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

[Pulsegleaner]

As I understand it, the difficulty of getting machines through fields of pole beans is part of the reason why they aren't grown as a commercial (green bean) crop.

I have no proof of it beyond my own speculation, but I have often wondered if similar motivations affected a much older issue, why the vast majority of field grown legume crops are generally overwhelmingly bush types, when, in most cases thier ancestors are nearly all vines.,hat is, why bush tends to be selected over vine. Soybeans would be a good example. Glycine soja is an indeterminate vine (I've grown it). But nearly all Glycine max are free standing bush type beans (there ARE such things as climbing soybeans, but they are uncommon, even more so if you are keeping it to cultivars grown for people to eat.) I tend to thing the motivation had to do with field cropping. For things you are mostly growing in small home plot situations, climbing is OK; putting up a few trellises is no big deal. But for a mass field crop, going pole means either setting up hundreds of supports (and training the vines onto them) or having to harvest the crop all at once and do a massive winnowing project at the end. That works OK for some legumes, like lentils and the small seeded vignas (like mungs and adukis) but those tend to be harder seeded and more resiliant of harsh threshing. I actually beleive the the main reason we still HAVE pole beans has a lot to do with the whole "three sisters" planting method; the cornstalks meant you ALREADY had supports for the beans. If domestic corn was a plant that was built more along the lines of wheat or barley (where the plant stalk was pretty thin and easy to snap under pressure) I think we would be looking at a race of beans that was nearly all bush.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Picked a bunch of Hanna Hank pods today. I think Marshall is probably right. They are a bit knarly and twisted looking, but do make nice stringless and tender snap beans when cooked. I think all these pods were 8 or 9 inches long. When they get to this size you can't let them go too many more days as the seeds start to develop pretty fast and they get kind of seedy.

HANNA HANK PODS

Pretty seeds too that remind me a lot of Tennesse Wonder.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Bluejay77 I would like to ask for a few of the weaver beans, I love snap beans, I planted some yellow wax beans, (generic I got from Lowes) and they are now peaking out. I finally have small beans on the vines and hope to have plenty for you when they finally decide to get to work!
Thanks

Honeycomb,

Your Weaver seeds went into the mail today. Hope you will enjoy growing and eating these forever.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Hi Russ, I would a few of your Weaver beans if you have enough to share, have you still got my snail mail addy or should I email it to you? Anything I can send in exchange?

Annette

Hi Annette,

Your Weaver seeds also went into the mail today. I marked the customs declaration as "Craft Beads". Also sent you two more pole varieties. Both of them I thought were very special and you should grow them from time to time. A very productive and beautiful dry bean. The other is a very beautiful and productive snap bean. Wait till you see the lovely and flavorful snap beans you grow from these seeds.

 

[aftermidnight]

Thanks Russ, I'll be on the lookout for them, you could have put bean seed on the declaration, fortunately we don't have a problem importing most seeds from the U.S. or anywhere else for that matter and I hope it stays that way. Some plants we need an import permit for but most we only need a phyto certificate, seeds haven't been a problem. I can see my grow list for next year is changing already .

I've now harvested all the seed from CdeC 226 and the outcross, the seed from the outcross might be a smidgen smaller. I took 3 beans from the outcross, put them in a pot, they've germinated so tomorrow I'll plant them in a tub, if I don't get seed before the weather turns I'll move the tub into the greenhouse. If I'm lucky we'll see what kind of seed coat these produce sometime in the fall.

Annette

 

[Blue-Jay]

I've now harvested all the seed from CdeC 226 and the outcross, the seed from the outcross might be a smidgen smaller. I took 3 beans from the outcross, put them in a pot, they've germinated so tomorrow I'll plant them in a tub, if I don't get seed before the weather turns I'll move the tub into the greenhouse. If I'm lucky we'll see what kind of seed coat these produce sometime in the fall.

Annette

I take it that the seeds from CdC 226 outcross was white again like I thought it might be. I think the outcross happened here last year, and some seeds have picked up some genetics from a semi-runner bean. It will be interesting to see what those three do. It might even be possible that one might even grow as a true bush type.

You might want to pick a couple of pods off the new beans when they grow and test them to see if they are stringless when cooked.

 

[aftermidnight]

Will do and let you know.

Annette

 

[the1honeycomb]

@Bluejay77 Thanks so much! Ill let you know how things go with the vine beans!

 

[Hal]

I prepared my first bed by hand yesterday, probably wide enough to plant 3-4 plants deep and 50+ plants long if I am planting bush beans.

 

[the1honeycomb]

received my beans today! Thank you soo much!!