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

[heirloomgal]

We're supposed to get a thunderstorm tomorrow so I made sure that the 2 pole beans leaning much worse than the Tower of Pisa got some extra support. We drove in another pole next to each and tied them. Luckily those bending trees that are a bit small are still young, so they aren't brittle. The good news is of all those poles only 2 didn't wind up with sufficient trees.

We've been getting about 1 deep rain a week for the last few weeks. I've barely had to water the gardens, though the high humidity that goes with that makes me a bit nervous. But it's not in my hands so I'll just have to hope for the best. Most of the summer the weather has actually been pretty ideal.

There are 2 beans of the whole lot that I'm still waiting to flower, Zugdidi Flat Cake and Ecuador Cranberry. Those guys are driving me nuts! lol I may have to face the fact that they won't make it for me despite my efforts. But I haven't given up quite yet. I'm tempted to go and remove a modest number of leaves on both of them to see if that stresses the plants into flowering. I can't help but notice that the two pole beans most munched by the rabbit in early summer are both quite far along. It's seems a bit early to do that, I usually save that for September, but it's not like I'm waiting for seeds to fully mature, just some flowers!!!

 

[heirloomgal]

Some network bean updates.

Crevette Kidney has grown so tall it made its way off the stick supports and onto the top of the trellis.

Cape Sugar has grown to a nice height for the support I gave it. Right next to it on the right (in the sticks) is Gabarone Sugar, which is a lot smaller. It does climb, but I’d consider it more of a bush bean with a few short runners that barely grab. Foliage is very nice on both sugar beans.

Dwarf Shield is such a tidy growing variety! Pod set looks nice too.

Fasold from last year, which is doing better this year in a more open location. Of all the pencil pod type pole green beans I've tried I think this is one of the best ones out there. The texture is just superb, and the beany taste is excellent. Nothing woody about this variety at all. It’s productive too. I like Fortex, but this one has it beat IMHO.

Area of concern as the leaning increases…

My first zinnia row! The direct seeded pole beans behind. Turtles.

Not a network bean, but this is Zwolse Paarse. I got a handful of pods from one plant in a pot last year. This year its doing much better, I’ll post pics of this pretty purple bean when it dries.

Posting this for no reason. I just happened upon a hopper and tested how well I can get a close up with an iPad.

 

[Branching Out]

That grasshopper seems to be whispering 'Picture of the week, picture of the week ...'

May I please ask what the spiky white flower is that it's sitting on?

 

[heirloomgal]

It's an Echinops flowerball. The bees go nuts for them. Every year I pull apart the dried heads looking for seeds and I can't identify them yet, but they do seem to seed themselves around fairly well.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Fasold from last year, which is doing better this year in a more open location. Of all the pencil pod type pole green beans I've tried I think this is one of the best ones out there. The texture is just superb, and the beany taste is excellent. Nothing woody about this variety at all. It’s productive too. I like Fortex, but this one has it beat IMHO.

Great photos and so fun and enjoyable everytime you put them up. Pictures of the week everytime you post them. Glad you are enjoying Fasold. Every grower I give them too just winds up loving or liking them very much. I gave Fasold this spring as a bonus to someone you know I believe over in Blyth. Living on a farm. They just recently reported this week "Love My Fasold-delicious Thank You" If you don't mind I'm going to copy part of your exact text of what you said about Fasold and put it on my seed packets that I sell of Fasold at seed swaps.

Do you happen to have any photos of Lohrey's Special the last time you grew them? When I grow them the leaves are very ruffled. It appears to me that my grow out of Lohrey's Special almost look Mosaic like in apperance here.

 

[flowerbug]

@heirloomgal it is so nice to see bean plant leaves this time of the year which are not chewed. my plants look ok from a distance...

 

[Zeedman]

@heirloomgal it is so nice to see bean plant leaves this time of the year which are not chewed. my plants look ok from a distance...

JB damage? I've only seen a little so far, to the point where I have not (yet) found the need to put out traps. Given that the grubs develop in lawns (and mine is mostly brown) maybe there is a bright side to this dry spell.

I've also found a pile of green droppings just outside the garden fence, that seems to indicate that something is eating a lot of beetles.

 

[heirloomgal]

Great photos and so fun and enjoyable everytime you put them up. Pictures of the week everytime you post them. Glad you are enjoying Fasold. Every grower I give them too just winds up loving or liking them very much. I gave Fasold this spring as a bonus to someone you know I believe over in Blyth. Living on a farm. They just recently reported this week "Love My Fasold-delicious Thank You" If you don't mind I'm going to copy part of your exact text of what you said about Fasold and put it on my seed packets that I sell of Fasold at seed swaps.

Do you happen to have any photos of Lohrey's Special the last time you grew them? When I grow them the leaves are very ruffled. It appears to me that my grow out of Lohrey's Special almost look Mosaic like in apperance here.

Fasold is one of those beans where you scratch your head and ask yourself 'why isn't this bean more famous?' I'm not surprised that the people you've shared that bean with have loved it! It really stands out. Yes, feel free to copy my text I don't mind at all. That bean deserves to be much better known. Any idea where it comes from?

I searched the forum for any posts with Lohrey's Special that I've made and came up with nothing, so I don't have a photo of the plants from last year. But I do remember that bean; I don't recall that the plants had suspicious looking leaves but I do recall that the plants were not vigorous. They were spindly looking and the seed production was quite poor considering I had 4 plants growing. Maybe the seeds were infected?

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal it is so nice to see bean plant leaves this time of the year which are not chewed. my plants look ok from a distance...

What's chewing them??

 

[Blue-Jay]

I searched the forum for any posts with Lohrey's Special that I've made and came up with nothing, so I don't have a photo of the plants from last year. But I do remember that bean; I don't recall that the plants had suspicious looking leaves but I do recall that the plants were not vigorous. They were spindly looking and the seed production was quite poor considering I had 4 plants growing. Maybe the seeds were infected?

There is a grower in Indiana that is growing me some Lohrey's Special this year and they are using their seed stock not mine. I should ask them if they can take a good photo of their plants so I can get a good look at the leaves.