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

[Ridgerunner]

I will mark the pink flowered plant with a ring of stones, so I can keep those seeds separate from the rest. Last year Cocaigne Shelly grew next to Rossa di Lucca, so if there's a cross I suspect that would be the other parent. Not sure why but I find out-crosses to be very intriguing.

Good move. When I was trying to stabilize outcrossed beans if the bloom was different, the pods were different, or growth type was different it was a different bean from the rest. It would be interesting to see photos of the dried bean on this one compared to the others.

 

[heirloomgal]

I heard back by email today from the person I got Olga's Yugoslavian from and she says it's a bush bean. I will update the website to reflect that.

Awesome to know! I'm relieved that it isn't growing low because it got stunted. Your bean connections are amazing @Blue-Jay!

 

[heirloomgal]

Some dried bean pods I cracked open today. I knew I'd really like Horsehead @Blue-Jay when I saw photos you posted in the last couple years - and yup, it's a beauty! It's very early too. What a bean!

Network bean Slavonski Zeleni is starting to dry up too. The bushes have not looked real great all season, and the pod set hasn't been much either. I likely won't have 60 to return, but I will have more than enough to try again in 2025. It's the only bush bean that didn't really thrive, much like many of the poles. But the seeds turned out great? Odd. I'm hoping next year they do better.

Here is a new one to me from Europe, 'Emperor of Russia'. The pods are rather long and slender. Little bit of history on this bean: it dates to 1906, or older. Was grown in the South of France under the name 'Gris Nain Maraîcher'. I believe it's for use as a snap bean, though of course I haven't tried them yet.

Almost all the Eden Valley pods are done drying up as of today! Wow, that is really early! I didn't even have to pull the plants up.

 

[Boilergardener]

BEAN GARDEN UPDATE:
Here in IN I've had a great garden year (so far). Low amounts of rain keeping the beans cleaner and less disease issues and less splash up soil to cause pod issues. Had a wind storm a in June, and it busted off a few bush beans plants cherry trout, early warwick, nuns bellybutton, Brightstone. as they were so big and prolific, too top heavy as they grew so well.

Network drabo (bush) is looking to be a terrific white bean, grows tall but I also caged the plants as sometimes the rabbits get in thru the elec. fence. Network bean Barry Island is a prolific romano bean (which I learned about on this thread thank you!) and I tried cooking some with bacon and onions on the stove top, too tough for me,I bet I picked them as too big of beans for cooking. I'll stick to the Seychelles for green beans. I may try some dried Barry Island beans in ham and beans we will see. I'll have much over 60 to send back.

Nuns bellybutton really prolific, nice podding should be a big yielded like last year.

Pole beans George's bean and major cooks are going to be big yielders, they grow great.

I grew petis gris again and they are nice little dainty pole plants with purple stems, they seem to not handle the dry weather as much as the others. But still setting good pods. Leaves have looked wrinkled and rough all year, but they throw nice disease free pods. I don't think it's mosaic virus or anything I'm thinking it's environment, fast growth, making leaves look like alligator skin like other beans also do.

In 4 years of growing Coco De belle isle and having like 30 beans from this and terrible plant emergence, even started in pots, and poor growth I have 2 tall poles this year of them. What a blessing that is. That dang variety just doesn't like IN soil apparently!

I also am growing 4 poles of the Miami pole bean, which apparently is from Miami Indians that lived in Ohio/Indiana. huge leaves like dinner plates, super prolific growth they could have I'm guessing grew 20 plus feet, they hang considerably over the Furring strip 1x2 wood posts.

Network pea bean turkey not wanting to climb the Furring strips that much, maybe a semi runner? Will be ok yielding. Good podding so far.

I didn't think this year was going to be anything special with the extreme wet may, and droughty June, but it will turn out to be maybe the best bean growing year I've had, and have been growing beans for probably 5 years now.

 

[flowerbug]

...
I didn't think this year was going to be anything special with the extreme wet may, and droughty June, but it will turn out to be maybe the best bean growing year I've had, and have been growing beans for probably 5 years now.

yay! i'm glad it worked out well for you this season.

 

[flowerbug]

i did do a few samples yesterday and looked around and decided that unfortunately almost all of the new outcrosses were either not very edible or if they were they weren't notably better than other beans i already grow. so aside from having interesting seed coats they're not too likely to be beans that others would want. as many as i can get to backcross to pick up desired traits is pretty much the goal anyways as many also have white flowers. i think i saw one plant with pink flowers. i may have some hidden gems out there still that i did not find, i wasn't able to go up and down each row to give a close look (or i'd still be out there, yikes, there's a lot of plants ).

Tinker's Fire is definitely not a long hanging edible bean, if it is edible it would have to be picked fairly young. i may have been overly hungry the day i did pick one when it was young and i did like the taste of it then. turns to shoe leather (and i suspected so anyways because i sure didn't remember it being edible before plus the pods are definitely heavy and harder pods).

my initial planting of Purple Dove beans (the earliest planting) did have some dry pods that i picked, i probably could have picked them weeks ago. i was surprised they were in reasonably good condition. i also sampled the last of the pea pods and picked what were ready of those to be dried down completely indoors.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Here is a new one to me from Europe, 'Emperor of Russia'.

In the book Beans Of New York this bean is also known as Longfellow. The book states it is called Nain Gris Maraicher in France which interprets into English as "Dwarf Gray Market Garden" An old variety grown also in the U.S. Brought to the U.S. by the Henderson Company in 1895. The bean has many names and synonyms. I acquired Longfellow from the USDA gene bank in Pullman, Washington. I grew it only once so far but mine didn't have pods this long. In a number of seasons I discovered the plot I had grown the bean in doesn't grow any bean well at all in any season. They are all small plants with smaller seeds. I should retry the bean in a different area.

Glad you liked Horsehead. It is one of my favorites and very productive too.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Summer Bean Show 2024 Vol. #16

Someone sent me this bean #30 a number of years ago under the name "Temple Of Peace"
My seed now is probably too old to grow.


Bean #29...........................................................Bean #30

 

[Neen5MI]

Ok, there's no such thing as a dumb question. Right? So, can we talk about storage and organization of so many bean varieties? I'm finding my self challenged on several fronts:

-I don't have freezer space for long term storage of everything. I keep the current year's harvest (shelled and not-yet-shelled) in my unfinished attic until we've had a nice long freeze, to get rid of any bugs. (My confidence that such a freeze will occur is dwindling with each year.)

-Then I have to decide whether to maintain varieties separately or toss the majority into mixed containers for my own eating, holding back a sample for planting and sharing as named beans. But how large a sample should that be? I've been a little surprised by how few requests I get for seeds through Seed Savers Exchange, but would HATE to get a request and be unable to fill it. And how to store for easy retrieval..?

-And, let's face it, I grow way too many beans for my own consumption. My garden is currently groaning under the masses of vines and pods, promising the largest harvest of my career (almost exclusively dry), and my bean cupboard is already full to overflowing.

I would welcome advice, solutions, reflections, words of solidarity, descriptions of others' systems, etc.

 

[ruralmamma]

Ok, there's no such thing as a dumb question. Right? So, can we talk about storage and organization of so many bean varieties? I'm finding my self challenged on several fronts:

-I don't have freezer space for long term storage of everything. I keep the current year's harvest (shelled and not-yet-shelled) in my unfinished attic until we've had a nice long freeze, to get rid of any bugs. (My confidence that such a freeze will occur is dwindling with each year.)

-Then I have to decide whether to maintain varieties separately or toss the majority into mixed containers for my own eating, holding back a sample for planting and sharing as named beans. But how large a sample should that be? I've been a little surprised by how few requests I get for seeds through Seed Savers Exchange, but would HATE to get a request and be unable to fill it. And how to store for easy retrieval..?

-And, let's face it, I grow way too many beans for my own consumption. My garden is currently groaning under the masses of vines and pods, promising the largest harvest of my career (almost exclusively dry), and my bean cupboard is already full to overflowing.

I would welcome advice, solutions, reflections, words of solidarity, descriptions of others' systems, etc.

Not a dumb question at all as I've been struggling with the same thing as the varieties I've grown have increased and I also welcome any insight.

My grandma and great-grandparents kept a half-pint or pint jar of each variety in the freezer. The cut-short beans I'm maintaining is one of those beans.

Weevils haven't been an issue here but I do try to give the saved seed a week or so in the freezer if I can. Problem is that currently I don't have a freezer besides what is part of the refrigerator. Most varieties last year didn't get cold treatment and they've germinated 100%, but I don't want to lose a variety simply because I was too overwhelmed at the end of the season to store it properly. Right now seeds are in individual bags labeled by variety and year and kept in a dark cabinet (sometimes).

I remember watching a documentary where Bill Best mentioned germinating seeds from his mother's freezer that were at least 35 years old and that intrigues me. But then again everything about beans intrigues me.