pole bean report from da nort

[rxkeith]

pole beans had a rough start this year due to the vagaries of our late spring/early summer weather.
after a delayed start, we have had some production to note.
uncle steve, and grandma gina are the king and queen of the late season pole beans here. once they get going,
they continue to produce until frost kills them. there are only ten or so grandma gina out there, but the vines
have a lot of very large beans. uncle steve has a twelve to fifteen foot row, and i can expect to fill a few gallon bags
for the freezer.
grandmas brown bean i am growing out for fresh seed. this was one of the beans that darryl jones grandma grew.
it is a green bean that has light strings as it matures.

lohreys special from the swap maybe three plants are growing, i am saving for seed.

maries italian one volunteer plant from last year from a seed that survived the winter. quite a few beans on that one plant.
same color as uncle steve, but a round bean vs flat pod.

seychelles only one plant growing from the swap. i tried a couple beans, and they were like green grass in flavor raw.
not impressed, but maybe they cook up fine. saving seed.

virginia white seed from sandhill preservation, very impressive large beans on this one. i snacked on a few smaller beans and they
were good. i waited too long, and most of the beans got too big, so should have seed for this one.

aerons purple star runner bean, i grow this one for the bright red flowers that attract hummers. i snack on them raw during the season
but never have had any make it into the pot. large purple pods. the bean seeds are pretty.

grandma gina/uncle steve cross this was a chance cross a few years ago. some of my uncle steve beans produced a deep blue/black seed.
the beans are still stabilizing. this is maybe the fourth generation. there are about three variations of purple streaked beans, and two versions
of solid light green beans, one longer, and one that is shorter and fatter. i have tried every version, and they all have a hint of sweetness that
makes them a good snacking bean. i picked about a 5 lb bag of them today. there will be plenty for seed saving if, and its a big if right now the
weather holds long enough for the seed to mature. i am going to need the entire month of september for that to happen. once october comes,
frost is imminent. i may send in some seeds from last year to the swap with stipulations in the event i don't get any this year.

gotch, i wish i could have given you some uncle steve beans to take with you, but they weren't ready yet. they would make you a bean grower.
one taste of those beans would have you wanting more. always extra seeds on hand for uncle steve.

thats whats happening so far here


keith

[Gardadore]

I had a difficult summer with my pole beans. Three out of 4 varieties either died or never produced a bean. All are pre sprouted in cups and then planted when tall enough. This has worked well for years
Emerite started out fine and then some seemed to get some disease and dry up. Others were eaten off by something.
French Gold started strong and then I lost a couple and the rest never really produced.
Climbing French (green flat) only one to make it and I am picking daily.
Monte Gusto (yellow) has always been strong but never took off.
Understand many faced these issues with the excessive dryness. Better luck next year!

[karstopography]

Not been a fan of eating raw green beans, but maybe haven’t had the right one yet. Maybe those Uncle Steve/Grandma Gina beans would convert me to liking raw green beans.

Truthfully, I like green beans cooked soft, sacrilegious as that statement is in some circles, but firm, crisp ones are pretty good as long as there’s been reasonable time under heat.

I planted the bulk of my bush filet beans, Rolande, September 1st. And A few a couple of weeks before that, some more will go in this coming week, if not sooner. I had pretty good yields, all things considered, on the three flat pole beans, Nor’easter, Spanish Musica, and Algarve, and then the filet Emerite, but those have been ripped out since June. We had all we wanted fresh, I gave my mom and dad what they wanted and she blanched and froze the surplus. But, I’m craving some fresh ones so hopefully I’ll get some come October into November.

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

My pole beans were rough this year due to our whacky growing conditions. Massive amounts of humidity at the start, multiple heat waves and a severe drought - I was lucky and blessed that my plants hung on.

Monte Gusto (yellow wax) keeps cranking them out. My best year with them and while later then usual, we've just been blessed with an abundance.
Carminant (purple) grew well but normally they grow long and slender and this year they got 'beany' quickly and while short so they ended up as long, pudgy beans instead of the long, slender, tender they should be.
Fortex (green) never really took off. I did get some, but was a disappointing year. Might try another variety next year.

I grew Seychelles a year or two and moved on - wasn't impressed. I've never heard of Uncle Steve's. I'm looking for a replacement for Fortex; I was thinking of Emerite for a try next year.

[ddsack]

I've whittled down to only growing Fortex for my pole bean needs, froze 42 pint bags from two 8 ft rows this summer. That, together with a few kinds of bush beans for variety is plenty for us. Still picking enough Fortex for fresh eating for two people, every few days. Have abandoned the bush beans, plenty of those frozen as well.

The Fortex were planted later than normal, didn't get in until June 14th, soil is sandy and dry, I watered often. Part of the bed is covered by black plastic to try to reduce evaporation (natural depressions poked with a knife for water drainage) but ends about 8 inches from the beans. Later in the summer the other side of the rows had slices of old hay bales pulled up for mulch. First major picking for processing was August 15th. I have left enough pods on to dry for fresh seed, if the deer don't get to them first when I turn off the electric fence back there. There is a two strand electric fence that runs on house current and will give a strong zap (ask me how I know) and they respect it all summer, but every year come Sept/Oct and they go into their fall feeding frenzy, one or more will jump the fence and then take it down on their way out. At that point I might as well just turn it off.

[Gardadore]

First year Monte Gusto has failed me. Yellow beans are my favorite but had to be satisfied with flat green this year! Fortex is a great bean as well but somehow lean towards Emerite. But they failed too! Getting something is better than nothing. Glad some of you did really well!

[karstopography]

What do y’all do with the yellow wax beans? I can’t say I’ve ever eaten them, at least not as an adult.

[rxkeith]

wax beans, we cook em, and eat em.

for those of you who are unfamiliar with the uncle steve italian pole bean, i got this one from my
great uncle steve. he was from the old country, sicily, no mob connections that i am aware of. there was
one relative that owned a miniature golf course that my mom said might have had some shady connections,
but, all just hear say to me. anyway, not having a living grandpa, steve served that role for me. the guy knew
how to grow stuff, like many italians of that generation. he gave me the bean seeds that i have been growing
every year for 47 or 48 years, and will continue to grow until i myself am planted.
the bean is a flat romano type bean with a curve at the end with dark purple streaks, no strings. it tolerates cooler
weather better than other beans i have grown. in detroit, it will start producing late july. i could pick a bucket and
two days later, i could pick another bucket, and so on and so on until the temp climbed into the 90s for a few weeks.
extreme heat will shut uncle steve down for awhile. if you water them, and keep them alive, they will start producing
a second smaller flush of beans until frost kills them. the vines will grow 12 to 18 feet in length, they never really stop growing.
i have never had a no bean year with them. some years better than others, yes, but never nuthin. if i get a good amount of seeds,
i will send them to gary for the swap. if that doesn't happen, sandhill preservation has them, thanks to darryl jones who supplies
them with the seed.

uncle steve, and grandma gina both have a hint of sweetness snacking on them in the garden. the gina/steve cross i have has
the sweetness times three or four. i am happy with what i have so far.


keith

[ddsack]

What do y’all do with the yellow wax beans? I can’t say I’ve ever eaten them, at least not as an adult.

I mix them in for color with green beans in soups, stews, casseroles and cold three bean salad. They seem to mature just a few days earlier than greens, but I can't remember the last time we ate yellows by themselves.. I grow them maybe once every three years, have enough in the freezer to last a couple of years since they don't get used up as fast.

[karstopography]

@ddsack do the yellow beans taste anything like the green ones? Do the yellow ones have the same basic needs on growing conditions, temperatures, water, etc, or are they cooler or hotter weather lovers than most of the green beans?

I’m yellow wax bean curious. Maybe I’ve been missing out.

[Kurt]

D2556A6F-C878-464C-97D0-C495570DA300.jpeg

These are Sea Island red beans that ran up my tomato trellis.Even at 96 degrees,90 humidity the stocks keep flowering.

[ddsack]

@ddsack do the yellow beans taste anything like the green ones? Do the yellow ones have the same basic needs on growing conditions, temperatures, water, etc, or are they cooler or hotter weather lovers than most of the green beans?

I’m yellow wax bean curious. Maybe I’ve been missing out.

I grew up hating wax beans because all I tasted were the canned ones, which I still can't stand. To me they have an "unfinished,but old blah taste" which is as close to a description as I can come. Fresh wax beans lightly boiled or steamed and buttered and salted, I can eat. I will never like them as well as green beans, they do taste different, maybe missing that flavor note that the green color provides? You might try just a short part of a row, and see what you think. Same growing conditions for me, but I'm up north, so a few days of low 90's is about all I tend to get for hottest heat, mid 70's to mid 80's is normal summer weather here.

[Danny]

Kurt, is your bean a cowpea type or? Never heard of them, but if they tolerate heat well, something I would be interested in.

Yellow beans and greens are pretty much grown the same way here in Texas, also all the other colors. Most stop setting in our mid season of heat, but if alive, set more when it starts cooling off. To us, the yellows have a slightly lighter/less beany taste ?? if that makes sense, but we like them all. We also make dilly bean pickles with them. The romano type of yellows are more "meaty" tasting than the filet types, at least to us.

Those uncle beans sound good, Rxkeith, and nice to have a family heirloom.

[rxkeith]

back for 2023,
right now its all about uncle steve, and the grandma gina/uncle steve cross beans.
beans got a slow start due to the normal cold, wet weather that always shows up at the wrong time.
then when the beans did come up, many of them got munched by some sort of caterpillar leaving
lacy leaves. replanted some, others recovered, some just didn't show up for work.
uncles steve is doing very well, and is getting into production mode. vines are vigorous. looks good.
i have a long row of the bean cross going. vines are over 8 ft by now. they will keep growing.
grandma gina is a huge romano pole bean i got from a seed saver. a very good tasting bean with a genetic defect
that causes the seeds to split in the pod. it might be the same or similar variety as aunt marys meat that sandhill
preservation sells. a chance cross with uncle steve a few years ago has me growing out and stabilizing the progeny.
i picked about seven lbs between the two earlier in the day. they are currently the only pole beans big enough to pick
the size of the cross beans is midway between uncle steve, and grandma gina. one variety is about the size of gina maybe
about 10 inches long.
other varieties i planted are virgina (white seed) did really well last year, nothing doing this year.
mr tung is a no show, normally this one is reliable.
gold crop, a single plant looks like the vine is starting to die.
there are a few others from the swap out there, but beans are small, so too soon to tell on them.
i may have to rethink my bean strategy next year, and mostly grow what i know will do well (uncle steve)
and stop farting around with too many other varieties. maybe rotate between grandma gina, sicitalian black swamp,
and a couple others each year.
production for me is probably lessened to some extent because i have to let some beans go to seed early on in order to
beat the frost. can't believe august is almost gone.


keith

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

Funny to read my bean report from last year since this year was an exact replica!

Carminant and Monte Gusto pumped them out!!!! Fortex was a fail yet again this year. I got less than a half dozen beans from it before it petered out.

I really need to keep notes on more than just my tomatoes! I said I'd try something else but grew Fortex again and it was a fail again. I did the same with my onions and am ticked at myself. Last years were simply beautiful - this year I have a decent crop, but they are small. I don't think I will make it to next years harvest with what I have.

[Kurt]

Saw the question just now,sorry.
https://www.google.com/search?q=sea+isl ... e&ie=UTF-8

[rxkeith]

wrap up for the 2023 season.

most pole beans did well.

gina/ steve cross benefited from an early planting the third week of may during a warm spell, and missed the
caterpillar of some type that ravaged some of the beans planted in june. lots of seeds saved, separated into four
groups. the big green one, the big purple, the small green, and the smaller purple. a variant gave me a round green bean
that quickly went to seed. keeping that one separate as a curiosity. not as good as the other ones.

uncle steve rebounded from getting chomped plus a few seeds replanted. good production as always, plenty of seed saved.

barksdale i had only one plant, but it was very prolific. saved a fair amount of seed.

garafal oro made an appearance, did not do really well, but saved a few seeds

virginia, and mr tung got chomped, and never really recovered. some small production, and a few fresh seeds saved is the only positive.

sicitalian black swamp did really well. this one is a later bean which makes it hard for me to save seeds. a late frost allowed me to save
a good amount of seed this year. i will be sending in a small amount of seed to the swap. this is a very good tasting bean.

super marconi finally got it to grow here. decent production, a few beans made it to the pot. modest amount of seed saved

marenga just a couple plants survived but produced a fair amount of beans. i grew this one out to verify seeds. a nice yellow
romano type pole bean

johns purple polish not its real name, but thats how it came to me from tom gallucci from a neighbor of his. only one or two plants
made it, but managed to produce a few seeds. this one is a shorter flat yellow bean. the seeds are purple with a white patch on the back.
it is a pretty seed. grown to freshen up the seed supply, and i did, so call it a win.

sultan golden crescent i planted four seeds in a cell pack, none grew, so i direct seeded several more that did grow, and managed to produce
a crop. they are a round yellow bean, and yes, they are crescent shaped. not sure if they were late due to having to replant or maybe being
a later bean in general. i will have to grow again to compare. seed saved, just not a lot.

tuscarora half runner bread bean only planted a small section, but it did well. i will be sending in seeds. the seeds are about kidney bean
sized, dark red with white speckles, nice looking. someone grow it, and make bean bread, and tell us how it turns out.

insuks wang kung did not sprout

green dragon one plant, but i did not see any beans to save seed

white general did not sprout

something queen also did not sprout.

seeds are all drying. i have plates, and small boxes all over the house. my wife tolerates my seed saving behavior.
only thing left to do is package up, and label, and plan for next year.


keith