Bean Notes (ongoing, will add to this in subsequent years)

2019

Hidatsu red--resurrected. Apparently two beans matured and I wasn't aware. They came up this spring and were my largest producer.

Rattlesnake--great grower, not a good producer. I'll include it on a limited basis with the climbing bean landrace

Tepary--great grower in the dry garden but just starting to produce end of September. If I get any beans they'll be my first generation, but at this point it doesn't look likely. Try again next year.

Scarlett Runner--growing OK but just started blooming beginning of September. No beans before the first deep freeze. Only two of the 12 plants even germinated.


2018
I've been trying to work with dry beans for a couple years now. Unfortunately, real life information isn't available for many of the varieties I have, so here goes.

The failures first, taking into consideration that I plant sporadically, sometimes early and sometimes late, in different areas. But I don't eliminate a bean entirely until it's been grown on my property for at least two years in different circumstances.

Calypso--eliminated. A black and white bean, probably bred for appearance rather than production. In my garden only one or two beans per pod, many of them empty, and while there were a lot of pods on the plant, that makes harvest a serious problem. Not too productive in terms of real numbers.

Hidatsu Red--eliminated. Planted by the corn last year and failed to produce. Planted by the bean towers this year and also failed to produce. Right now, in mid September, the first beans are just starting to come on. Chances are good that nothing will ripen before the first frost. NO seeds last year, NO seeds this year, end of experiment.

Hidatsu Shield--Ditto.

Whipple--First year planting these. One plant survived. Supposed to be 70 days, but just starting to produce after over 100 days. I'm guessing they need a little stress in order to ripen. I removed the water and got my first ripe beans a week later.

Monos Negros--First year planting these. One plant survived, a good crop.

Oland Brown--First year planting these. One plant survived, a good crop.

Kidney--Fabulous. Planted these last year with 100% mortality. This year one plant survived, and got more off that one plant than from any of the others so far. It ripened quickly, fully finished by mid-August.

Pinto--Good producer. It did OK last year as a climbing bean but produced little. This year I used last year's seeds and it did well for those plants that survived. From the three plants I already have more than I harvested last year total.

Tepary--Two varieties. Neither has produced this year. The blossoms are just starting to come on. They're supposed to be highly drought tolerant so I don't know whether they're getting too much water, too little, wrong soil, not enough sun, etc. I can't find any information on how these are supposed to grow.

Blue Lake--First year with these. A green bean, seeds out of a box. Good production, good seed production.

Rattlesnake--first year with these. They ran rampant over the corn and strangled it. Good production, but they'll be on the bean towers next year rather than by the corn. This is also supposed to be drought tolerant.

Tendergreen--first year with these, and they produced well. Good seed production as well. Low germination, but that's normal for my yard with seeds I didn't grow.

Black Turtle--3rd year. First two years they produced OK, so this year I thought I would do them as a main crop. Chose the wrong area, with only half a day of sun, lots of bugs, and bad soil. Will try again.

Idaho Pink--Established. This was supposed to be the second half of my main crop. See Black Turtle notes.

Great Northern White--Established, didn't grow it this year. An OK producer, half-runner. Many of the plants had just a few beans in each pod, so I took my seeds from the full pods.

Scarlet Runner--I was just given seeds this year so I have nothing yet. These will be planted the first time next spring

Tiny mystery bean--Foraged from the same area as the Scarlet Runner. I have no idea what these are. The beans are tiny and brown, the pods probably 8 inches long. These will be tested next spring.