Dragon Tongue Bush Beans

[vfem]

So after whining how my husband hasn't bothered to get his hands in the dirt and learn the gardening of actual veggies in all these years, he decided he's going to grow his own spot this year and ask questions so he can actually learn. He's afraid I'm going to over whelm him, but he's willing to ask questions and try.

So shopping online he found some of these beans and added them to our order: http://rareseeds.com/vegetablesa-c/beans/bean/dragon-tongue-bush-bean.html


I'm not a fan of the room bush beans take up. Anyways, I wonder how good these are and if I should give up more of my garden space to him for these or not? I'm not going to lie, I'm greedy and if he doesn't do well, I don't want a lot of my square footage wasted for plants that need too much care and produce very little. (Or worse, get totally forgotten about and don't produce a thing.)

I really HOPE at the end of the season they do well, and he does well so he'll want to keep going on this with me. However, I fear it will be like the 'cooking' thing. One day we try making tacos, the next he never wants to deal with the stove EVER again.

 

[897tgigvib]

vfem, can I advocate for us poor brained men for a minute?

Lol!!!

Gardening and cooking don't have to be rocket science. Do that encourage thing for your hubby. If his beans are not hugely successful maybe they look good, or maybe they were fun. Something, anything that is encouraging. Help him along.

Do the excited about it thing! Don't do the micro manage thing. Instead, show and accidentally teach.

Things like, oh honey, here's how I do the soil preparation the easy way. You can do it sooo much better than me because you're sooo much stronger. ooo honey i like how your shoulders ripple when you use that hoe.

Here's how I make the hole for the seed. See how I let it slip out of my fingers and kind of set it with the eye facing down? awww honey your hands look so sensitive when you do that.

See how I pinch the soil over the seed and leave it loose. Here you try that. Let me rub your back while you do that.

Do what it takes to make his beans successful. On a hot day suggest you go out to water the garden together and have some of those tacos for after...or maybe have some fun squirting each other with the hoses...you'd be surprised that even older guys like to play like that. Doesn't take that much energy, and a little getting wet on a hot day never hurt anyone!

Or, whatever it takes to make it fun and encouraging. Sounds like that is more important than an award winning crop. Who knows? Maybe it will be an award winning crop? Enter some in your local fair!

oh kay. I actually did the advocate for us poor brained men! thing! Forgive me for my coffee was real good this morning...

 

[vfem]

Hahaha, I will try to be all supportive... I really usually am. He's just super forgetful. And depending on the time of year it is, he's more interested in what football game or basketball game is coming on. Or he'll be off building something. Which honestly... he wants one of my raised beds, or he wants a section he can build himself a raised bed in for himself. I think he's more interested in BUILDING things! In fact, he's already got plans for the shed / new coop he's doing this summer.

I'm afraid of losing his attention, or losing his interest. What if he hates it and rather not spend the time out in the garden with the munchkin and I? The only thing we ever shared an interest in was playing pool, you know, billards. We don't do that anymore due to have a wee one and we don't like going out at night much anymore. I'm trying really hard to find something we can both enjoy and share together. Seeing I'm so over whelmed with my projects I'm hoping he picks one I already have going on and will jump in.

I taught him how to sew a bit once. He can thread my sewing machine very well, and I think if he had to he could repair holes in his jeans... but its simpler for him to ask me to do it for him. But I know he doesn't 'enjoy' that.

I have my fingers crossed that this really catches his interest and this is something we'll have as a family. (I already got the kid hooked, thankfully!)

 

[897tgigvib]

Oh! Building things!

Why dintcha say so? lol!

Pole beans REALLY NEED TO HAVE SOMETHING BUILT FOR THEM TO GROW ON!

Oh boy! Get some pole beans, maybe some from Russ Crow, that are sooper rare and MUST be successful! Now THERE'S a job to do! He will HAVE to build a MOST PERFECT apparatus for those beans to climb on!

In fact, he'll have to build it so perfectly, maybe he should do a full mechanical drawing of it on blueprint!

I'm thinking it may need to be DOVETAILED construction! Tongue and groove, sanded to 1200 grit. Wrapped with twine. Exactly 12 foot 6 inches tall. Strong enough for a grade 5 hurricane!

Oh yes, set him about making the world's best bean pole setup! Oh, and with a deadline too!

THEN he has to prove his project's worth by showing he can grow a critically endangered heirloom pole bean on it, oh! and he gets all bragging rights too!

You might want to have a radio out there with his favorite game being played while he's doing this. Make sure you have the kitchen goodies ready for him at the end of the day, and ferheavensake, bring him snacks while he's building it! Tell him things like ooo honey you look so strong while you press those dovetails together!

 

[vfem]

Sadly, I do the blue lake pole beans... grandpa said so, and I have learned since I lost my grampy in 2010 that the man was amazing in the garden, and to take his advice without question. Hubby already built me some pole bean tri-pods. Or tee-pees as my daughter so loves playing in them when they are covered in beans.

I'd love him to build me a trellis to grow my melons on. I am doing a few endangers/rare melons this year and I want to grow them up so they don't take up a lot of space.

For building things is wonderful, but its not exactly sweet time together out in the yard... its usually saws and hammers with him on one side of the yard, and I on the other. Perhaps we wave at each other occasionally, but that is all.

 

[DebFred]

We women and our menfolks! My Hubby likes to help me. Rather, tell me how the way I am doing something is all wrong, and his way is much better. Sometimes it works, but a lot of times it doesn't. I/We want a bigger garden this year. I grew up in Kentucky. We plowed, planted, grew, and harvested. He has mentioned containers on a sled thing that we can move around the yard to get the best light. Or the aqua thingy. We did a modified square yard space. By the time we got the plants in the ground, they were covered with so much newspaper, grass clippings, mulch, they didn't get enough sunlight and didn't do well at all. Well, except the zucchini! I thought we'd wake up with zucchini creeping through the windows, and wrapping us up in their vines!

On his behalf, there is a lot of clay in the ground. He means well. Maybe I can get him to build me a pole for the beans and something for the tomatoes to grow on. We'll see.

Deb

 

[Nyboy]

Let him build his own raised bed. If he gets tired of working in the garden , you can then take it over.

 

[ninnymary]

marshall, you are tooooo funny! Vfem, I know how you feel. I also have a non gardener husband. Fortunately for me he likes to sit in the sun. He does that while I do my gardening. It's not quite the same but at least we are both outside together. But we do spend a lot of time together doing other things. I don't think he will ever like gardening.

Mary

 

[MontyJ]

I do the building and veggie gardening, the DW does the flowers. She will help me in the veggie garden if I ask and I help her with the flowers. She taught me to crochet once. I didn't like it. I just can't sit still that dang long! She does a lot of the indoor cooking, but I know my way around the kitchen and I'm not afraid to use it. I actually convinced her to switch to cast iron cookware, and now that's all we use (except for sauce pans). I do all of the outdoor cooking. I do dishes when I have to, but I HATE doing laundry. I don't mind throwing the clothes in the washer or dryer, but folding just plain sux. I also hate the vacuum cleaner. But I swear, if I move something that is fairly heavy so I can work on it, ie...entertainment center, washer, dryer, fridge etc...that woman is right there with the vacuum cleaner. I'll be trying to work, then I'll hear the vacuum turn on and here comes some hose or pipe or something right in there with me.

 

[vfem]

I do the building and veggie gardening, the DW does the flowers. She will help me in the veggie garden if I ask and I help her with the flowers. She taught me to crochet once. I didn't like it. I just can't sit still that dang long! She does a lot of the indoor cooking, but I know my way around the kitchen and I'm not afraid to use it. I actually convinced her to switch to cast iron cookware, and now that's all we use (except for sauce pans). I do all of the outdoor cooking. I do dishes when I have to, but I HATE doing laundry. I don't mind throwing the clothes in the washer or dryer, but folding just plain sux. I also hate the vacuum cleaner. But I swear, if I move something that is fairly heavy so I can work on it, ie...entertainment center, washer, dryer, fridge etc...that woman is right there with the vacuum cleaner. I'll be trying to work, then I'll hear the vacuum turn on and here comes some hose or pipe or something right in there with me.

Hahahaha... I can just picture her chasing you with the vacuum right now because the chair by the computer my have moved!