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

[flowerbug]

September bean shelling season is here, well, sort of, i have a lot more to do, but this is the first small selection of some Lavender and various other outcrosses. i'm glad to see that Flair (a Purple Dove and Lavender outcross) came back along with some others i also hoped will continue to stay true to pattern and colors. some of these need to be seen in sunlight or bright light to really get the layers of the colors that are happening. also the pinkish/reddish bean with some light markings on it is something i've been trying to get for quite a few years (go back in my bean page and you'll see a Pink Pinto that didn't really work out well).

as usual i'm always excited to see new beans and old friends too.

 

[heirloomgal]

Feeling a sigh of relief as the much anticipated network beans (the most anxiously awaited beans of them all!) start to roll in. With each 60#, my sense of ease increases. My first 2 are done!

Network Champagne 60

My experience Champagne @Blue-Jay, in light of yours and @Zeedman's posts about this bean, I guess has been pretty good. There were a handful of somewhat strangely shaped beans, but there were not many like that. If anything, the strangeness was more about the fact that these beans were shaped very much like cashews, with a slight curve in the centre sideways making them seem 'bent' for lack of a better word, and many are not fully symmetrical. Sometimes one side is nice and smooth, and the other side is less so. Nothing super drastic, but these certainly do not form with the perfect smooth surfaces and symmetry of Stayley's Star beans! Ha!

Network Ruth Bible 60

Love, love, love this bean!! My gosh, just one of those truly outstanding bean varieties. Huge vines, just loaded with pods, quite early maturing and the beans form very nicely. AND given that my garden seemed to suffer some kind of herbicide drift/mining exhaust, these were one of a handful of utterly resilient vines. I'm so glad you brought this bean on board, because I've been wanting to grow it for years but didn't think an opportunity would ever come my way. Until 20024!


Here is a bean with some history; I picked it up from HHS which has offered it for a few years and, I dunno, never felt the 'nudge' to try it until this year. It's almost a square shape and on the bigger side. Originates in Saskatchewan, with a lady named Lena - hence the name 'Lena's Bean'. In the 'dirty 30's' Lena's family received these beans in a relief package provided by the federal government. They set aside some of the beans and decided to grow them in their garden instead of eat them, and I guess they liked them, because here they are almost 100 years later still being grown.

And the lovely Brown Eyed Goose....shelled my first couple of pods tonight.

Rosso du Lucca I tried to google translate this bean's name to English. You'd think such a process would be simple, but I have found google translate not that great a tool. According to it, this beans name in English would be 'Red Bringer of Light'. Hmmm, not sure that sounds right? For some reason pink/dark pink is one of the most difficult colors of bean to photograph with my device. I'll probably try again when I have them all shelled and do a bowl pic instead.

 

[ruralmamma]

The rush is indeed on here too as I had to make several trips in and out yesterday with pockets full of beans. I've added a second shelf as a drying area and some of the ones that are finished producing will be sorted and put in the freezer for a bit.

One of my dry bean mixes really isn't that impressive compared to the other one as I discovered yet another pretty in it yesterday. I think it's probably a good thing we don't have a family cow as I'd have traded it for a handful of pretty beans long ago.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Summer Bean Show 2024 Vol. #25

More lovely limas. Bean #95 (P. Vulgaris) looks like the bean "Money" with a white area on one end. Bean #100 another P. Vulgaris.


Bean #94...........................................................Bean #95


Bean #96.................................................................Bean #97


Bean #98..............................................................Bean #99


Bean #100

 

[ruralmamma]

I have a total of four very swollen pods on my San Fiacre beans and decided to let them grow.

This shows a normal pod (actually there's two there) beside one of the overly swollen pods.

Seeds from normal pods on the left, seeds from the gigantic pods on the right. I expected the seeds from the larger to pods to be... well... larger. Instead they're longer and skinnier and doesn't even look like the same bean.

Throw them out or keep and grow them on next year? Our area is currently designated a D3 on the drought map and the soaker was for another crop in the same bed and hasn't been on for at least a month. I'm assuming maybe an environmental factor or just a fluke of nature

 

[Branching Out]

Last year I grew Hidatsa Shield Figure for the first time with great success (in fact it was arguably the best bean for me last summer). The plants were thick and lush, producing robust long pods with gorgeous plump seeds. This year I planted some of those saved seeds in two separate gardens, and the resulting plants are all short and spindly. A few pods have dried down and the seeds look fine. But the pods are few in number and only half as long as last year-- so the yield is really skimpy. Other bean varieties grew alongside the HSF plants and they did well. I just don't get it.

I found this old post from Artorius and flowerbug from the 2022 LEBN . Kind of makes me wonder if Hidatsa Shield Figure is perhaps a bit of a beany princess??
https://www.theeasygarden.com/threa...ns-without-borders.24484/page-185#post-409547

 

[Triffid]

I expected the seeds from the larger to pods to be... well... larger. Instead they're longer and skinnier and doesn't even look like the same bean.

This is quite normal - fleshy pods invariably constrict the developing beans into elongated and compressed forms.

Personally, I'd keep the fleshy ones, albeit stored and labelled seperately, as I don't think their different characteristics are environmental. Bumpy, twisted, and fleshy pods like that tend to indicate that the pods are tender, with no tough membrane to keep them smooth and straight. So, uglier, yes - but likely better to eat, especially when young!

 

[heirloomgal]

Sooooo hot the last couple days, so much so I took kids swimming everyday in the last while too cool off - almost 90 degrees! Superb conditions for the beans though! It's interesting to see how fast pods dry in this kind of weather, given that September isn't always like this. I tried picking pods from plants this afternoon, but just couldn't take the sun beating down on me so waited for evening. We are losing sunlight steadily each day and I'm actually struggling to take bean pictures because by the time of day I'm ready to do that, the sun is setting! But still got a few in low light today.

Muni Chocame bean finally drying up pods! Thank heavens! There is not much there, but I'll wind up with much more than I started with.

Network bean Nickell is looking AMAZING! WOW! Must be a Kentucky bean! I'm SO GLAD that I took a chance and tried some of these beans that I don't normally grow, Appalachian ones. Always been afraid that they won't do well here, like I live in the most opposite climate possible to where they originate. Didn't want to risk that with network selections. But I was so wrong about that!

Network bean Fat Man, and I can see why they call it 'fat'! They are!

I always find these contrasts striking. Brita's Footlong on the left, Fesol Afartapobreson the right! So different! Both started at the same time (I stripped all the Brita pods that were dry, which was most of them). Oh, and a question about Brita's --- if the pods are not super long, is it still Brita's? These pods were not that long really??? Anyone grow it?

Rack is working well! Next to the drying room, it's the best drying location by far.

This bean seed is rather different. I'd be tempted to say its a little late, but its in a bit of a shady spot so I don't really know. In full sun, I'm sure it would be further along. The pods are finally swelling so there's hope.

Posena has turned out to be a super duper fantastic yielder. In a bad year like this, I really appreciate that.
And the pods blush a faint pink when they dry!

Nonna Agnes. It strikes me as being a lot like 'Meerbarbe' really, but I don't know if they're the same bean. This is late because it was direct seeded. Given the weather, I think it'll be okay.

Turtle Pea pods are almost all dry. A very early bean indeed. Such a neat and tidy habit of growing. Most of the black turtle type beans I've grown have very thin, papery pods but these are different. The shells are actually quite stiff . So even with 'turtle' in the name - a separate type.

 

[heirloomgal]

This is quite normal - fleshy pods invariably constrict the developing beans into elongated and compressed forms.

Personally, I'd keep the fleshy ones, albeit stored and labelled seperately, as I don't think their different characteristics are environmental. Bumpy, twisted, and fleshy pods like that tend to indicate that the pods are tender, with no tough membrane to keep them smooth and straight. So, uglier, yes - but likely better to eat, especially when young!

Never thought about this @Triffid but it makes so much sense. Explains why so many 'for dry use' beans have smooth, stiff pods...

 

[jbrobin09]

@heirloomgal I noticed in one of your pics the vines had no leaves-was that a natural occurrence or did you strip the leaves? I’m just wondering if that helps ripen off the pods. I’m down to the wire to get some ripe pods so anything I can do… We are going down to +4/5 two nights a week now and I’ve had a very light frost in my lowest garden already. Clock is ticking!