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

[flowerbug]

i'm always interested in seeing any PD crosses for sure. i saw one yesterday in passing (as i was sorting pods to go into boxes and flats so they could finish drying completely before they go into a paper bag).

i've pretty much run out of paper bags so i had to go from boxes and flats and the last paper bag to sort them out (sorting the dry from the damp ones) and filled the paper bag to overflowing and then after they were all sorted i put them back in boxes and flats to finish drying completely. i'm only drying off the nightly dewfall so they are almost bone dry and a lot of them are shattering as i'm sorting. a few days in the boxes and flats and they'll be ready to go back in a paper bag if i can find one.

i picked four boxes yesterday. there were chances of rain for last night and this morning but it looks like it all missed us so now there is no rain in the forecast for the entire week again. fire risk today with high winds - hope people are careful out there.

i still have the whole back part of this last garden to go through and look for dry pods plus some other gardens to check but those can happen anytime this week as i put up gardens and putter around.

yesterday i finished shelling out what i had separated out of Venda pods and noticed a solid black outcross. it's the first outcross from those i've seen. i did the shelling out of those because i needed the box for picking and sorting... i still have boxes stacked up in the high corner of the room, but it's hard to get at those now with all these other boxes and flats around drying or waiting to be shelled... it's a good spot to be in considering how many pods the groundhogs ate - i was wondering if i was going to have much of a harvest this year a few months ago.

 

[Branching Out]

The trays of dry beans were taking over the living room so I corraled them on a folding table-- and now I can see the floor to vacuum. Lol. There are still a few pods drying, but very few. I was surprised to find 19 types of lettuce seed dotted around the room as well. Now those are all in one spot too.

 

[heirloomgal]

The trays of dry beans were taking over the living room so I corraled them on a folding table-- and now I can see the floor to vacuum. Lol. There are still a few pods drying, but very few. I was surprised to find 19 types of lettuce seed dotted around the room as well. Now those are all in one spot too.

That's a lot of beans @Branching Out! I didn't realize you grew that much! Looks like many were mega producers - which varieties gave the highest yields?

 

[heirloomgal]

Did 3 hours of shelling yesterday evening, more coming tonight. Pods are steadily drying, with the sun and wind going strong. Been able to get more paddleboarding time in too, lol. Had our first beaver encounter, he used that tail to 'Niagara Falls' us on the boards a few times. Monday night goes to 1 C/34F so the last bean poles out there - Blaugraue, the North Carolina cross, the rogue bean sprout which is actually drying down right now, and the runner beans will all have to be pulled up or picked. Those runner beans are still very green, though the pods are fat. I dunno, that doesn't seem like great odds, but I've never dried green runner beans indoors before. I guess this year will be the first, and I'll get to see if it works the same as P. vulgaris.

 

[flowerbug]

i checked the back half today of the last garden i planted, it's all developing pods still so i may be eating some shellies this week if we get a hard enough frost in the forecast. there were a few dry pods but very few. not enough for me to worry about at this point in time. if somehow we don't get frosted heavy enough and there are two more weeks of non-frosty weather then i may get dry beans without having to bring in undeveloped pods to dry. i'd say my chances are slim i'm going to get that much more frost free weather.

either way it's working out ok.

 

[flowerbug]

The trays of dry beans were taking over the living room so I corraled them on a folding table-- and now I can see the floor to vacuum. Lol. ...

don't be surprised to hear beans getting sucked up. just today i opened a drawer in my room here to see if i could find something i thought i had misplaced (i didn't - it was where it was supposed to be i was just unable to see it the first time i looked and found it when i went back and looked again) and there were two beans underneath things where those beans should not have been. Mom probably did a gremlin thing sometime as i would not have had that drawer open and moving things around on that desk at the same time - i just don't do things like that...

all of that at the start to skip over and ask if you have any that turned out to be your favorites? and what did you think of Purple Dove (of course! )...

 

[Artorius]

So Bohnen-Atlas, Deaflora and Guy Dirix (and @heirloomgal and I) all have the wrong strain, the more elongated form. Bohnen-Atlas might have the right strain too, or might have used a photo from Jannes Aalders who apparently has the correct rounder strain.

Thank you, @Artorius for clarifying beyond doubt.

The Deaflora store has the correct Gold und Silber seeds, that's where the ones I sowed in 2023 come from.

Stangenbohne Gold und Silber (Samen)

Phaseolus vulgaris var. vulgaris Zur Hälfte goldfarben, zur Hälfte weiß. Im weißen Anteil sind noch viele goldfarbene Flecken und Spritzer zu finden. Sehr hübsch!

deaflora.de

I have written to Deaflora and Guy Dirix about this bean. I'm curious to see their responses.

 

[Branching Out]

all of that at the start to skip over and ask if you have any that turned out to be your favorites? and what did you think of Purple Dove (of course! )...

Purple Dove got planted in a less than ideal location, and struggled a bit as a result. I especially loved growing the PD outcrosses that you sent me though flowerbug-- they produced so many beautiful variations of dry beans.

Picking a favourite would be difficult. Venda was definitely one that I enjoyed cooking as a snap bean. And I also grew a lovely pole bean called Sunshine that produced lots and lots of yellow beans that were great for fermenting; we'll be enjoying those all winter.

 

[Branching Out]

That's a lot of beans @Branching Out! I didn't realize you grew that much! Looks like many were mega producers - which varieties gave the highest yields?

Orca did really well this year, and tied with Arikara Yellow as the first to dry down. Bush snap beans Harvester Mangiatto and Valentino were each notable as well, surprising me with the amount of unblemished and uniform seed that they produced. I have only just started to harvest the dry pods of pole snap bean Potomac (grown as a seed crop), but expect high yields with that one too. Others such as snap bush beans Masai and Mascotte produced a LOT of pods but are taking their time senescing, so while they gave us lots of beans for fresh eating I'm not certain that I will get any seed from them at all before the wet weather takes them out.

On the flip side, I also grew Jimenez in two different gardens and found that in both plots the large fleshy red beans tended to rot instead of drying down; about half of the pods had to be culled, which was a bummer. Next year I may try to deflect rain away from the roots of Jimenez come September to see if that helps.

 

[heirloomgal]

Orca did really well this year, and tied with Arikara Yellow as the first to dry down. Bush snap beans Harvester Mangiatto and Valentino were each notable as well, surprising me with the amount of unblemished and uniform seed that they produced. I have only just started to harvest the dry pods of pole snap bean Potomac (grown as a seed crop), but expect high yields with that one too. Others such as snap bush beans Masai and Mascotte produced a LOT of pods but are taking their time senescing, so while they gave us lots of beans for fresh eating I'm not certain that I will get any seed from them at all before the wet weather takes them out.

On the flip side, I also grew Jimenez in two different gardens and found that in both plots the large fleshy red beans tended to rot instead of drying down; about half of the pods had to be culled, which was a bummer. Next year I may try to deflect rain away from the roots of Jimenez come September to see if that helps.

I grew Jiminez a few years ago, and I remember it took so, so long for them to dry down. I had to finish them in the house. Maybe might be one to try picking when it has just started forming seed, and drying under cover? Potomac is an interesting bean, looks like there are a few varieties of it, a black seeded and white seeded. All your seeds look so lovely. A bouquet of bean bowls is my preferred table decoration.