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

[flowerbug]

...
I don't get frost in my area, so I figured I'd still be able to grow some beans. The local plant nursery guide says we can grow beans here until November. I heard that some Network Growers don't plant all of the seeds at once, so I'm reserving some to plant later just in case too.

Purple Dove might be quick enough to finish some pods by mid-November. if anything you should get some fresh edible beans. so far it is still our favorite bean for fresh eating. the purple flowers are a bonus.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Hi @frijolymoly,

A big bean welcome to the Little Easy Bean Network. So glad that you finally found your way here.

​

 

[Blue-Jay]

Summer Bean Show 2024 Vol. #18

The pattern on bean 33 sort of reminds me of Rose Creek Beauty with a different color and seed shape.



Bean #33..................................................................Bean #34

 

[flowerbug]

i got after myself this morning to go out and pick some fresh beans for eating this evening. i still haven't prepped them yet, but that will happen soon.

 

[heirloomgal]

I tried some of the Purple Dove pods today @flowerbug, they were medium sized and I was surprised that they were a perfect eating bean? I thought Purple Dove was only a dry bean?

Funny thing @Blue-Jay , the plant I posted a pic of a way back, that was all wilted - you had said it looked like vole shenanigans. I didn't see anything anywhere though that looked like vole activity - holes, dirt pile, etc. And that bean was smack in the middle of the bed. Well, if I didn't see a rodent hole today. It was at least 6 feet from that bean plant, but there was a hole. Odd though, he would have had to tunnel under half that garden space to go to that one plant! Nothing else has wilted thank goodness since.

Haven't posted much garden pics this year, as things have not been doing super well, but plants are catching up to my surprise. Late, but better late than never.

Starting to see some growth. Finally!!!! Still a couple of empty saplings, but most are climbing.

These guys are not bushy yet, but to my surprise they have made it to nearly 12 feet at this point. That's 'Saxon' on the left. As far as I know, it's a fairly rare variety that's ideal for cooler, short season areas. I guess I'll be able to really test it's mettle on that. This little garden is all direct seeded, and these are the only direct seeded plants that grew well. Whatever toxin blew my way, I can tell what direction it came from because any spot that had an eastern building barrier as these did (my greenhouse) those plants we protected.

The semi-runner row, many of these are network beans. The first one in the row is Santa Maria Piquinto, and it is growing VERY vigorous as is it's neighbour Donald Todd. With each passing week Donald Todd is turning into a bigger and bigger beast! It's actually hogging up some of SMP's space.

In June I had posted about planting a bunch of rare 'Tytania' seeds around a pole, and then realizing they're not poles but bush beans I had to dig them up and replant them all over the place, where I could find some bare spots (wasn't many). They were NOT happy with this plan, and some of them promptly wilted once transplanted, not a good sign. I'd never actually seen that before; probably happened because as I lifted them the dirt fell completely off their roots! But! They recovered wonderfully, and though I wasn't able to give them really ideal places to grow, I'll get plenty back to try again properly next time.

And since I'm on the subject of yellow beans, here's a picture of another one I'm growing this year - Ram d'Or pole bean. The pods are so delicate! Lots of yellow pole beans are big chonkers, but these are dainty. Too bad the plants have not thrived as well as they might have as you can see (direct seeded them) but I'm quite certain I'll have more than enough to try again now. My original packet had only a few seeds.

Another yellow bean that I'm just LOVING is 'Galopka'. My goodness, what a wax bean! I planted it WAY LATE, mid June for sure. And still it has grown like a king, I even have another set of them in a window box planter and they're doing amazing too. It's looking like of all my bush beans I'll get the greatest volume of seeds from these. They taste great too, Bit limey yellow in the early stages of growth, but they do get buttery later.

I'm finishing up shelling the dry bush beans, which are parched dry after the last couple days of high temps. There was some surprises; the Reisenkorn aus Omsk had lots of reversals, for one. They were actually prettier than the rest! Sort of navy blue.

Network bean Zambezi #2 First dry pods today. Sorry, little blurry.

Oh, it's a fabulous time of year.
If only there were more hours in the day!

 

[Neen5MI]

Too bad the plants have not thrived as well as they might have as you can see (direct seeded them) but I'm quite certain I'll have more than enough to try again now.

Do I understand correctly, that you attribute failure to thrive to the direct seeding? If the seeds germinate, and presumably have the same growing conditions as the transplants, and have adequate time to mature, it seems like the direct seeded would have the advantage of avoiding the trauma of transplantation. In my head I have categories of garden crops that are "from transplant", "direct sow", and a small number that are either/or. Beans have always fallen firmly in the direct sow group. In fact, I'd never heard of transplanting beans until I found this forum, yet it sounds like many here do. I get it, to push the limits for beans and climates that aren't a perfect match, or to optimize germination rates in seeds whose vigor is in question. Are there advantages beyond that that I'm missing?

 

[flowerbug]

i'd tried twice to grow Galopka but no luck for me from them. i've tried many other wax beans and had varied results from them. Top Notch was reliable for me for some years and then it fell off in production and i've not planted it since then. other wax beans were also variable for me enough that i gave up on them. i always was hoping for crosses which would survive our climate and soils better and be more reliable, but as of yet i hadn't had any luck from those either.

 

[flowerbug]

I tried some of the Purple Dove pods today @flowerbug, they were medium sized and I was surprised that they were a perfect eating bean? I thought Purple Dove was only a dry bean?

[sorry if this note is a bit jumbled and disjointed but i'm trying to do three things at once here]

in searching back Purple Dove gets mentioned by @Blue-Jay in the 2015 bean thread but i did not see any followups in that year, but i've also not re-read through that thread in a while... (something for this winter )

originally when the first time i had the network Purple Dove beans arrive here they were marked as bush and dry. after i tried them as a snack in the garden one day i decided to plant a lot more of them the next year and i was not wrong with that decision. they've been a staple dry bulk bean and fresh eating bean since then but they also work as a shelly bean if they go too long.

since then they have been one of our most favorite fresh eating beans, but they must be picked early enough (before the beans inside reach full size). i've given away and sold several hundred of samples since then.

my aunt calls them Dutch Beans, but i've never been able to find the earliest history of them to know where they might have originated.

...Oh, it's a fabulous time of year.
If only there were more hours in the day!

yes! yes! a wonderful time of the year for beans coming in and some drying down and being ready to see what happened and ...

 

[heirloomgal]

Do I understand correctly, that you attribute failure to thrive to the direct seeding? If the seeds germinate, and presumably have the same growing conditions as the transplants, and have adequate time to mature, it seems like the direct seeded would have the advantage of avoiding the trauma of transplantation. In my head I have categories of garden crops that are "from transplant", "direct sow", and a small number that are either/or. Beans have always fallen firmly in the direct sow group. In fact, I'd never heard of transplanting beans until I found this forum, yet it sounds like many here do. I get it, to push the limits for beans and climates that aren't a perfect match, or to optimize germination rates in seeds whose vigor is in question. Are there advantages beyond that that I'm missing?

Yes, at least, partly re: the failure to thrive. I too was under the impression for many years that beans were not a plant to be started in pots, same with peas. It would compromise them to do it, and give them transplant shock. However, after joining the LEBN I learned differently! Because several of the gardeners in the bean network start seeds in pots, this encouraged me to try on a large scale. I think now it's probably a myth that they get a stall in growth by it. My results were highly successful, so much so I try to avoid direct seeding now. It isn't just a jump start, or to extend the season for me, or even germ rates which are way better out of the ground, I find the beans just do better. They seem to produce better and grow bigger more quickly; I'm guessing that bean seeds & seedlings are probably likely to be get compromised in long term growth - by the vagaries of early summer weather or other assorted challenges - more so than transplants. I think this year my garden suffered a bit of herbicide drift, I don't live too far from a hydro line that they spray (and they use heavy duty stuff for trees). Many of the plants seemed burned. The transplants were affected less than the direct sown ones, which seems to go in line with that increased resilience I notice. Also, bean seed flies are thwarted. Last year I broke a record using both transplants & electroculture - 2 1/4 pounds from 4 pole bean plants.

 

[heirloomgal]

A couple more network bean updates.

Dule is very viney! It's seems almost like a semi-runner with it's height. However, I wouldn't make a judgement about any bean growth type in a year like this. Only 4 plants in there but lots and lots of winders.

Champagne bean. Nice set of clusters in there. The shape and size of the pods almost seem like the halfway mark between a romano type pod and a pencil type. They're certainly large! I looked online for more info about this variety. Apparently there are two distinct varieties of Champagne beans! Photo of #2 is below.

I don't think this one is a network bean, I can't really recall at the moment - Myrtle Allen. But it is one of the very vigorous ones this year. Plants are enormous. I'd love to know more about this bean, if anyone has a scoop please share! I'm guessing from what I've read the bean likely originates in Ireland, since a lady named Myrtle Allen is 'the matriarch of Irish food in Ireland' according to one site. It's certainly a very impressive variety.

Network bean Ruth Bible. Another wonderfully healthy, monster plant. From what I've read, this bean is known for that, and the fact that it likes to 'throw out it's arms' and grow vertically, as much as it can as well. I haven't really noticed that yet, but these poles were all spaced quite a distance apart so maybe she knows there is no where to go, lol. Pods have been a little slower to develop than Myrtle Allen and Goose, but it's coming along nicely. Interestingly this bean was given a sapling to grow on, but some reason leapt sideways & jumped onto the electro culture pole instead! Good vibes?

60 seeds of network bean Octarora Cornfield bean! If these are acceptable to you of course @Blue-Jay. Let me know. The seeds are shaped pretty well, but I think in a better year they'd be superior to this. These plants really struggled along, and they did not achieve their full potential. But it's a start for seeds. I'll probably grow this variety again next year. Despite the challenges, I was able to harvest a couple handfuls of seed. Sorry, picture is poor quality, we had no sunshine today, it was overcast, not good for photos.

So I was opening dried pods for network bean Kruger's Speckled Caseknife and I found a little surprise - two distinct seed coats. I could not remember what the original seeds looked like and sat there a bit boggled so asked if the real Kruger's would stand up. Nope So I went to A Bean Collector's Window and checked. On the one hand I was relieved that it was the speckled seeds, because they were so full and well developed, whereas the other ones were less so. The pods were quite different - the true Kruger's is a flat, longish speckled pod even when really dry and the color is washed out a little, the other one was more like a shorter pencil pod type. I thought both seeds were nice though. I thought if I were to ever regrow these and they became stable, 'Imposter' might make be a good name. The veins are kinda cool on the imposter, along with the blue and brown shading.

A couple pods of network bean Fagiolo Ruviotti. I looked and looked and can hardly find any information on this bean! I did find this, but it's not super helpful. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mariangela-Prunotto-Beans-Ruviotti-550/dp/B06XRX4S2J I wonder if Joseph Simcox bought these in a store in Italy?

A little better picture of Grumbliai than the one I previously posted.