2024 Little Easy Bean Network - Growing Heirloom Beans Of Today And Tomorrow

[flowerbug]

...That would speed up the shelling, but we like shelling by hand, too. I think getting out dried down for combining might be tricky.

with these Robert Lobitz purple beans you may lose a lot to shatter. i've grown most of them.

i also prefer to shell by hand, these beans are very easy to shell out compared to many others.

 

[VegBaby]

Excitement for pretty beans, I can so relate! I can't wait for the upcoming season to start, I have so many great beans in the 2024 line up. Do you have any special new beans planned for your allotment?

I know, it's going to be great to get into spring

I am going to try maybe 10 climbing beans, a couple of bush beans, and a handful of broad/fava beans. My most excited are Madeira Maroon, Coco Bicolour, Tunny and Borlotto Lamon.

Are you growing any new ones this year? I have seen your past setup, and it looks pretty epic! A true bean forest

 

[heirloomgal]

I know, it's going to be great to get into spring

I am going to try maybe 10 climbing beans, a couple of bush beans, and a handful of broad/fava beans. My most excited are Madeira Maroon, Coco Bicolour, Tunny and Borlotto Lamon.

Are you growing any new ones this year? I have seen your past setup, and it looks pretty epic! A true bean forest

Tunny bean! I'm going to grow that one too this summer. I need to look up these other beans you've listed, I've not come across them in my bean travels, though Lamon seems familiar somehow.

Yes, so many new beans for 2024 Probably about 70 or 80 altogether, and I think with each garden season I'm even more thrilled to grow new beans! lol But Blauegraue, Ruth Bible, Nickell, Goose, Ranger, Petit Gris, Santa Maria Piquinto, Volga German Siberian I really look forward too....oh, so many! Lots are from @Blue-Jay's collection, and then some European beans I'm really excited for too.

 

[VegBaby]

Tunny bean! I'm going to grow that one too this summer. I need to look up these other beans you've listed, I've not come across them in my bean travels, though Lamon seems familiar somehow.

Yes, so many new beans for 2024 Probably about 70 or 80 altogether, and I think with each garden season I'm even more thrilled to grow new beans! lol But Blauegraue, Ruth Bible, Nickell, Goose, Ranger, Petit Gris, Santa Maria Piquinto, Volga German Siberian I really look forward too....oh, so many! Lots are from @Blue-Jay's collection, and then some European beans I'm really excited for too.

Snap! They are so pretty. Tbh for now that's how I'm picking my beans for growing out - pretty/interesting seed coats.

Most of the beans I have are from either BeansandHerbs or RealSeeds, both in the UK. And a few from the Heritage Seed Library too. They all have such lovely looking seeds.

Lamon is a nice looking climbing borlotti type, which will hopefully be a pretty wall of red beans while they grow.

Wow wow wow, that is a lot of different types! I can imagine it's a full time job keeping track of all of them lol. Your highlights sounds and looks nice I don't think I'm growing any purple-podded beans this year.

I actually found this forum when I found Blue-Jay's Collectors Window website, which is such a treasure trove.

 

[heirloomgal]

Snap! They are so pretty. Tbh for now that's how I'm picking my beans for growing out - pretty/interesting seed coats.

Yes! I love the blue beans (like Sacre Bleu) , and the purple beans especially. I mean, there is so many pretty ones out there! Kiagara Mame is another one that is rather unique in it's seedcoat colors. I love the intense bright pink of a freshly dried Junin bean too. Popping open those dried pods looking for goodies is such fun.

I love borlotti beans, I grew 2 last year Stephano Borlotti D'Avento from @Blue-Jay (which was a stunning plant and enormously tall) and also Borlotti del Vardano, a bush bean. Both wonderfully high yielding beans, and even though BdV was a bush variety the plants were quite large. I plant to grow Lambada this season, another one from @Blue-Jay 's collection and it's classed as a horticultural type, I'm not sure if that's synonymous with borlotti's, but the seeds look like borlottis. I bet your Lamon will be gorgeous, the pods on those types seem to light up with color as they mature.

That's how I found this forum too, through the Bean Collector's Window. I was amazed at the amount of beans on there, just shocked. I had no idea there were so many. When I recommend it to other seed savers I sometimes describe it as The Bean Encyclopedia.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@heirloomgal,

When you see all the the Lambada pods begin to mature their seed. Your grow out will be a blaze of red. You will love it. Take photos.

This photo is from my 2016 grow out of Lambada. August 16, 2016.

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal,

When you see all the the Lambada pods begin to mature their seed. Your grow out will be a blaze of red. You will love it. Take photos.

This photo is from my 2016 grow out of Lambada. August 16, 2016.

View attachment 64263

Beautiful! The reason I picked this bean to grow out was because of your mention of how pretty it was! And you've grown more beans than any other person I've ever known, so I knew it must be gorgeous!

 

[BeanWonderin]

Has anyone else grown Mugungi? I think it was more of a bronzy-gray when we grew it in 2022, but 2023's batch has a steely-blue color. I'm wondering if this is a common color variation.

 

[flowerbug]

Has anyone else grown Mugungi? I think it was more of a bronzy-gray when we grew it in 2022, but 2023's batch has a steely-blue color. I'm wondering if this is a common color variation.

wow! interesting color and pattern to those. never have seen before.

 

[Artorius]

Has anyone else grown Mugungi? I think it was more of a bronzy-gray when we grew it in 2022, but 2023's batch has a steely-blue color. I'm wondering if this is a common color variation.
View attachment 64265

@BeanWonderin
I had Mugungi last year. The seed color is graphite with a black ring around the eye. I didn't notice any blue shades. Small seeds, one of the smallest in my collection.