What you bean up to 2025

[zendog]

Anyone trialing new beans, growing long-time favorites or have other big bean plans this year?

I was planning on a fifteen-foot row of pole beans on a trellis and decided to trial a bunch of varieties. This included some I’ve grown before and some from trades or purchases 5 or more years back that I hadn’t gotten around to growing. Some were probably closer to 10 years old.

I got a bit of a late start (early June), but here is the trellis with the beans just hitting the top and starting to flower and produce.

Varieties I’m growing (3-5 plants of each):

Rattlesnake - long time favorite, with great flavor and production and does well here in hot/humid 8A. A good reference for me to judge the others by. Seeds look like large pinto beans

Blue Loco - seeds from a trade. Chocolate (coco) colored seeds.

Grandma Roberts Purple pole - seeds from a trade - is this from @Fusion_power 's Grandma? I think these seeds were chocolate colored as well.

Headrick Greasy Cut-Short - seeds from a trade - a heirlooom from Harlan County, KY originating from Tony Headrick. Brown seeds with darker flecks (like pintos) that are cut-short (ends are compressed from pushing against adjacent seeds in the pods).

Cherokee Trail of Tears - originally from a trade, I’ve grown these before and they are a very good bean that is supposed to have been preserved by the Cherokee during their forced relocation, although I don’t know if this is confirmed

Emelia’s Italian - seeds from a trade, but I don’t know much about it except that it may have been brought over by someone named Elemia… Seed looks like a fat pinto bean.

Uncle Steve’s Italian - seeds from a trade, obviously this one came over with Uncle Steve? Seed looks like a fat pinto bean.

Red Noodle - an Asian long bean I’ve grown on and off for while. Great production in the heat of summer when others take a break. Cool color (red/burgandy) which they mostly keep when cooked. Brown seeds.

Taiwan - an Asian long bean I’ve grown once before. Light green with a red or brown tip. If I remember correctly, I think I preferred the flavor and texture of this one over Red Noodle. Black seeds.

Kurajuraku - from a trade, which is supposed to be a dark green long bean. Black seeds.

So far the only ones far enough along for regular picking are Rattlesnake and Grandma Roberts purple. Rattlesnake is great as always, but Grandma Roberts is pretty close with nice growth and very tasty beans. Trail of tears has a few small beans, but the other “regular” types are just now setting flower buds. Headrick looks to be the latest, which is consistent with previous times I’ve grown greasy beans - they just seem to take a long time and then produce a bumper crop through fall.

Taiwan is putting out a few that are a couple days away from picking, but the other 2 long beans are just setting the first flower buds.

Old seed that failed to germinate included, Blue Marbutt, a white seeded cut-short greasy bean I’d grown a few times and was very good, Lazy Wife Greasy and Meraviglia di Venezia. I was particularly disappointed not to be trying Blue Marbutt. Meraviglia di Venezia had sounded interesting since I liked the idea of a yellow bean that was a big flat bean… oh well.

[Fusion_power]

Grandma Roberts Purple Pole was a bean my grandmother had in her freezer when she passed away in 1999. I grew several varieties out and saved seed. This was the best of the bunch for overall traits. Seed should be beige, germinate readily in cold soil, and produce an abundant crop. Flavor IMO is good but not exceptional.

Blue Marbutt is a family saved bean from Bob Marbutt who kept it going after receiving it from a family member. I’ve since ID’d it as a variant of Alabama #1 pole bean which dates to the 1930’s. I’m growing both Blue Marbutt and Alabama #1 this year and have already harvested about 20 gallons of beans from a 200 foot long row. They are blooming again and should be ready for another harvest in a few days. Flavor of these beans is exceptional albeit a bit too intense for some. Cook a pan of these and add some bacon or ham for extra flavor and it is outstanding. I have at least a quart of viable Blue Marbutt in the freezer. Drop an address if you want some.

Meraviglia di Venezia is a mild flavored long flat bean with good characteristics for canning. I’ve grown it several times.

I’ve grown several of the others you list. Rattlesnake is a perennial favorite in the southeast.

[dannytoro1]

I want to plant Perennial Thicket Bean. A native bean. A Lima Bean relative imitating a lentil that is very obese in size…lol…but tastes like lentils.

It apparently has a lot of quirks. But increases yields every passing year. The popping an bean ejecting nature is interesting to.

EFN has them from Oikos

[zendog]

@dannytoro1 those sound very interesting. Keep me posted how the do and they taste.

[zendog]

I picked the first 3 Taiwan long beans. Asian long beans are often called yard longs, even though most varieties I’ve grown come up short of that mark. But the longest of the three I picked today was 35", so clearly Taiwan is a variety that can get to that length. Three beans makes a meal, so I’m sure I’ll be overloaded on these soon.

I took a bite of them raw and they are very good. These were still crips and firm, even though the variety is a little more wrinkly on the outside than others I’ve grown.

[Robert]

Didn’t know there were perennial beans. After searching I found these Cloud Lima Beans. Think I will give them a try next year. I love lima’s.
https://oikostreecrops.com/cloud-lima-beans/
Might try the one’s Danny was referring to also.

[DaveW-wi5b]

Picked some maxibell, dragon’s tongue, sonesta wax today. Have some red noodle beans starting to bean up now
I like the texture and taste of dragon tongue the best this year. I eat most of my beans raw but will cook them up when we get big flushes.

[Tiirsys]

I saw this thread at the right time!!
I literally just finished hulling most of my fava’s.

Unfortunately I picked these too early and dang if they weren’t the fattest, nicest beans. Do you think they will grow? (Gonna try anyways.)

I just picked my first handfull of runners (scarlet emperor, maybe an Mennonite type, and painted lady)

Apparently, I forgot I planted four types of fava’s because there are four different colors. Looking back at my log…

Huh… from my harvest results I think I forgot to write down Violetta? That sounds familiar… I do love to grow anything purple.

[zendog]

I’ve grown Dragon Tongue and agree they are a really tasty bean. They did seem a little lower production than some other bush types, but worth it for the taste.

[DragonflyLane]

Wow, what a great variety you have going

This year we grew provider green beans and Dragon tongue.

I’m still trying to get some soybeans for edamame, we’ll see how they do.

I ordered the bush bean trio from Seeds from Italy to try next year.

Supposed to have Boby Bianco, Purple King and Berggold seeds.

[Jujumama]

I planted some Pink-Eye Purple Hull southern peas around July 18th in the raised beds from which I harvested my broccoli and cabbage. They make a good follow-up crop after the Cole crops are harvested because they sprout well and thrive in the high heat of summer. Besides, they are one of my favorite vegetables cooked with some bacon grease or a fatty pork chop and eaten with a nice hunk of buttered corn bread and fresh tomato and onion slices.
Another bonus is they produce pretty quickly and prolifically, and are so easy to know when to harvest as the hulls turn purple. And I absolutely love sitting out on the porch in the lovely weather of early fall shelling the peas out of those long pods. It is so satisfying to look out over the land, enjoy the nice weather, and appreciate the abundant harvest. Takes me back to the time as a young girl when I would sit on the porch with the older women in the family and we would just sit and shell bushels of peas, all the while chatting and solving all the world’s problems.
On a side note, I used to blanch my southern peas and butter beans (Lima beans to people not from the south) before freezing them. I read online to skip this step and just put them straight into the freezer without washing them into a cotton pillowcase tied shut after shelling them. I tried this and it worked beautifully and I even tested some of them after 10 years in the freezer and they were as good as the day I put them in! You can remove as many as you want for a meal and re-tye the pillowcase shut as they don’t freeze together since they are not wet when you put them in. I just rinse them off right before cooking.
It makes sense that they would keep fine in the freezer without blanching, as they are simply seeds and many of us have kept seeds in the freezer for long periods of time with no decline in quality. I also tried this with green beans, but they did not work as well, presumably because you are eating the hull as well as the seeds with green beans, and the hulls lose quality without blanching much more quickly than seeds do. Anyway, hope this helps someone. I know it has saved me immense amounts of time.
Sandra
Photo of the peas planted on July 18th taken a few days ago. They sprouted quickly and the heavy rain and heat has them growing well.

[zendog]

@Jujumama

the hulls lose quality without blanching much more quickly than seeds do. Anyway, hope this helps someone. I know it has saved me immense amounts of time.

It absolutely does! My beans are coming in are more than my wife I can eat, so I was just about to start freezing some. I was wondering whether I really needed to blanch them and it sounds like I do since my harvest is all beans in hulls. I’m curious if anyone has ever frozen the Asian long beans and if they are about the same?

Besides freezing. If I get a bumper crop of the greasy beans I’ll probably make some leather britches and see how we like those in soups this winter.

[Jujumama]

@zendog When I froze my green beans snapped and tipped in a cotton pillowcase, it was about 6 months or so before I tried any to see how they did without blanching. There was an off taste and a different texture that was not very good. Now, it is possible that they may taste fine if eaten from the freezer within two or three months. I am guessing that the amount of enzymatic degradation that occurs due to no blanching is more noticeable the longer the green beans are frozen.
You could try freezing one bag without blanching and eating it within a couple of months. It might be fine for short-term freezing.
I have started pressure canning my green beans instead of freezing. It is really not that much harder than blanching, icing, and packing in freezer bags. And I like the texture of the canned beans better than frozen, plus it saves a lot of freezer space that is needed for other things.
Sandra

[Jujumama]

My butterbeans (limas), Baby Thorogreen, are growing well, but are twining together and snaking out of the beds as if they were semi- pole beans and not bush beans. The packet did not specifically say ‘bush’, but it did say does not need staking, so I assumed bush. Maybe there are beans that are not the lower growing bush, but have some climbing traits although not growing as tall as pole beans. I keep mowing around the two 5’ x 10’ beds and cutting off runners that have come out of the beds. Oh well, they are a tangled mess and it is far too late to put a trellis in now. I have never grown this variety before.
They are making huge amounts of flowers which you can see if you enlarge the photo, and I have seen many pollinators on them, so hoping for a nice crop of butterbeans. Photo below:

Also, the Pink-eye, Purple Hull southern peas are growing like gangbusters, which they always do, and have probably doubled in size since the photo I posted about eight days ago in this thread. They are loving this hot weather. Photo below:

I think they will start blooming soon, so hopeful for a good crop. I love those things. They are virtually a fool-proof crop here.
Sandra

[vitog]

[I’m curious if anyone has ever frozen the Asian long beans]

I’ve been freezing long beans for several years now and prefer them to our other pole beans. They are so easy to process, and the frozen beans taste great. I do blanch, dry, and freeze them on a tray before bagging them in zip-lock freezer bags; however, I’ve never tried freezing without blanching first.

[Jujumama]

Picked my first picking of the Baby Thorogreen butterbeans and got them shelled. I got about one and a third Kroger bags full picked. I have more to pick that are still filling out with beans. Will probably try to pick again at the end of this week. They were a pain to pick because the vines were all twisted together and many beans were near the ground. I am going to try a different variety next year, and may even do a pole butterbean versus bush.
I shelled them and did not wash them and put them dry into a cotton pillowcase tied shut. Will rinse them off when I take out however many I want to cook at a time. They don’t stick together because they were dry when put into the freezer. Into the deep freezer they went and I will add to them as I pick and shell the rest. No blanching. I tried some that had been in the freezer 10 years and they were just like the day I put them in. Works great with southern field peas, too.

Shelled butterbeans with my helper hoping for another few dropped pods to chew on.

Pillowcase with shelled beans ready to go in freezer.

We are having abnormally cold nights this week in the mid forties. I am hoping this does not set back the ripening of my Pink-eye Purple Hull southern peas. They really like the heat so I don’t know how these cold nights will affect them. They are starting to set peas so it won’t be too long before they will be ready.
Sandra

[resonanteye]

i will string up any bean that’s got bumps and is a little thick in the shell, old habit. some do great, others don’t, but mostly if they’re just a little past where i would eat them fresh they stay good as leather britches. greasy beans are my favorite but i didn’t have seed this year!

the purple pole beans took over everything this year and then and the speckled have been getting a huge handful ever day. the cook down well enough in butter every other day until i get sick of them, then string some for a while until i can stand em again.

[Jujumama]

My pink-eye purple hull southern peas did pretty well. I got them picked and shelled. They will go into the deep freezer in basement. I will not wash or blanch them first. Just leave them dry and directly into a cotton pillowcase tied off. They will keep that way for years and I can just pull out what I need when ready to cook and rinse them off right before cooking. They don’t stick together as they were dry when put in freezer.
If you have only ever eaten the nasty canned black eyed peas or dried ones in bags from the grocery store, there is no comparison in taste to the pink-eye purple hull peas fresh or frozen. The PEPH southern peas are a thousand times better, especially cooked with a nice fatty pork chop in them and well-seasoned. Add a hunk of hot fresh corn bread with butter and fresh tomatoes and onions and you have heaven on a plate!

Photos above of the 3 bowls of shelled peas I have gotten so far.

These are the harvested peas before shelling. I still have the basket of peas in the photo left to shell.

My husband shelled approximately 8 pea pods before he began to moan and groan about the hard work of shelling peas, so I sent him inside to watch sports as he was ruining my peaceful, contemplative porch pea-shelling time. . My doggie helper did stay around to sneak a few pea pods from the grocery sacks to chew when she thought I wasn’t looking.
Sandra

[Tiirsys]

Picked these mostly dry runner beans before rain all this week.
There is still a lot growing on the vines.
I love how they make me think of Jack and the Beanstalk every time.