake this summer and found the production rather sparse. Sparse enough to wonder if it's a variety worth pursuing further. I think I may try EZ instead this upcoming year.
However, I did read a really disturbing article about fish and soybeans recently (isoflavone in particular), so now I'm kind of wondering if I should even keep going with soybeans.

Creating all-female catfish without the use of hormones

The prospect of ongrowing only female – and therefore faster-growing – catfish could be a step closer.

thefishsite.com

 

[heirloomgal]

It was a great day today - bean mail! My bean request to Mr. Dirix arrived and it is fabulous. I even took a few pictures to share. Should have left the little papers in the first photos, but I didn't think of it. Oh oh oh between the network beans and these, 2024 is going to be a great bean year.

Paulchen
so pink!

Riesenkorn aus Omsk
big, big beans, I put some navy beans in there for perspective

 

[flowerbug]

...
"Cha Kura Kake", an early edamame type.

they've only been a lower yield soybean here when they've been eaten by critters. the other times i've grown them when they've not had predation they've done quite well.

i didn't like the first round of pictures i took so i refuse to post them... they were really only record keeping pictures anyways. i haven't started the other bean pictures because i'm stuck on a different project that i have to get done first or i will never do it so that is today's task to see if i can at least make a dent in that before i get back to bean projects. i made progress yesterday on the first part of the project so today if i can keep at it i'll be further along.

 

[Zeedman]

Large seeds for an early variety (very large if well grown) and a 45% protein content dry, but a relatively low yield.

they've only been a lower yield soybean here when they've been eaten by critters. the other times i've grown them when they've not had predation they've done quite well.

Please note that I stated it had a relatively low yield; it is still not bad for an early variety. "Ezonishiki" and "Natsu Kurakake" (both bi-colored, with a similar DTM) have twice the productivity under identical conditions. However, "Cha Kura Kake" has the largest seeds & great flavor, so it is still one of my favorites, and one I highly recommend for short-season areas. While yield matters, to gardeners (unless growing for subsistence) quality is usually more important. All three are great varieties.

I was supposed to grow seeds for "Natsu Kurakake" this year too. It had great germination, a heavy pod set, and I was really looking forward to it. Did I mention how a flock of turkeys completely destroyed one of my soybeans just before harvest? That was the one.

 

[Artorius]

Finally, after almost two months, the sun appeared from behind the clouds and I had enough natural light to take photos.
First up, the Flowerbugs

Tinker's Fire - half runner




Sunrise - bush
Unfortunately, the place where this bean grew was too dry, which resulted in a low yield. The quality of the seeds is not very good either. Next year I will plant it at the edge of the swamp. The beans that grow there have enough moisture even in the greatest drought. I'm sure it will be much better.



Pheasant - half runner

 

[Artorius]

Two landrace beans from Lithuania.

Gražiškės # 1 - bush
Big and nice seeds. Off-white color with ash-beige marble.




Grumbliai - bush
Rare seed color pattern with yellow swirls.

 

[heirloomgal]

Such beautiful beans @Artorius; that Grumbliai is shockingly different and lovely. Just when you think beans have no new tricks up their sleeves!

I've had some more rare beans enter my world recently in a trde; 'Brunhilde', which is one I'll be curious to grow since I'm a big fan of 'Blauhilde' and Brunhilde was developed from her. 'Pronkboon Kolummer' a black seeded variety, a runner I believe. 'Pragerhoff' too ( I can't get enough blue beans in my world), as well as 'Bomba' and 'Nigel' which you'll be familiar with @Buejay since those are in your gorgeous collection. (I can't believe what a teeny weeny little bean Nigel is!)

There is some kind of special gift that seeds contain, they give you a promise of something to look forward to. There is a wondrous thing that happens when you poke tiny seeds into the soil and green leaves appear. Plant magic.