"My neighbors will eat good this spring."

Any houses for sale in the 'hood? lol

Nice mess of beans sir!

Rick

40F does not seem to hurt bean plants.

I've seen Kentucky Wonders growing at 35 degrees. They do NOT deal with frost at all.

SpoutingLexi, I think your question has been answered. These guys are more qualified to answer the how cold a green bean will take than me. I did grow these beans under cold conditions but they were covered with heat lamps. They will not take any frost at all. I've had some killed with just a light frost. So what they are saying is they will live down to almost freezing if no frost. So let them climb but cover them at night and put a heat lamp under them if necessary.

Luther

ok, that clears things up! Thanks a lot. It looks like no more frost for my area is in store this season. Well, I hope so anyway.

Luther... my mouth is watering looking at the beans :^)

I just put mine to soaking to 'wintersow' March and April is when we get our 'big' snow.

Jealous ;^)

SproutingLexi, make you a trellis for them to climb up and have a old bed sheet or something to cover them if you get a frost. Also you can put any type of light under the cover to keep them warm. Problem solved.

vegpatch, It will be several weeks before you will have planting conditions. You may have to plant yours in pots and later transplant into the garden.

We had our second meal of the Jade 2 beans Sunday. We cooked them with new potatoes seasoned with butter. In the south we try to have a special meal on Sunday. I can remember my mother always made a special cake for our Sunday dinner. Sometimes the dessert was required to be made on Saturday for Sunday dinner.

Luther

It's warm enough in the greenhouse now so I've started a few little rice beans which I'll be growing in hanging baskets, 3 beans per basket, 5 baskets each variety. This has worked well for me in the past. This will give us enough for a taste and enough seed for another year.
So far I've got Comtesse de Chambord seed from France, Duchesse de Chambord seed from the U.K. and Little White Rice from Heritage Harvest Seed. The seed of these little rice beans are similar in shape but different in size. Growing all three I can do comparisons along the way. This isn't a great picture but it shows the differences. I picked the biggest seed from all three varieties, from left to right...Little White Rice, Comtesse de Chambord, Duchesse de Chambord. Luther made me do it, yep, it's all your fault Annette

I am also in 7B, Western Washington.
I have planted some peas about 10 days ago. I will plant a few more when those emerge. We have been having nice seasonably warm weather lately and seems to continue. The only problem is TOO MUCH rain and clouds.

Annette, It is in the blood. You get that planting fever and you can't control it. Nice picture of the three beans. Hope they do good for you.

seysonn, I hope your peas will get enough sun and heat to germinate. Your area sure gets the cloudy and rainy weather. Hope they pop up soon.

Luther

Did you hear the joke about driving someone insane by putting them in a round room and telling them something they dearly want is in the corner? So what does this have to do with beans? I have about 80 varieties of beans in the freezer and I'm thinking about packing up 50 seed of each variety and shipping them all to Luther. The thought of all those beans and how long it is going to take him to grow them all is bound to cause anxiety attacks, upset stomach, dizziness, fainting spells, heart palpitations, and yes insanity. If a few more of you chip in, we could get him several hundred varieties of beans!

I'm out to get you Luther. With Beans!!!!

Dal, You are out of luck. I've already planted every square inch of my garden. I purchased some containers for additional space. Now it will be called Luther's container's garden. I'm already going around in circles.

Luther

Hello Everyone,

We have had some cool nights for the past couple weeks. Down in the fifties and low sixties. My beans have been slow growing. Still getting plenty of Jade 2 bush beans. Having to give them to the neighbors as we can't eat them but a couple times a week. If we have left overs we eat them more than twice a week.

Helda Romano Pole Beans

Happy gardening to all,
Luther

Dar, I am glad that you did not threaten Annette with that offer. It might have pushed her over the edge.

Dick, shhhhhh, don't give Dar any ideas. Next year I have to stick to varieties I haven't grown before, got to keep that seed viable.

I've had a couple of offers from people with more land to help grow and keep going some of the beans I've acquired, I think I'm going to take them up on it.

I wasn't going to grow peas this year but Tatiana sent me a few 'Carouby de Maussane' they've sprouted and will be planted out in the next couple of days.

One of our boys who lives stateside for 6 months of the year, got hold of the 'Little White Ice' (pole) beans I was looking for so, it looks like I'll have to bump something off my grow list if I want to grow them this year. I already have some 'Little White Ice' listed as bush beans, I'm wondering if these are really Ice/Crystal Wax. Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, I'm just digging myself in deeper and deeper, curiosity is my downfall LOL.

Annette

Hello Everyone,

We have had some cool nights the month of March. Set a record of a low of 53 a couple nights ago. My Jade 2 bush beans have kept us and several of the neighbors in green beans. Think they have saw their better days as we have picked over them several times. We are ready for some flat Romano beans this next week. Here is a picture of the Helda Romano Pole Beans.

Happy Gardening To All,
Luther

Hello Everyone,

Today is the last day of March. We have had some cool nights this month for our location. The weathermen are saying we will have a day time temperature of 90 Saturday.
I just picked a pile of Romano beans today. Will share with the neighbors. These beans made in 59 days. Planted Fortex pole beans at the same time and they will not be ready for a couple more weeks.

Helda Romano Pole Beans

Have Monte Cresto pole beans putting on blossoms at this time.

Luther

This just isn't fair, you have me drooling all over my keyboard. Oh well all my little rice beans are up and growing in the greenhouse and it's warm enough in there to start my BJBB's, I've grown them in the greenhouse before with pretty good results so trying this again. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed we have a decent summer, I'm going to try some Chinese Red Noodles outside in a really warm protected spot, never know unless I try.
I have over 100 tomato plants started, all heirlooms. I only keep a few for myself , most are for my daughter and the neighbors. Garlic's up and looking good as are the snow peas. I bought some dandy looking shallots at our Seedy Sunday, they're planted out.

Annette

Annette, sounds like you are getting into the spring planting mode. Had to pull up all my cole plants as they had bolted. All the yellow flowers had a swarm of honey bees daily. All my greens also bolted.

Tonight we had Romano beans cooked with red new potatoes and other good food. Gave some of the Romano beans to my neighbors.

Luther

Hello Everyone,

Today I picked a large bucket of Fortex pole green beans. The vines are really loaded. It took 67 days for them to make from the day I planted them. In another post they are saying the Fortex is the best. I will give you my opinion after our meal today. We plan on cooking them with red new potatoes. That is a southern recipe in the south where I was raised.

Fortex Pole Green Beans

Have other green beans that will be ready in a few weeks. After giving them a taste test I will know which varieties to plant in the future. Will share these with several of my neighbors.

Happy Gardening to all,
Luther

Hello Everyone,

Picked a mess of Emerite Pole Green Beans this morning. They made real low on the vines. I saw them hanging from the lower horizontal bar on my trellis. They made lower than the other green beans this year. They made in about 60 days. The vines are really loaded with younger beans. Have several varieties of green beans planted so I can give them a taste test. My Monte Cresto should be ready this next week.

Emerite Pole Green Beans

A word of advice to you new gardeners. Turn your soil several times so the sun can warm it up. Also plant your seed as shallow as you can, just enough soil to cover them.
Make sure the seed has enough moister to wet them all the way thru.

Happy gardening to all,
Luther

Hello Everone,

After looking at the Monte Cresto beans I decided to pick a few. Discovered I had quite a few that were just about grown. I like to eat the beans before they get fully mature.
They are real tender at that stage. These made in about 61 days.

Monte Cresto Pole Green Beans

Grew these this past year and know they will be real good.
My neighbors will get tired of green beans before they stop producing.

Luther

I wish I was your neighbor right about now, those are some good looking beans. I think I see some flowers forming on my little rice beans I have growing in the greenhouse, still way too cold to put them outside but it won't be long now .

Annette

Annette, I wish you lived closer so I could give you all the green beans you could eat. I will have to agree with Darrel that the Emerite has a better taste than the Fortex. They are both good but the Emerite are slightly better than the Fortex. The Monte Cristo are up there with the best also. I pick my beans before they get fully grown and they taste better in my opinion. We all have our own taste buds.

Luther

Fine looking beans!

I am glad to hear that Monte Cristo is both early and good quality. That will be my primary green bean this summer. The rest will be full beans and shellies. May 1 I plan to start Aunt Jean's in peat pots, two weeks earlier than usual. Frost is possible in late May so I will cover them at night if necessary. - Dick

Dick, the Monte Cristo is an early bean. Don't know how it will stand up under our heat. We have had cool weather for our location. Altho it is in the sixties at night and low eighties in the day time. I hope it stays like for a few more weeks. But it is that time of the year when we start getting high temperatures. After Easter is when it gets hot.

All my other vegetables are starting to produce other than green beans. So the month of April/May we have a supply of everything. My lima/butterbeans are full of blossoms and will make in the month of May when we get in the high eighties. My shellies Ma Williams have pods about 4 inches long and haven't filled out yet. Flamingo beans have reached top of trellis. Have BVR pinkeye purple hull cowpeas planted also some speckle Bama peas.

Luther

Hello Everyone,

Happy Easter to everyone. I picked all different varieties of vegetables from my garden yesterday and distributed them to my neighbors. Asked each one what vegetables they liked or didn't like before giving them to each. Won't be able to harvest any vegetables for a couple of days as I picked it clean. We are also having some for our dinner.

Here is a picture of some Flamingo Beans that Gary gave me. They are some of the last beans I planted as I didn't want a late frost to surprise me.

Flamingo Beans

Luther

Hello Everyone,

My green beans have saw their better days. I need to replace them with Lima/butterbeans, but I'm going to leave them in until I can save some seed. Can't wait until they dry, so when they turn yellow I will pick them and let them finish drying before shelling them for seed. My problem is I don't have enough garden space. This is good because I'm already down in my back. shouldn't even be gardening but it is in my blood. We are getting all types of fresh vegetables to eat. My Ma Williams are loaded with beans.

Ma Williams Shelly Beans

Happy Gardening to all,
Luther

Gary's Flamingo beans are turning pink and developing fast in this warm weather we are having.

Flamingo Beans

Luther

Hello everyone,

Wasn't able to get a good picture of the Giant Tarka Beans. After pushing them over unable to get a good picture. They have several weeks to go before they are filled out.

Giant Tarka Beans

Luther

Luther, I enjoy your photos a lot. Your Ma Williams plants sure are loaded with pods. It reminds me of some tomato plant pictures in an ad that had extra tomato fruits photoshopped onto the plants to give the appearance of prolific fruit production. However, I'm sure your beans are all real and very tasty.

What is the size of your garden? I'm amazed at all the beans you grow. I may get to plant mine in Michigan in about 2 or 3 weeks. I might sow a big planter of beans inside tomorrow to get a head start....and in case the weather stays weird and doesn't warm up til June.

A warm low 80s today. I started Aunt Jean's, Granny and Clay Banks Fall in peat pots today, two weeks earlier than normal. We'll see what happens. Dick

Last week I started Chinese Red Noodle, Royal City Cannery, Little White Ice (pole), North Carolina Speckled Long Greasy Cut-Short, Purple Italian Marconi Stringless and Russ' Comtesse de Chambord 226.

Up and growing in the greenhouse....Comtesse de Chambord, Dutchess de Chambord, Little White Rice, BJBB's, Little White Ice (bush?) and Ice/Crystal Wax.

Just got rid of the 100 + Tomato plants I started for family and friends the other day which frees up room to start more beans :). Also a few of the beans from Ecuador have germinated and are now potted up.

Annette

naruregirl, I had to break off the leaves in front of the Flamingo and Ma Williams pole beans to get a picture. Otherwise you can't see the beauty of the beans. The Giant Tarka beans are a bush bean so I just pushed them over for the picture.

Annette & Dick you guys grow a different type bean than I grow. The names of some of your beans I have never heard of. Annette you have the bean fever bad ordering beans from Ecuador.

I only have a garden in my back yard. I have raised beds and I grow as much vertical as I can. It is surprising how much you can grow in a small space. I can grow several crops a year in this warm climate. When one crop is over I have another type to take its place the next day. I have been gardening all of 76 years. So thru trial and error over the years You learn some things and I'm still learning daily.

Luther

Luther I got the beans from Ecuador in exchange for a heirloom 'British Sovereign' strawberry. This strawberry has just about disappeared so I'm glad I've found someone who can keep it going.

Annette

Annette, you made a good trade. Some people don't value things the way we do. I have things that mean the world to me but to someone else it is junk. I often think of all the pictures I have acquired over the years and when I'm gone they will be thrown away. Think I will make up a list of items and who should be given some of the thing I have acquired over the years that will appreciate them. Your bean stock that has taken you a life time to accumulate should be left with someone to continue it when you go to bean heaven.

Luther

Hello Everyone,

Today I picked a couple 5 gallon buckets of Ma William Beans for my freezer. Didn't have any of those beans in my freezer. They took about 70 days to make from when I planted them. Most all have been picked and I intend to pull them up this next week and plant some Lima beans in their place. Also had plenty of seed saved for my next crop this fall.

Ma Williams Beans

Happy Gardening Everyone,
Luther

Beautiful beans. How do you cook your shellie beans? I am curious about the taste difference between fresh shellies and dried beans as I have never tried the types of fresh shellies that you plant.

ownedbyatabby, My wife cooked these with smart butter until they were soft. I like them cooked with bacon also. I cook all my beans when they are in the fresh stage. The dry beans I buy from the stores, soak overnight then cook with favorite seasoning until done.

Luther

Thank you Luther for your enlightenment. I am envious of your shellies since there is nothing like them in the grocery stores. Do fresh shellies taste much better than the dry ones? I am tempted to grow some lima beans which seem to do well in my area.

ownedbyatabby, the fresh beans don't taste anything like the dry ones. It is like a different world in taste. I gave some fresh beans to a neighbor and the taste just blew their minds. They couldn't believe the difference in the fresh home grown vegetable taste. That is the reason I grow fresh vegetables, because you can not get that good taste from anywhere else.

Luther

Hello Everyone,

This past week I picked a mess of BVD pinkeyed purple hull peas. Today I picked some Giant Red Tarka Beans for my freezer.

Giant Red Tarka Shelly Beans

Happy Gardening to everyone,
Luther

ownedbyatabby, I grew fresh shelly limas for the first time last year, and they were fantastic! No comparison to store ones. I even converted a couple of my lima bean-hating friends.

Luther, this thread is an eye-opener for me and I will definitely grow more beans in the future. I enjoy home-grown vegetables a lot and try to grow what I can't get or what are expensive at local grocery stores.

sea-kangaroo, you have so many different varieties of seeds listed on your page that you must be either a collector or a connoisseur.

Yue

Hello Everyone,

Getting plenty of vegetables of all types at this time. Summer time is here at my location. Planting only the vegetables that will grow during the summer months. Picked a pile of Doc Martin Lima beans for my freezer.

Doc Martin Lima Beans

Also had plenty of dry ones I saved for seed and will plant in the fall garden.

Luther

Hello Everyone,

I got my bean seed mixed up when planting. Could someone tell me the name of this Bean? When shelling my beans I came across this bean that wasn't suppose to be in with the Doc Martin.

Unknown Name

Thanks,
Luther

Luther, I received some lima seed in a trade about four years ago that are marked like yours and they are labeled Illinois Giant. I never tested them and they are still in my freezer. Maybe I should, yours look pretty good.
Harry

Luther these are the seed with the envelope they came in..
Harry

Harry, thanks for the info. I thought that was what they were called but I wasn't sure as I have another one that I had confused the two names. Now I know the name of the other one.

Luther

Hello Everyone,

Today I picked a mess of Jackson Wonder Butter beans. Discovered that about half of them had dried up on me. Have not looked at them recently as I have been busy with illness in the family.

Jackson Wonder Butter Beans

I cut fresh corn kernels off the cob and mix with the butter beans at a 3 to 1 ratio, season to taste. This gives them a good taste.

Luther