Photos of some of my rarest Beans

[897tgigvib]

These are regular pole dry beans, Phaseolus vulgaris.

Bush dry beans are ready in about 3 months, give or take.
Pole dry beans are ready 3 to 5 months

Pole beans that take longer than 5 months, well most folks don't grow them, or if they do, they give up.

I'm now harvesting some rare Beans from the Sierra Madre Copper Canyon area. (Think that line from that Bogart movie. Beans are important there. Way back when, a hill of beans was valuable, especially during a drought.)

I planted these units May 5th. Today I harvested most of them, some not yet quite ripe, but should have decent germination next year.
That's over 6 months!
But, THESE Beans...
Ya can't get Beans that look as beautiful as these Stars, Tepehuan Star, Tarahumara Star, Mixed Star, Grey Star, Black Star, Purple Star.

Native Seed Search does warn that they are very late. 6 months, but worth it! Among the Mixed Stars are those I am calling Blue and Gold Stars, or maybe Blue and Gold Ojos Stars.

My garden has had so far 3 light frosts, and tonight promises to be the first killing frost. Add to that, the sun no longer rises above the trees to the south about now, just giving patches of sun in my forest clearing garden. Time to put her to rest and go into winter repair and maintenance mode, and get those berries planted in the north row, then consider a couple full dwarf apple trees to graft heirloom varieties on, or just get pre grafted ones at a nursery.

Beans... here are some photos

These are some unopened pods. Most will dry on top of my wardrobe a few days before opening. Some I opened. These pods are lightly frost damaged. That does not much hurt germination.

These are the rarest of the rare, the dark star blue gold. One plant was making these. Next year these late beans get started indoors a month early.

 

[ninny]

Wow. They are really neat.

 

[baymule]

Those are to pretty to eat!

 

[digitS']

Wow, Marshall . . .

November 15th .

. . and, where the snow piles deep thru the winter. You are a lucky guy with kool beans . From 1,000mi away, it doesn't look to me that your corner of the world is having any unusually warm weather the last few weeks. Those plants must have slowed to crawl.

Steve

 

[897tgigvib]

Yep Digit, without much sun now, and conditions perfect for the mushrooms...wild not to eat unless i get some spawn, the beans are on a die routine. Got to pretty much pick them all ready or not in the next few days, then sort them. I always keep a can of what i call grade b seeds and another can called toast. I try to make sure there are some of all my varieties in the grade b seed can. Who knows but that some grade b seed might turn out to be the only ones left after some catastrophe, like when i moved from montana and left one of my seed boxes there...aaaaaaaaaaaaa where's my true red cranberry?

Most of the pods are basically ripe, just not dry.

 

[journey11]

Wow, they do look rather "cosmic"...beautiful!

 

[desertlady]

Looks great ! How well do they produce?

 

[897tgigvib]

I have a lot of pods, but some of the pods will not mature because my season is ending.
I am sure that if planted in early april instead of early may, and given a good season that lasts to at least November 15th, or some equivalent 7 month season, they would be excellent producers.

Native seed search has them. Look under their common beans section.
In there you'll find the various kinds and colors of Star Beans.
For 5 month beans that are also very beautiful, and i think related, look at the various flor de mayo varieties...flor de mayo beans absolutely taste best at the shelly stage. I've been trying to find another bean as tasty as flor de mayo for shelly or actually, fresh out of the pod. None compare! So far. Badass, a variety i got from tierra farm in Windsor, is also good, but very strong Black Spanish de Tolusa is a good one also for fresh, but has a sharp zing.
Capirame mix from Native Seed Search is the coolest mix. Be very careful sorting those out! Some are bush and some are pole, some early, and some I guess were 7 month that I lost, not expecting that. Wonder what they were! I need to get another pack for doing the sorting again.

One suggestion from experience and testing:

It is better for some varieties of Beans that they be planted a foot or more apart, and poled separately. Other varieties do good intense planted, If in doubt, space them out. Also, if you get a variety you don't know growing habits of, give each seed plenty of space, and be prepared to pole them.

Sorting a mix such as Capirame, as I'll do next time I get a pack, you sort by color and shape, and if not sure, make further divisions anyway.

I also have some Capirames just now, 2nd generation with me here, just now producing plain red seeds, dull, medium sized. Their pods do look very edible. It was from the Capirame mix that I discovered the blue and gold stars last year. They are definitely related to the other star varieties! So that's where they go, sorted and segregated according to type, yet listed with their cultural heritage. I believe a Seri elder would agree.

That the spirit not be lost, but among new friendships.