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

[heirloomgal]

I use brown paper bags too, the lunch bag size and like @Boilergardener I label them with a sharpie. But just like he said, I have had some mould issues if the bag is too full. I tend to like little cardboard flats from the grocery store when I have a big amount of pods that I'm going to collect because I can lay them all flat in there and not pile them.

I used to mix dried pods too in the bags/cardboard flats if I knew they looked very different from one another. I did that until the year there was a cross in one of the varieties and then I couldn't identify where it had come from. I tend to keep everything separate now just in case there are surprises in the pods.

 

[flowerbug]

when i pick pods i usually keep them apart by garden and sometimes by row or variety. i have a lot of quart sized yogurt containers if i want to keep individual varieties apart during picking and they can stack together if they are mostly empty and i bring them in and go through them.

when i bring in a container of pods i go through them and separate the dry pods from the ones which need more drying time and the ones that need more drying time get spread out on flats and a label gets put on each flat so i know what it is and which garden it came from if i need to do that. once in a while as pods dry they get removed from the flats and put in paper bags for storing until i can get them shelled out. the more i can get shelled right away improves things because flats of drying beans can take up more space than a paper bag, but after shelling i can have all those beans in a flat or two which will get stirred from time to time to make sure nothing is going off or molding.

picking pods before it rains is important and i also like to pick pods later in the day after the dew has burned off, but i may also put the pods out in the flats in the sun to dry down before i bring them inside because it also gives the spiders or other bugs a chance to crawl away. i have a fairly protected spot for the flats so the wind doesn't blow them around. i'll also stir the contents of the paper bags from time to time to make sure nothing bad is happening in them.

some seeds are easier to remove from pods before they completely dry down (Venda is one of them) and others are much easier to shell when completely dried... that's just a part of the learning curve.

 

[Blue-Jay]

If you don't mind asking, how do you keep everything straight when harvesting. I'm only growing 22 varieties this year and in the past I've designated a pocket for this variety and a pocket for that and sometimes combine two varieties if color of the pods, seed or growing habits are easily distinguishable.

I'm harvesting small amounts of pods each time I pick dry pods. I place them on the styro plates which are all labeled with variety name, growth habit, position in the row and the plot they were grown. Often times those pods are ready to be shelled in a few more days. So I shell them out and place the beans on the labled plates; for continued drying. When I harvest pods I use a seperate plastic grocery bag for each variety that only has the position number in the row where each variety has been grown. I don't write the variety name on the bag so I can reuse the same bags the next year when all the variety names will be different in those rows.

Let me tell you about my row postioning. Lets say my rows run east and west. I might designate the start of all the rows on the east end of the growing plot. Perhaps I have 4 varities in that row. So lets start wtih row #1. The first variety in that row is 1.1 the next variety is 1.2 the third variety in that row in 1.3 and so forth. The next row starts 2.1 at the begining of the row and so on.

I remember the founder of the Seed Savers Exchange Kent Whealy telling me, when I went to help them sort out the Wanigan bean Collection. He said any system of organization is better than none at all.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Also a word about the numbers on the packets in the freezer in those boxes. When finding a packet of seed that I want. I know from my computer list what box and what number in the box where that variety is located. It is easier and faster to follow numbers than it is to follow variety names in alphabetical order.

 

[heirloomgal]

Some network bean updates. I may have one or two in here @Blue-Jay that are not network beans, I didn't check my list. But I think most of these are correct. This has been a most craptacular year compared to the last 3, but if I harvest the pods at the right time I may do not too badly. They key will be harvesting when the pods are far enough along, but before any mould can get them since so many of the poles set their pods very low on the plants this year. I'm having to be very judicious with water for sure.

Green String pods are starting to develop beans!

I think I know how network bean Blue Tip got the name.

Lower pods on Blue Tip are a bit further along.

Kruger's Speckled Caseknife is drying down.

Ranger semi-runner bean. Tough year for this variety, a few of the plants up and died on me. The remaining one is doing well though.

Goose pole bean has a good set of pods. This pole bean did well, compared to some others.

Granny pole bean is doing well too.

Octarora Cornfield. This bean started off really well, then really started to struggle. It didn't wind up climbing much, though one plant is really trying to move up the pole now. At least it was able to put out some pods, so at the very least I can try again. We'll see how many good seeds I can get from the surviving plants.

Ruth Bible - now this bean has done amazing. It's huge, it was able to grow as if this was a typical year. It might be a little late since it's still flowering right now but the health and vigor of the plants is excellent. The pods are forming correctly too, high above the ground. Aunt Maggie, Goose, Ruth Bible and a plant called Myrtle Allen are all doing fantastic. Huge and vigorous. I'm anticipating a normal harvest from them.

It begins!! Most of the bush beans are drying or fully dried. Only Rossi di Lucca, Slavonski Zeleni, Rinzenberg, Cannellini Nero, Paulchen and Ocean View are still full of green pods. Thank heavens I used nearly all transplants this year, who knows what I'd have wound up with if I had put in everything as seeds. My whole garden may have been a complete fail! Much of what I did direct seed never really grew.

 

[heirloomgal]

Watered this evening, and found a couple dried pods!

'Coree de Sang' pole bean. From Korea. Such a lovely seed color and pattern.

Fumolet di Fonzaso bush bean. From Italy. I did not get the lighting right with this one, will post a better picture in future. Evening light faded on me, but this is a fair representation of what they look like.

 

[frijolymoly]

Hello, I'm new to the LEBN! I received and planted some Network Beans last week.

I feel like I can start posting some updates. First I'll start with some pics of the beans I received!

Network Bush Beans:
Freckles (2013)(Priority List)

Rose d'Eyragues (2012)(Priority List)

Purple Dove (2018) I picked this one because it grows purple pods and I saw that @flowerbug likes it.

Pisarecka Zlutoluske (2021) Wax bean

Blue Speckled Tepary (Phaseolus acutifolius)(2024) I figured it would do well in my climate.

 

[frijolymoly]

Network Pole Beans:

Barksdale (2020)(Priority List)

Marvel of Nictaux (2014) striped pods

Gold of Bacau (2018) the description said it's delicious

Inca Pea (?) these beans look so cute!

 

[Decoy1]

Welcome to the forum, frijolymoly.

You’ve chosen some quite old seeds there which might be something of a challenge to germinate. I hope they come to life for you.
It’s also very late in the season. I imagine your climate is favourable for good rapid growth, but are you hoping to get seed in time?
Do keep us posted on progress.

 

[frijolymoly]

Welcome to the forum, frijolymoly.

You’ve chosen some quite old seeds there which might be something of a challenge to germinate. I hope they come to life for you.
It’s also very late in the season. I imagine your climate is favourable for good rapid growth, but are you hoping to get seed in time?
Do keep us posted on progress.

Yeah, I hope things go well! I planted some last week, and there are some seedlings now, some are still trying to emerge. I'll post numbers later.

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.