Short Report on MMMM Pole Bean Progress

[GoDawgs]

A short report on progress of five pole beans I got in the MMMM this year and some impressions:

I've noticed something about the Grandma Roberts Purple beans. They were the first to the top of the pole. It seems they might be a One And Done bean. Or it's the heat. Tons of beans right next to the pole, seemingly two age groups. The lowest ones on the bottom half of the vines are really big and getting bumpy as the beans inside swell. Then from there to the top there's a group of nice eating size, pretty uniform in size. And that's it; no more flowers either. Really pretty beans!

On the other hand, Jeminez has that same two levels of bean age but all occupying the lower half of the poles. Above those and to the top are a ton of flowers! It's so hot the flowers might not set beans but they're there. Beautiful beans with that pinkish-reddish-maroonish coloring coming on them.

Alabama Pole seems to be a bush bean. Maybe 4" beans.

Aunt Jean's pole bean is maybe a half runner? Taller and more viney than the Alabama but only half way up the pole and there she sits making her beans.

Nothing remarkable on the Garrafol Oro yet.

I haven't tasted any of them yet but have collected samples of all and will be doing a tasting soon.

[rxkeith]

garrafol oro is pretty good tasting, later though, so hard for me to save seed most years.


keith

[WoodSprite]

I look forward to reading future updates. I’m in PA and am growing Aunt Jeans, Garrafol Oro and other pole and bush beans from last year’s MMMM. My plants are just starting to climb. I look forward to tasting them.

[GoDawgs]

I look forward to reading future updates. I’m in PA and am growing Aunt Jeans, Garrafol Oro and other pole and bush beans from last year’s MMMM. My plants are just starting to climb. I look forward to tasting them.

Oh yes, please report on your beans!

[GoDawgs]

Today I steamed a handful each of the Grandma Roberts, Jeminez pole beans and a handful of bush Jade. The Jeminez seemed a bit beanier than the other two. Grandma Roberts has strings so that's a strike against keeping it. I don't have the patience to remove strings from beans. And BTW, like other purple beans the GR purple does turn green when cooked. Jade has possibilities. It's somewhat shorter than the others but loaded with beans.

The Calima bush beans don't seem to be very productive. Not many beans and not many flowers either. It's the only sluggard of all the ones I'm growing.

[Tormato]

A short report on progress of five pole beans I got in the MMMM this year and some impressions:

I've noticed something about the Grandma Roberts Purple beans. They were the first to the top of the pole. It seems they might be a One And Done bean. Or it's the heat. Tons of beans right next to the pole, seemingly two age groups. The lowest ones on the bottom half of the vines are really big and getting bumpy as the beans inside swell. Then from there to the top there's a group of nice eating size, pretty uniform in size. And that's it; no more flowers either. Really pretty beans!

On the other hand, Jeminez has that same two levels of bean age but all occupying the lower half of the poles. Above those and to the top are a ton of flowers! It's so hot the flowers might not set beans but they're there. Beautiful beans with that pinkish-reddish-maroonish coloring coming on them.

Alabama Pole seems to be a bush bean. Maybe 4" beans.

Aunt Jean's pole bean is maybe a half runner? Taller and more viney than the Alabama but only half way up the pole and there she sits making her beans.

Nothing remarkable on the Garrafol Oro yet.

I haven't tasted any of them yet but have collected samples of all and will be doing a tasting soon.

Gaps in production usually point to two things, weather, and letting seeds swell withing pods.

There's nothing that can be done about the weather, other than strapping a large golf umbrella to a teepee, when rain is predicted almost every day, and pods are starting to dry down.

I basically never let seeds swell too much. That's when strings start showing up on some varieties. It's also when some varieties get a chalky taste to the beans forming in the pods. And, the biggest reason, I don't want production to slow down or stop. One must be diligent about constantly picking pods (actually cutting them off, so as not to damage vines), about every other day at a minimum.

I've never had gaps in flowering on any pole beans, with the exception of a few natural crosses that were attempts at grow outs. Flower trusses never formed. They started to form, but then just wilted away.

Garrafal Oro is a very "sweet" tasting bean, here. Probably my second favorite for flavor, only behind Super Marconi. It is the latest bean that I've trialed, about a week later than other late beans. Pods hide extremely well among the huge leaves of this variety. Pods are always curved to some degree. Someone in Utah sent me pictures one year, where the pods almost completed a full circle.

Jeminez consistently grows to about 14 feet high in my garden. That's with 6 vines twining around each other, and twining around a 3" diameter pole. If they just twined around a single string they would be even taller. This is an extremely tender bean, needing only about four minutes to steam/simmer. Cooking them much longer and they'll start to fall apart.

Surprisingly, Meraviglia de Venesia (spl) the black seeded bush wax bean, was my first pod ready to pick this year at 47 DTM from planting. But, I didn't pick it as I need to save seeds.

I think that I started 1 or 2 seeds of "Alabama" as that is all of the seeds that I have left. I will treat it as an unknown vine length bean, getting a spot in the garden where it can grow to its heart content.

[WoodSprite]

Today I ate my first Aunt Jean's pole beans as snap beans (that I harvested 4 days ago). I received the seeds from 22/23 MMMM.

The seeds inside the pods were plump but believe I read they are suppose to be that way. I was concerned about them being tough and/or starchy due to the seed swelling and the general feel of them. I steamed them along with some Woods Mountain Crazy and tasted both plain and after adding butter, toasted garlic and salt.

I was very pleasantly surprised by Aunt Jean's. They were tender and not starchy at all. The flavor, to me, is more similar to lima beans than snap beans. This is fantastic for me because I stopped growing lima beans because I hated shelling them and they took up too much room in the garden for the little harvest I got. If Aunt Jean's continues to do well for me, they will be my "go to" for a lima bean replacement even though they aren't lima beans. Very good!

Here are the Aunt Jean's.

P1110571 - Aunt Jean's pole bean - from 7-23 harvest.JPG

Do you want to keep this thread about just pole beans or do you want feedback on bush beans and semi-bush beans, too? Or should we start a separate thread for bush beans and semi-bush beans?

[Tormato]

Perhaps you could edit the title, removing "Pole", and it could be about ALL beans?

Currently, my pole beans are doing very well. The first picking was a day ago. I gave the snaps of Northeaster to a neighbor, who grows round bush beans. I think that they're in for a treat. Another will be ready for picking today, a slim round purple podded one. I'll have to bring out my bean charts to find out which variety it is.

Later, I'll have to reduce 3 pages of charts down to 1, as I've replanted to fill in a few gaps, twice. Basically, I'm attempting to keep all vines planted around the 4 poles of a single teepee, staying on that single teepee. They do like to wander on their own. There are usually 4 varieties, all of different colored beans, on each teepee. I don't want a white seeded variety have a vine migrate over to the next teepee, also having a white seeded variety.

One of my 4-pole teepees is starting to lean, which is not good. Once, many years ago, I had one fall over in a strong wind, which rips the plant's roots out of the ground. I saved some of the plants, by mounding soil over the exposed roots and quickly watering them. Trying to get the teepee upright was not an option. I think that the solution to the leaning one will be to push it back upright, and wedge some short pieces of old bean poles in the newly widened holes.

Most bush beans have done lousy, started early indoors in containers, and transplanted out. Bush beans generally have small root systems, which have not done well in this year's very hot weather. My 1st goal was to just get a few fresh seeds to replenish old seeds in the collection. I didn't make it to the 2nd goal with most of them, tasting them.

A bush runner bean, Hestia, likely produced about 100 flowers, only one set, and the pod was empty. It's still kicking, for now, so maybe something will happen later in the season. On a side note, I planted 2 beans and I have 3 plants.

One pole lima (so I don't get any crosses), some bush Asian long beans, and some cowpeas, are also doing well, but no flowering, yet.

I should be able to get a report on tasting the snaps, fairly soon.

[WoodSprite]

Tormato, do you still need more Wyatt bush bean seeds to replenish MMMM or did you get enough in the last MMMM? I grew Wyatt from MMMM seeds in 2023 but didn't get enough seeds to send in (and they were pale green instead of white but you clarified in a different thread that that can happen and it's OK). I'm growing a few plants this year from those seeds. I made one harvest to compare to Strike & Provider again and have been letting the rest go to seed. If you don't need Wyatt for MMMM then I'd rather eat them than collect seed. But I'm happy to collect seeds if needed.

First harvest of these three bush been varieties on July 11:

IMG_3336-labeled.jpg

[Tormato]

Today I steamed a handful each of the Grandma Roberts, Jeminez pole beans and a handful of bush Jade. The Jeminez seemed a bit beanier than the other two. Grandma Roberts has strings so that's a strike against keeping it. I don't have the patience to remove strings from beans. And BTW, like other purple beans the GR purple does turn green when cooked. Jade has possibilities. It's somewhat shorter than the others but loaded with beans.

The Calima bush beans don't seem to be very productive. Not many beans and not many flowers either. It's the only sluggard of all the ones I'm growing.

I somehow missed this post. As for the Grandma Roberts, do you remember at what stage (virtually no seed development, a slight bit of pod swelling, much pod swelling) that you picked them at? Many varieties that do get strings are stringless until the pods are fairly mature.

The one variety that I've given up on is Kentucky Wonder. To me, it has good , but not great flavor. But, I find it impossible to tell when it develops strings, unless I picked only very immature pods. Typically, I will pick a bunch of pods, to cut and cook. Nearly every one will be stringless, except that one or two that I missed from the previous picking. So, then there's a side dish, of where maybe every 20th bean on the plate has strings, while all of the others are very tender.

If I had to pick only one bean to take to a Desert Island, it would be Jeminez. Huge, exceedingly tender, flavorful pods, easy to see and therefore pick, with crazy production up here ( often 5 to 7 pods on a truss, can double as a dry bean. Some say a triple usage bean, also good as a shellie. But, I tried a few times to shell beans from undried pods, and found Jeminez nearly impossible to work with.

[GoDawgs]

I somehow missed this post. As for the Grandma Roberts, do you remember at what stage (virtually no seed development, a slight bit of pod swelling, much pod swelling) that you picked them at? Many varieties that do get strings are stringless until the pods are fairly mature.

No, I don't remember . But it's possible that there was some pod swelling because I was trying to save them all but then decided I need to try at least a few!

The one variety that I've given up on is Kentucky Wonder. To me, it has good , but not great flavor.

I agree with that!

If I had to pick only one bean to take to a Desert Island, it would be Jeminez. Huge, exceedingly tender, flavorful pods, easy to see and therefore pick, with crazy production up here ( often 5 to 7 pods on a truss, can double as a dry bean. Some say a triple usage bean, also good as a shellie. But, I tried a few times to shell beans from undried pods, and found Jeminez nearly impossible to work with.

I love these and thank you for sending some in the MMMM! They will have a place in the garden going forward.

[Tormato]

Tormato, do you still need more Wyatt bush bean seeds to replenish MMMM or did you get enough in the last MMMM? I grew Wyatt from MMMM seeds in 2023 but didn't get enough seeds to send in (and they were pale green instead of white but you clarified in a different thread that that can happen and it's OK). I'm growing a few plants this year from those seeds. I made one harvest to compare to Strike & Provider again and have been letting the rest go to seed. If you don't need Wyatt for MMMM then I'd rather eat them than collect seed. But I'm happy to collect seeds if needed.

First harvest of these three bush been varieties on July 11:
IMG_3336-labeled.jpg

I'll have to do my own taste test on Wyatt. But, if others find them exceptional, they will likely be popular.

On top of that, I had only about 20% germination, from 2023 saved seed. That alone means that I could use more seeds.

Eat half and save half is my recommendation.

[Tormato]

My first taste report...

Northeaster - good to very good flavor, most tender and best flavor before seeds start to swell. Extremely early for a pole bean. But planting seeds cannot be rushed, as white seeded varieties like this one need warm soil for good germination rates.

White Queen - The first ones were nearly tasteless. If this continues, the variety will not be back, other than MAYBE growing out for seed stock about every 4th year.

Grandma Roberts Purple - very light strings when young, problem solved for me by cutting into 1" lengths. More work, but exceptional flavor is worth it.

[WoodSprite]

Tormato, do you still need more Wyatt bush bean seeds to replenish MMMM or did you get enough in the last MMMM? I grew Wyatt from MMMM seeds in 2023 but didn't get enough seeds to send in (and they were pale green instead of white but you clarified in a different thread that that can happen and it's OK). I'm growing a few plants this year from those seeds. I made one harvest to compare to Strike & Provider again and have been letting the rest go to seed. If you don't need Wyatt for MMMM then I'd rather eat them than collect seed. But I'm happy to collect seeds if needed.

First harvest of these three bush been varieties on July 11:
IMG_3336-labeled.jpg

I'll have to do my own taste test on Wyatt. But, if others find them exceptional, they will likely be popular.

On top of that, I had only about 20% germination, from 2023 saved seed. That alone means that I could use more seeds.

Eat half and save half is my recommendation.

I'm only growing a measly 6 plants of Wyatt. I made one harvest early on and will leave the rest for seeds. (I may harvest young pods later in the season once there isn't enough time for them to fully develop seeds.) They look to be producing much better than last year. Tastewise, I found them good but they are so thin that I feel like I'm not getting as much food for the effort. I do love how dark green they are, though. With that said, I still prefer Strike and Provider over Wyatt but I enjoyed Wyatt, too.

[WoodSprite]

I steamed & ate some of the Garrafal Oro beans as snap beans the other day. I tasted a few plain then ate a plateful with butter, garlic, salt, black pepper. I found the beans very bland with hardly any flavor. My husband didn't want any but tasted a few when I told him it was a new-to-us variety. He thought they were bland, too. We both like Aunt Jean's much, much better.

On the good side, they were very tender. Even the larger bean pods that I thought would be tough were very tender once steamed.

I thought they were also used as shell beans and dry beans so I planned to let them mature more and try them those ways. But now I'm looking at my notes and don't see that mentioned for them. My notes say that in the snap bean stage they have a sweet bean/pea flavor. We didn't think so. Not a bad flavor. Just bland for us.

Due to the lack of flavor and the lateness of it's production, I won't be growing it again.

[Tormato]

I steamed & ate some of the Garrafal Oro beans as snap beans the other day. I tasted a few plain then ate a plateful with butter, garlic, salt, black pepper. I found the beans very bland with hardly any flavor. My husband didn't want any but tasted a few when I told him it was a new-to-us variety. He thought they were bland, too. We both like Aunt Jean's much, much better.

On the good side, they were very tender. Even the larger bean pods that I thought would be tough were very tender once steamed.

I thought they were also used as shell beans and dry beans so I planned to let them mature more and try them those ways. But now I'm looking at my notes and don't see that mentioned for them. My notes say that in the snap bean stage they have a sweet bean/pea flavor. We didn't think so. Not a bad flavor. Just bland for us.

Due to the lack of flavor and the lateness of it's production, I won't be growing it again.

Very different from most snap beans, delicate, but sweet flavored. If you want the ultimate in great flavor, it's Super Marconi, in my garden.

[Tormato]

The latest report...

Emelia's Italian - thick, oval, 6", meaty, green with purple streaks, productive, good flavor

Jennings - flat, narrow, 4 1/2", very tender, stringless, very good delicate sweet flavor

Blue Marbut - round, 7 1/2", green with some purple frost, gets stringy and stronger flavored with older pods, taste is much like many bush green beans

Garrafal Oro - flat, curved, 9 1/2", 3/4" wide, delicate sweet flavor, much like Jennings

Virginia White - flat, 10", 3/4" wide, having that superb Romano-type flavor!, this may finally be the bean that I've been searching for over the past two decades, as production is looking good, the only drawback being white seeds, which means needing warmer soil for germination.

[rxkeith]

there is a virginia brown seed version too that sandhill preservation has listed.
i got the white seed, no special reason other than i did not want both. i don't
know if the brown seed version would be less temperature sensitive or not.


keith