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

[Artorius]

Did you plant any Candy beans this year? Those beans look exactly like Candy horticultural beans? I have shelled a small number of the Van Gogh's so far and they all look true to type. Given that both Van Gogh's Olive and Candy are both robust semi-runner's, is it possible that one runner jumped next door?

I'm also growing Van Gogh's Olive this year, but the pods on my plants are just starting to ripen.

Hello again after a short break

 

[Artorius]

Tinker's Fire are such a purdy looking bean and they did well this year. i'm not done picking through the entire patch but i did pick what was ready last week and now those are shelled out and sorted.

i'm not used to many beans here getting completely full seven bean pods with each bean being fully formed. only a few pods were water damaged.

i'm not sure what the next round of picking will look like but i've already got enough seeds now that i've refreshed my stock plus i have plenty in reserve from last season. from what i've picked so far it looks like it's above 90% stable.

All of my Tinker's Fire seeds that I have collected so far look like the ones you sent me. There are no new segregations.

 

[Branching Out]

I'm also growing Van Gogh's Olive this year, but the pods on my plants are just starting to ripen.

Hello again after a short break

Hello Artorius-- and welcome back,

I am very happy that many of us are growing Van Gogh's Olive. It helps takes the pressure off.

 

[Branching Out]

And when you have pulled all the petals out of a Zinnia flowerhead and you think you have all the seeds out. Try drying the flower heads so they are really crispy dry. Then rub the flowerhead between your hands until it comes all appart after you have pulled out all the petals and think you have all the seeds. Save that mass you have after you rubbed it between your hands and then next spring at planting time put all that dry material over an area of soil and work it into the soil not really deep but in the surface. Then water it like you are watering new seed and watch hundreds upon hundreds of little Zinnia plants emerge from that dry mass you worked into the soil. There are also other structures in the Zinnia flowerhead the are also seeds.

You are so right Bluejay. Zinnias can sometimes have both ray flowers and disc flowers, each of which can produce seed. This past summer I had high hopes of doing some zinnia breeding with flowers saved from past years, yet almost no seeds germinated for me. Next spring I am going to try your method to see if I can find success in getting them to sprout. Normally they are a relatively easy flower to grow, but it seems that our hot dry summer was not to their liking.

 

[Branching Out]

By golly, I tried tugging a petal and it worked. There was a seed attached to the base of the petal. Thank goodness you mentioned this, because I would never have figured that out on my own. I don't think I've ever seen a flower go to seed in such a unique way. Thank you so much!

Gardening-- so simple, yet so complex.

 

[heirloomgal]

And when you have pulled all the petals out of a Zinnia flowerhead and you think you have all the seeds out. Try drying the flower heads so they are really crispy dry. Then rub the flowerhead between your hands until it comes all appart after you have pulled out all the petals and think you have all the seeds. Save that mass you have after you rubbed it between your hands and then next spring at planting time put all that dry material over an area of soil and work it into the soil not really deep but in the surface. Then water it like you are watering new seed and watch hundreds upon hundreds of little Zinnia plants emerge from that dry mass you worked into the soil. There are also other structures in the Zinnia flowerhead the are also seeds.

Wow! Zinnia propagation is really wild!

 

[heirloomgal]

I'm also growing Van Gogh's Olive this year, but the pods on my plants are just starting to ripen.

Hello again after a short break

Hey @Artorius! How is your bean season going this year?

I am LOVING all the great beans I received from you!

 

[heirloomgal]

You are so right Bluejay. Zinnias can sometimes have both ray flowers and disc flowers, each of which can produce seed. This past summer I had high hopes of doing some zinnia breeding with flowers saved from past years, yet almost no seeds germinated for me. Next spring I am going to try your method to see if I can find success in getting them to sprout. Normally they are a relatively easy flower to grow, but it seems that our hot dry summer was not to their liking.

I was really surprised how tall my zinnias grew. I expected them to grow to about 2 feet, but they grew over 4. The health and vigor of the plants was impressive. It's a nice perk that the blooms don't really fade, they just stay put.

 

[Zeedman]

Been busy, so haven't been able to post many updates... but this is the worst year for soybeans that I've ever had. Deer pushed over the chicken wire cages on a potted soybean, and destroyed over half. A bunny dug under a garden fence, and nearly destroyed another variety. I had to scare off a determined flock of finches that was beginning to peck on several soybeans.

And that flock of turkeys I had posted about earlier? They weren't just visiting. They had walked into the garage, and through the open garage door (the only entry to that garden) and completely stripped an entire row of nearly-ripe soybeans!!! The plants were literally torn apart. Turkeys??? Really???

And now a group of chipmunks has begun harvesting ALL of the soybeans remaining in my home gardens... and they have already completely destroyed the two half-eaten varieties, and begun attacking the two edamame varieties that are left. I know there's more than one, because I noticed one giving an alarm call when I went into the back yard. Traps never seem to work on chipmunks, and this is one of the rare times I'm forced to resort to poison; but so far, they seem too smart for that too.

The chipmunks climb the plants, and don't miss a single pod. At the rate they are working, I might be forced to harvest all of the remaining soybeans as edamame - that, or watch it all disappear. And this looked like it was going to be a decent soybean year. I was on the verge of giving up the rural plot; but unless I'm able to kill the chipmunks, I may no longer be able to grow soybeans at home.

 

[heirloomgal]

@Bluejay77 Does the peach colouring on Turkey #1 start out light and darken over time?