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

[heirloomgal]

Were the Trevio Nun beans you harvested larger than what I had sent? The young woman who sent me this bean has a website called Tomato Eden. She had bought just huge amounts of beans from me for a couple of years and listed them on her website at one time. Now she only lists Tomatoes, Peppers, and melons. She is from Latvia I believe.

The Mala Zelena is a bush bean and the seeds look light yellow with a little bit of a black I ring. It looks to me to me another strain of sulphur bean. This bean came from a fellow in the Czech Republic.

In regards to the bean Champagne. It is really productive of green snap pods. When drying for seed I found the same thing that Zeedman had discovered. I sorted out at least half the seed it produced. Many of the seeds were oddly shapled and I wouldn't send out seed that looked like that. So I rejected them. I did use them in cooking up my chicken and bean stew.

I'm so glad you are getting nice seed crops in spite of your season. It's so disheartening when one puts in so much work just to have the weather spoil the season. I definitely know that bummed out bean season feeling.

I can't recall what size the Trevio seeds were exactly, but the do seem bigger than what I remember. The pods are quite big on those beans too, and maybe that is what is factoring in. Interesting about her website, I checked it out, it's a huge collection! Her inclinations for growing seeds is much like mine, except for the absence of beans. Tomatoes and peppers are the other veggies I grow an abundance of, though I plan to continue to move in the direction of more beans and less of those.

Yes, I can see the resemblance a bit to Sulfur beans with Mala Zelena, though I haven't grown many sulphur beans. The dark eye ring stands out on these, and a slightly elongated shape. It's one of my favorite bush beans this year. Good to know about the history, I like to add as much as possible to my bean descriptions so that is helpful.

Well, fingers crossed that my sneak peak into Champagne represents the whole lot, not just a few pods. I guess we'll see once dry, I may also have the same situation with the seeds. Yes, it is fabulously productive and the pods are big and substantial. My hopes are high!

 

[jbrobin09]

I don’t have anything starting to dry down yet here (overnight temps are still double digits) but the forecast looks like I’ve got a couple of weeks until frost so maybe. A few have nice plump pods so those should be good. Here are some pics of snap pole beans I have growing.

Above is Purple Peacock snap pole. Really long, tasty beans.

Above is Blue Coco, another pole snap. Beans are a little smaller than Purple Peacock and the flavour was less vibrant but still good.
Both are topping out around 6’ tall. PP seems to be producing more beans but both are quite vigorous.
I should add both beans’ seeds were over 5 years old and had almost 100% germination.

 

[Decoy1]

I’m wondering whether anyone else has experience of growing Mongeta del Ganxet, the bean whose seed looks rather like a cashew nut.

I’m attempting to grow it in my polytunnel where it’s notable for two things. Firstly it’s amazingly vigorous and seems to be wanting to take over the whole tunnel. Secondly, in spite of being grown under plastic, it’s very late. Only now is it showing signs of thinking it might consider flowering and is putting out some buds. I guess it’s just not viable here.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Summer Bean Show 2024 Vol. #24

Bean #75 looks like a Nuna bean. I think those are the bean that can be popped like popcorn. 77 looks like an Orca lima. 79 reminds me a Hashuli and 80 I may have shown that one before.


Bean #73....................................................................................Bean #75


Bean #77...........................................................Bean #78



Bean #79...........................................................Bean #80

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Summer Bean Show 2024 Vol. #24

Bean #75 looks like a Nuna bean. I think those are the bean that can be popped like popcorn. 77 looks like an Orca lima. 79 reminds me a Hashuli and 80 I may have shown that one before.

View attachment 68445View attachment 68446
Bean #73....................................................................................Bean #75

View attachment 68447View attachment 68448
Bean #77...........................................................Bean #78


View attachment 68449View attachment 68450
Bean #79...........................................................Bean #80

It's a similar pattern to Hashuli, but, if I recall from my sample, Hashuli has maroon spots, not black. When you re-plant it, you could also check if it has pink mottling on the seedling cotyledons (I recall my Hashuli did).

 

[heirloomgal]

I’m wondering whether anyone else has experience of growing Mongeta del Ganxet, the bean whose seed looks rather like a cashew nut.

I’m attempting to grow it in my polytunnel where it’s notable for two things. Firstly it’s amazingly vigorous and seems to be wanting to take over the whole tunnel. Secondly, in spite of being grown under plastic, it’s very late. Only now is it showing signs of thinking it might consider flowering and is putting out some buds. I guess it’s just not viable here.

I've tried to grow it @Decoy1 and I believe @Artorius has grown it as well. It must be a really long season bean because I don't think my plants even made flowers let alone beans. Too bad too, who doesn't want to grow a bean that looks like a white cashew? Pretty neat little specimen. I wonder if it comes from southern Spain; I've grown beans from northern Spain without any issues. Maybe the climate is substantially different north to south.

 

[Decoy1]

I've tried to grow it @Decoy1 and I believe @Artorius has grown it as well. It must be a really long season bean because I don't think my plants even made flowers let alone beans. Too bad too, who doesn't want to grow a bean that looks like a white cashew? Pretty neat little specimen. I wonder if it comes from southern Spain; I've grown beans from northern Spain without any issues. Maybe the climate is substantially different north to south.

Thanks for this @heirloomgal. Artorius wrote last year that he received seed from Catalonia which is in the north of Spain but I’m not sure whether he meant that they originate there. If so, it would be surprising. Others in previous years have indicated that the plants didn’t thrive. For me, in my polytunnel it’s an absolute monster, but to no if doesn’t produce! As you say, it’s a pity.

My seeds came from Deaflora. I’ve just checked their website, in fact, and there is no warning that it’s as late as it is and they do go on to state that it’s still grown by a few farmers in Catalonia. Certainly rather puzzling. The climate there is quite a lot warmer than here and I imagine for you too @heirloomgal but I’m surprised that a variety from there is so extremely late even when growing under cover and very healthily.

 

[Hornad]

this sounds similar to what happens when a plant that flowers when the days are short, is grown farther north where the days are long. This paper says that beans flower earlier when days are short so I suspect that is what is happening. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00438-020-01751-0

 

[heirloomgal]

Thanks for this @heirloomgal. Artorius wrote last year that he received seed from Catalonia which is in the north of Spain but I’m not sure whether he meant that they originate there. If so, it would be surprising. Others in previous years have indicated that the plants didn’t thrive. For me, in my polytunnel it’s an absolute monster, but to no if doesn’t produce! As you say, it’s a pity.

My seeds came from Deaflora. I’ve just checked their website, in fact, and there is no warning that it’s as late as it is and they do go on to state that it’s still grown by a few farmers in Catalonia. Certainly rather puzzling. The climate there is quite a lot warmer than here and I imagine for you too @heirloomgal but I’m surprised that a variety from there is so extremely late even when growing under cover and very healthily.

That is interesting, I didn't realize the Mongeta bean was grown in northern Spain. Wow, so southern origin can't be the reason then. I wonder what causes such a prolonged growth period before pod formation then? With a polytunnel they'd likely get more than enough heat units. I had the exact same experience with the Floreta bean as I did with Mongeta too.

 

[Decoy1]

his sounds similar to what happens when a plant that flowers when the days are short, is grown farther north where the days are long. This paper says that beans flower earlier when days are short so I suspect that is what is happening. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00438-020-01

Yes indeed, but in this case the reluctance to flower is more extreme than you would expect from a variety grown in northern Spain