garden:about:plants:beans:varieties
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garden:about:plants:beans:varieties [2014/11/03 14:33] – [Dry beans] davidbac | garden:about:plants:beans:varieties [2020/04/03 21:03] (current) – davidbac | ||
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+ | ===== Varieties we have grown ===== | ||
+ | ==== Dry beans ==== | ||
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+ | My favorite are beans that dry out. These bean plants are adapted over decades to serve their purpose in so many ways. A fully adapted dry bean, in my book, has these properties: | ||
+ | * They grow quickly and stand upright. | ||
+ | * They flower, fix the load of beans and they stop flowering. | ||
+ | * They hold the beans up off the ground (so Fall rains won't soak the pods) | ||
+ | * They are easy to shell. | ||
+ | * They complete their cycle in less than 90 days. | ||
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+ | The pod of a bean for drying is an engineering marvel. Somehow, each pod keeps out water, unless buried in wet soil. Some are " | ||
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+ | === Varieties === | ||
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+ | Following are my favorites, the ones I will continue to plant because of their versatility, | ||
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+ | It's interesting to watch the colors of these beans change. First they are green, at which time they are great string beans. Then they mature to a maroon, and as they dry the color changes to tan. So it's easy to tell where they are in their process of maturing. | ||
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+ | I find that these cook best after soaking all night and then slow cooking for 8 hours. Happily, they don't go mushy. | ||
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+ | ====Snap beans==== | ||
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+ | Provider doesn' | ||
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+ | I'll be drying some of these for seeds. But it won't be more than a few because these guys just hang on - keep bearing, and don't dry well on the vine. That's often the case with green beans that aren't selected for drying. It was mid-October before I could find pods that were drying out and still weeks more for those I picked to completely dry out. I put a lot of beans into the compost so I could prepare the soil and plant a cover crop. | ||
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+ | ==== Withner White Cornfield ==== | ||
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+ | This variety of pole bean is adapted to grow in a cornfield using the corn stalks as a trellis. We tried these in 2014, probably planting the beans too late to take advantage of the corn stalks. But the plants were prolific and the beans tasted great, so I planted more at the farm. | ||
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+ | Germination was poor (20%) so I replanted and get a few plants later in the season. I believe the cause of the poor germination was that the effects of the decomposition of[[garden: | ||
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+ | I began growing these because they are said to do well in shady areas - and direct sun is a premium here. A typical application is among corn stalks, which can form a trellis. The first year I tried this the bean vines overwhelmed the corn stalks. Harvesting both was difficult because of the " | ||
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+ | What makes Withner appealing is that they have excellent flavor and texture. So these are my favorite pole bean. | ||
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+ | ==== Hannan Popbean ==== | ||
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+ | Now for a not so favorite. | ||
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+ | These garbanzos are a favorite of Carol Deppe so I tried them. If you read my definition of a bean for drying, you can guess what I didn’t like. | ||
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+ | The ones we tried were the Hannan Popbean. I got them from Krista at Backyard Beans and Grains Project. Carol likes to put them in a hot skillet and watch them pop. Then she eats them like pop corn. We may never get to that test. | ||
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+ | But the last straw was shelling them. Only one or two to a pod, and lots of empty or bad. I shelled for hours and had about a pint. I still have a box of unshelled garbanzos and they may never be opened. I love dry beans, I even like shelling them sometimes. But this one isn’t on my seed list. The beans are very small, so I think it would take a lot to make anything. | ||
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+ | I’m thinking there are some better garbanzos for growing, but I haven’t looked. Seems like I read most varieties don’t do well up here, but I could be mistaken. | ||
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+ | ==== Photos ==== | ||
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+ | [[garden: |