The Little Easy Bean Network - Get New Beans Varieties Nearly Free

the1honeycomb

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Dec 11, 2011
Messages
658
Reaction score
91
Points
153
Location
Yadkinville NC Zone 7a
Marshall and Journey, wow such great words of wisdom!!! :old
Thank you soo much I have 2 inch plants now and look forward to the harvesting.
I promise to get in the house if it is raining:hide
I may also ask more questions :love
 

897tgigvib

Garden Master
Joined
Mar 21, 2012
Messages
5,439
Reaction score
925
Points
337
Honeycomb, once it gets really rolling, the bean harvest, I kind of do it like what Journey says. Saves space. It does not take me as long to dry them as Journey though. Late summer air is relatively dry around here.

I looked up Yadkinville on google map, and sure enough, you are in that very special region, or doggoned close to it, where Appalachian Beans are commonly grown. So I checked to see if you have a nearby farmers market, and sure enough you do in Yadkinville.

YOUR PRETTY TOWN IS SURROUNDED BY BEAUTIFUL FARMS AND GARDENS! :frow

http://www.yadkinville.org/index.as...8A}&DE={EB5CF9DF-B41A-4663-9A81-7530F9755F6F}

I'd just about guess that there will be some bean growers there, though they won't yet be in season, but especially starting July sometime, August and September Bean growers will be there. I'd guess. They'll be talking about someone's best greasy cutshorts there is, or, these might be cornfields but they are super tender.

This time of year there, just guessing, but there might be folks there with Collards that are simply not available anywhere.

O I wish I could go there, an appalachian farmers market. Some of them might even sell seeds if you ask them.
 

the1honeycomb

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Dec 11, 2011
Messages
658
Reaction score
91
Points
153
Location
Yadkinville NC Zone 7a
All is well the farmers market doesn't open until June. I will be there asking loads of questions!! You are welcome to stay with us if you ever get this way!
There is a lot of learnin to do!!! I need to build additions to my garden Thanks for being so tolerant!!:thumbsup
 

so lucky

Garden Master
Joined
Mar 5, 2011
Messages
8,342
Reaction score
4,963
Points
397
Location
SE Missouri, Zone 6
I've been having mild anxiety attacks about my Petaluna Pole beans. I planted them just before we got a cold wet spell, and was afraid they were rotting in the ground. Well, in the last two days they have nearly all come up! Whew!
 

Blue-Jay

Garden Master
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
3,302
Reaction score
10,257
Points
333
Location
Woodstock, Illinois Zone 5
What I do when harvesting dry beans is pick the pods that seem dry or nearly so and harvest them. I put them in cardboard boxes in the garage where they can continue to dry in the open boxes. Not all your bean pods on a plant are going to be dry all at the same time. Your dry pod harvest once it begins will occur over a period of about a month . Just continue to harvest pods as they dry. Just like picking apples. You look for the ripe ones and pick them as they rippen. Same way with the bean pods just continue to pick the pods that are dry or nearly so. If there are ones that are not completely dry and you know you are going to have more dry sunny weather you can leave them on the plants to dry more in the sun. If the pods are almost ready to harvest and not completely dry, but I know it's probably going to rain to for three or four days in a row I will harvest those and put those in my boxes in the garage as well. A lot of this is going to become second nature as you get more experience doing it.
 

897tgigvib

Garden Master
Joined
Mar 21, 2012
Messages
5,439
Reaction score
925
Points
337
There really is a certain TENSION that can go with seed saving or collecting varieties, or doing what we're doing here. Musicians and actors have a saying that if you aren't at least a little nervous you might do a routine performance.

I feel it too. What I did was I planted about 23 seeds of each packet, each in its own place. A week or so later I planted about 6 seeds from each packet, each in its on place, but in a different part of the garden. After some time, I used a few seeds from each packet to fill some of the gaps. Young Lizards got a few, and germination was good to perfect, but a few gaps to reseed. For some reason they got the Vermont Appalossa mostly. It's all good. So I still have some of each. It's still quite early in the season, so as I find a spot, I can put some few in places. Kind of want to plant more of the little brown cat and chickasaw.

So I kind of spread the plantings out, and hold off on some seed for emergency spare.

General rule of seed savers is always try to save off a few seeds.
 

baymule

Garden Master
Joined
Mar 20, 2011
Messages
18,789
Reaction score
36,813
Points
457
Location
Trinity County Texas
I have BLOOMS!! The Smith River Super Speckled beans are blooming and so are the Kilham Goose. The Kilham Goose was listed as a bush bean but it is vining happily up the hay twine trellis I made for them. Blooms mean beans!! WHOO-HOO!!! :tools
 

bj taylor

Garden Ornament
Joined
Feb 26, 2013
Messages
1,099
Reaction score
16
Points
92
Location
North Central Texas
bay, I should be right behind you, but I planted late. mine are about 3" tall. hoping they can get to production phase before it's too late in the season.
 

MontyJ

Deeply Rooted
Joined
Oct 26, 2012
Messages
1,815
Reaction score
527
Points
197
Location
West Virginia
I finally got mine in the ground yesterday morning. I have the tobacco patch and winterfare. I hope they do well. I'm actually more nervous about growing these than anything else in the garden.
 
Top