The 2014 Little Easy Bean Network - Get New Beans On The Cheap

[Blue-Jay]

Hi @TheSeedObsesser,

Got your seed return today of the Preston's Old Family Heirloom. Did you catch that name correction? I don't know how we started calling it Prescott's. I looked it up on my spread sheet of all my beans. Wow very nice seed. Also what a surprise of the Khabarovsk. Such pretty seed. Could be a Russian variety I would guess. Does it grow with large pods. Those are pretty big seeds on that one.

I was out at my big bean plot today and Armenian Giant Black has one large lower pod almost dry and crisp. Will probably harvest it sometime next week. The plant has other pods beginning to yellow. So the bean will surive. It is a late maturing variety. I have two other late pole beans I'm waiting for seed on. Armenian is actually going to beat them out by a couple of days.



Thanks so much for your work and caring.

 

[Smart Red]

@Bluejay77, still waiting for one of the African pole bean varieties to start drying out. They started setting fruit late in the season and still are green and flowering. I am watching the weather and can pull them and hang the plants in the garden shed if frost threatens, but right now our weather is perfect (for me).

 

[897tgigvib]

It was getting ready to drizzle us some rain day before yesterday, so I picked 17 small plates of pods, mostly between 1 and 4 pods of 17 varieties.

But Shoshone and Brown Eyed Goose are putting out a good number of dry pods and I got about a dozen pods from each of those.

@Bluejay77 Chocolate outcross 2013 #4 is definitely a pole bean. One plant did survive the heat and drought but barely. She's a 9 foot tall pole plant, and I harvested pods from her, some of which had passed on with the portions that did not make it. So I do have seeds from it, some better than others, but some will go into my emergency spare grade b seeds mix.

I think Chocolate outcross #4 is a good variety for areas where the summer won't do very many 95+ degree days in a row. (Whew! I'm still reeling from July and August's hot weather. My new Thyroid specialist doctor told me yesterday that I'm heat intolerant because of some helper enzyme makes what she calls enzyme storms in me.)

On the other hand, the Limas loved the hot days and nights, and the Large Flat Orange Paiute Tepary were asking me "When's the drought going to happen?"

=====

Now I notice I have pods ripening all the way above the bird netting, and my step ladder won't fit between the log sidings of my beds.

Oh the problems one has growing beans, lol!

5 gallon bucket upside helps to get some, but I need a couple more feet.

We might get a bit more rain tonight. I best go out and pick some more pods and figure a way to get my feet 4 feet above the ground...

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Hi @TheSeedObsesser,

Got your seed return today of the Preston's Old Family Heirloom. Did you catch that name correction? I don't know how we started calling it Prescott's. I looked it up on my spread sheet of all my beans. Wow very nice seed. Also what a surprise of the Khabarovsk. Such pretty seed. Could be a Russian variety I would guess. Does it grow with large pods. Those are pretty big seeds on that one.

I was out at my big bean plot today and Armenian Giant Black has one large lower pod almost dry and crisp. Will probably harvest it sometime next week. The plant has other pods beginning to yellow. So the bean will surive. It is a late maturing variety. I have two other late pole beans I'm waiting for seed on. Armenian is actually going to beat them out by a couple of days.



Thanks so much for your work and caring.

Yup, I caught that name correction! I have no idea how that started either, must have been before I got glasses? Preston should be easy to remember - that's the last name of my mom's side of the family. I'll have to correct that on my label and in my field notes.

Khabarovsk is indeed a Russian variety. If you pull out a map, look somewhere in far eastern Russia - should be right around the border with China, near the Kamchatka Peninsula (going off of memory). I originally obtained them from Adaptive seeds and grew them this year. Large pods are relatively short and heavily streaked in purple. After the pods dry down I would recommend shelling them and drying them further inside. Strictly a shell/dry bean and not good for their pods. The plants have purple flowers and don't seem to be strong viners. Plants did well despite an infestation of Mexican Bean beetles. Can't say how early/late they are, I planted them late and didn't keep track of when.

https://www.adaptiveseeds.com/vegetables/pole-dry-bean-khabarovsk-organic

Great news about the Armenian Giant Black, the variety will live on and likely be spread to others' gardens as well. I don't think that they would have done as well in my hands.

@Pulsegleaner

 

[Pulsegleaner]

@ me what?

 

[897tgigvib]

Today's shelled harvest is above average a little from a typical day. (# of seeds on plates doing further dry time)

6 zuni shalako
14 chocolate 2013 #4
5 hanna hank
1 weaver
6 chickasaw outcross #1
1 chocolate 2013 #2
14 Nickell
11 Black Turkey
5 tennessee wonder
3 herboontjie lima
(the limas are slowing down now)
1 north pole lima
2 blue aspen outcross
24 african premier beige outcross
19 chocolate 2013 #3
3 neptune lima
7 powder star
2 madagascar lima
about 45 shoshone old outcross
1 red speckled african
@Bluejay77 Red Speckled African is bush but is indeterminate i think. Low production and relatively late. this was the first seed harvested, and it was from that first bed planted.
6 marico african
marico african is a determinate bush, nice healthy plants, is VERY satisfying to grow, midseason, and so far is moderately productive of extremely beautiful seeds that bear resemblence to your chocolate varieties, but with added dots n spots. the pods are similar to chocolate's pods also.
15 red rajma african
Red Rajma seems more indeterminate of a bush than a determinate bush. midseason but continues producing. healthy plants. red rajma's pods have a subtle unique look to them. plain in color, but the edges dry to a slight dark that once you pick a few you begin to recognize. These are a nice kidney bean, very well pigmented, and would make a cool looking addition to 3 bean salad, and might even bleed color.
about 45 brown eyed goose old outcross. these are half runners.
1 evening moon, wax segregation.
May I name this segregation WAX MOON (?)

I picked one pod that had a single seed in it before it was true ready. These have been the slowest to ripen pods maybe of any vulgaris bean. It is a good white seed in it. I left it in the half shell to finish. Just had to see it! (know what i mean?)
I truly think this may become a most special variety! the way it holds on the plant, which is a nice firm spreading bush, moderate sized, determinate, and may well be a true multipurpose WAX bean. All its dry bean heritage, dry bean shaped pod, but definitely a crisp snap bean, one that has this special quality of being able to hold on the plant for so long before being picked. This one needs some serious increasing.
makes me wonder what else is in store with the evening moon seeds i didn't plant this year. Those all get planted next year for sure!

 

[the1honeycomb]

well lazy housewife finally did her job and I have lots of pods drying!! I picked the last of the Woza bean pods today and may have more than I can use if you would like me to send extra back I'd be happy to!
they will be in the mail in the next few days! thanks for letting me play!!

 

[Blue-Jay]

Great news about the Armenian Giant Black, the variety will live on and likely be spread to others' gardens as well. I don't think that they would have done as well in my hands.
@Pulsegleaner

Seed O I picked 4 AGB pods yesterday and found a bunch more of them yellowing. They are large beautiful black seeds. The seed that this plant came from I don't think it hard had what you call a seed coat. The seed was ugly. It grew though, and I was amazed. Hope our sunny warm spell we are in right now keeps going. That makes things look better for this bean all the time.

I thought I would keep a small sample of the seed to grow again here, but I will probably send you back the rest of the seed crop. I think the next time I grow AGB I thought about starting seedlings in little peat pots and get it going earlier before my normal planting time. Germinate them in the house and place them in sun during the day and bring them in at night. That would give AGB a head start on the season to mature seed and dry pods earlier in the season closer to the rest of my pole varieties.

It seems once AGB starts yellowing pods things begin moving a bit faster.

 

[Blue-Jay]

1 evening moon, wax segregation.
May I name this segregation WAX MOON (?)

I picked one pod that had a single seed in it before it was true ready. These have been the slowest to ripen pods maybe of any vulgaris bean. It is a good white seed in it. I left it in the half shell to finish. Just had to see it! (know what i mean?)
I truly think this may become a most special variety! the way it holds on the plant, which is a nice firm spreading bush, moderate sized, determinate, and may well be a true multipurpose WAX bean. All its dry bean heritage, dry bean shaped pod, but definitely a crisp snap bean, one that has this special quality of being able to hold on the plant for so long before being picked. This one needs some serious increasing.
makes me wonder what else is in store with the evening moon seeds i didn't plant this year. Those all get planted next year for sure!

Hi Marshall,

Yes you have my blessings on naming the Evening Moon segregation Wax Moon.

I'm still not sure weather this may or may not be normal for Evening Moon to have wax pods. I'm going to do a grow of them next year and pay close attention to them now that you mentioned it.

Did you get any segregations this year from Shoshone? Shoshone this year put out only one segregation for me here compared to last years three. Maybe I'm finally getting close to where it will become just Shoshone.

Anyway I've got some beans to send you probably in November. Some new surprises for you to play with.

 

[Blue-Jay]

well lazy housewife finally did her job and I have lots of pods drying!! I picked the last of the Woza bean pods today and may have more than I can use if you would like me to send extra back I'd be happy to!
they will be in the mail in the next few days! thanks for letting me play!!

Hi honeycomb,

You may send more seed if you like. Much apreciated thank you.