Looks like I'm actually going to get to drag a couple of hoses around this week, the weatherman says it's going to be a warmer week :).

George, seems most of us are having problems with the weather this year, some years we might get temps in the 90's for a few days but that's rare, I don't like it in the 80's either, that's when I start whining.
I think the eagles have put a big dint in the rabbit population around here, I haven't seen one for a couple of years. It's racoons here, can't put the garbage out until 5 minutes before the truck comes and the little beggars were raiding our Koi pool, we had to put deer netting over it the keep them out.
The good news is I'll have Tennessee Cutshorts ready for picking in another week and the Barksdale which looked rather peely wally earlier on are looking good now, lots of flowers and a few beans forming, I should get some decent seed from them this year.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Nanaimo Weather

Zeedman, I regret not planting my 'Bird Egg #3' beans this season since it seems to be a good year for it. For some reason, my 'Bosnian Pole' beans are unhappy and unproductive and I can't really figure out why. I now wish I had used the space for another shelly variety instead. My 'Giant Red Tarka' and 'Soissons Vert' are loaded with pods and both are still flowering heavily. That is the problem with a small garden: so little space and so many wonderful beans!

Annette, it looks like we may be harvesting our first Tennessee Cutshorts at the same time. I am anticipating my first harvest by next weekend. I can't wait to try them. The first pods already look so fat and succulent.

Annette I notice that your forecast is warmer than ours and your current temperature is also warmer than ours this morning.

I have some blossoms on the Tennessee Cutshorts that were started in pots but no beans yet. Some of the next ten days are forecast to be near normal here so there is hope!

Dick

Dick, yesterday it hit 80 in my garden, 5 miles down the road it was 90 in the shade. Today we're back in the 60's, go figure.

Annette

Annette, We had 80 F both Saturday and Sunday. The Clem and Sarah's Big Bean plants have small beans and it looks like they grew two inches over the weekend.

Did you say that you have arranged for a warm August and September? - Dick

Dick, we had another nice day in the 70's not sure how high it got tho I didn't check, it sure would be nice if the warm weather sticks around for awhile, this next week is supposed to be fairly decent, as for having a warm August and September, keep your fingers crossed :).

Annette

We're into some really nice weather now, the pods are swelling I can feel the beans, I won't know until I shell them out but it looks the 6 plants I planted around the pole have produced nicely.

I might be wrong but it looks like this bean can be harvested and used as snap beans longer than most snap beans, haven't tried any because I want to see how many beans these 6 plants will give me. The vines are still putting out the odd flower but the beans they produce are just shrivelling up, saying that's it, that's all you're going to get out of me this year.

I'm quite excited as this is a bean iffy at best in the PNW and we had such a lousy spring and early summer. Now it's just wait and see and fingers crossed my plan works on how to protect them if the weather turns snotty, I just might end up with a bowl full of beans.

Annette

Don't shell too soon, Annette! Wait till the pod begins to dry. From being able to feel the beans til they are mature enough to shell for dry seed is at least a month.

Doing the happy dance, I shelled one tonight just to see what stage they're at now. One bean was over an inch and a quarter in length, I think I could pick more but our weather is holding so I'm leaving them to dry on the vine, fingers crossed.

Even though spring and early summer was a bust, if started early (April 1) you can start harvesting seed the latter part of August here on Vancouver Island.

Annette

Beautiful. If you've got shellies this early, you've got plenty of time yet to get dry seed... and a good crop of shellies. Congratulations!

Amazing!! This seed is already viable. I do not have a single pole bean at that stage yet.

Does it seem that this bean will do better than some others in a cool and very late summer?

Or is it all your summer extending methods?

Dick

Thanks Zeedman, as it turned out other than putting an umbrella over them for a couple of days I haven't had to take any other measures to protect these beans. My only failure so far are the chinese red noodles in the greenhouse, not even a flower :(. Last year we actually had a couple of feeds. I don't think I'll be growing this one again unless it looks like we're going to have a decent growing season.

Dick I really think an early start in the greenhouse is the answer. It looked like it was going to be a lousy spring again so I made my mind up to start almost all my beans in the greenhouse this year early.
I started most on a heat mat in community flats or pots and potted them on or planted them out when they had their true leaves, Bird Egg#3 I left in the greenhouse longer, these were potted on into gallon pots. Very doable for me as I only plant in small numbers.

Bird Egg ~ #3 was started April 11, not April 1, I could be picking more for seed right now but leaving them to dry on the vine.
Barksdale ~ started April 6 is almost ready, picked one 3 or 4 days ago, the seed has dried nicely no wrinkles so another week and I can pick them.
Fort Portal Jade ~ started April 7, grown in a container are all picked and dry.
Insuk Wang Kong ~ direct seeded out May 2, we've been eating, not worried about seed as I still have a fair amount.
Mr. Tung ~ started May 2, lots of dry seed, will pick the rest in a couple of days.
Oland Island Brown ~ started April 7, grown in a container are picked and dry.
Tennessee Cutshort ~ started April 8, for the most part seed is picked and dried, just a few more to go.
Woods Mountain Crazy Beans ~ started April 7, grown in a container, seed picked and dried.

Ma William, direct seeded June 11 is at the snap bean stage and Tobacco Worm started in the greenhouse late June 13 is just now forming beans so doubt if I'll get seed from this one but we'll get a taste.
Polish Freidank, I planted out June 7, I'd say they were at the shellie stage but only having 6 plants I'm hoping to let them dry on the vine. This one looks very promising, a fast grower, fast cooking and tasty I tried one:).

There's a couple more direct seeded late that are forming beans now but doubt if I'll get seed from them. It's been fun trying to outwit old mother nature.

Annette

Well done Annette! Those are some beautiful mature beans!

You are so lucky to have a greenhouse!

Well done indeed! And thank you for the fine record keeping.

Annette, just a few more questions. Did you heat the greenhouse at all or did you let it go down into the 30s at night?

Also, you started a some other beans in April. What size pots did you use for them?

It appears that some of your other beans were outdoors by May 1. Nanaimo had a few 32F nights up to May 27. Did you use hot caps for the other beans too or will they just shrug it off and keep going?

Dick

Dick, IWK's and Tennessee Cutshorts were planted in a raised bed that has a fiberglas roof. I usually grow my tomatoes here, beans at the back on netting and also on the latticed sides. The soil in this bed warms up quickly, usually in the 60's by the end of April or sooner.

I use a small electric heater to keep my 12 1/2' x 14 1/2' B.C. polycarbonate greenhouse above freezing throughout the winter, it has gone as low as 36(winter) but not lower, it shuts off around 42 degrees. I usually stop using the heater the end of March, this year the middle of April. After that it's grow or die you've had all the babying your going to get LOL.

Pots, I've used small yogurt containers, the kind that come in 12 packs?, 3" and 4" pots, a few planted in yogurt containers went into 4" pots before they went out, I check roots, if they show they go into bigger pots until the weather cooperates, we had a LOT of rain.
The only beans I potted up into gallon containers were the Bird Egg #3. I watered them the day before planting out, dug a trench around the pole and carefully slipped them out of their pots and into the trench and put hot caps over them for about a week, they went out around May 1. I don't think I used hot caps on any of the others, I had remay cloth ready to throw over if the nights looked like it was going to get really cold but never used it. Some of the beans sulked for a week or so but soon picked up when the weather warmed a bit. Barksdale's leaves were a little anemic looking so I gave them a weak solution of liquid seaweed and epsom salts. All the other beans were given no fertilizers other than a bit of sea soil thrown around them once the were up and growing.

The temps for Nanaimo are taken at the airport, we're a few miles down the road. I think we are just a tad warmer, at least my thermometer says so.

Annette

Annette, thank you for taking the time to write this up. This is very useful information.

I have a 8 by 14 foot polycarbonate greenhouse with a small space heater in it and a 10 by 35 foof homemade hoop house that is harder to heat. Both of them are full with a couple dozen tomato varieties but there is room in the aisles.

So it appears that beans can tolerate the mid 30s anyway.

You mentioned Ma Williams. I grow 3 14 foot trellis of them. Today I saw pink tips on a few of them so it looks like there will be shellies.

Some of the east coast folks wonder what all the fuss is about. They just toss some seeds outside in mid May and away they go....

Dick

Correction, My greenhouse is only 8 1/2' by 14 1/2'. I don't know where the 12 1/2' came from, just wishful thinking on my part LOL.
I must have not looked to hard last night, I found some completely dried BE#3 pods hiding amongst the leaves this afternoon.
Dick you just have to give this bean a try next year, I knew they were supposed to be a big bean but at the shellie stage WOWZERS.

Annette

OMG, wow!!! Congratulations, Annette! You must be proud. I am definitely going to have to add 'Bird Egg #3' to my "must grow list" for next year.

Were you able to try any of the beautiful shellies? I wonder how their flavor/texture were for you.

Ispahan, I have yet to try 'naked shellies' of any kind. The closest I've come to shellies are the Tennessee Cutshorts ... and they still had their clothes on :).
I saving all the BE#3 I can for seed, if there are any immature pods when I pull the vines I'll try a few. I guess steaming them, butter, pepper and shhhhh, a little salt is the way go?

Annette

Update... I already have a cup of seed from the dried pods I've picked so far, still a lot more coming. I was expecting BE#3 to have large leaves with not so many beans, wrong, I can't say the leaves were that big and as far as beans go my 10 ft. pole (6 plants) was loaded from top to bottom.
To top it all off, those long red pods hanging in amongst the green are eye catchers :). I was going to plant 3 poles next year but after seeing what this one pole produced I don't think so.
I'll give them an early start again next year, our weather has been so unpredictable the last few years I'm not taking any chances.

Annette

CORRECTION!!! I'm back to 3 poles of these next year, one of the pods I picked for seed wasn't quite ready so I steamed the beans, drizzled with bacon dripping and a sprinkle of black pepper. Both DH and I absolutely loved them so we're going to eat the rest. It's a good job I didn't try them as shellies earlier on I'd have no seed LOL.

Annette

Hi Annette,

Will the Bird's EGG #3 grow down south? They would probably grow in the early spring before the heat.
If so I would like to give them a try. If someone has a few seed to spare or trade.

Luther

Can't send you an email, Luther, as you don't have it enabled, but you can try to email me by clicking on my name. Put your email in the body of the message in case GW does not attach it because you don't have it in the profile.

I can send you BE3 from last year, same ones Annette is growing now, if she doesn't have enough. Do you have any interesting large beans to trade? I look for large shellies or colorful beans. You won't know if it will grow in Florida until you try. Don't know why it wouldn't, it might get very big for you there.

This was my first attempt at growing them, they need a long growing season and take a long time to produce seed up here, 5 months, and that's after being started and grown on in the greenhouse for a bit. I'm not sure if they will grow in your climate maybe someone else can chime in, maybe in your cooler months? It wouldn't hurt to try, nothing ventured, nothing gained :).

Annette

Hi happyday,

I will ask flintnapper/Harry to forward my email address to you. The GW has stopped sending emails.

Luther

I picked the last BE#3 yesterday, about 3 dozen of these were dry enough for seed so they're finishing on a screen, the rest we had for dinner. I cooked more than enough for supper thinking I'd put the extras in the fridge and we'd have them tonite, WRONG.... they were so good I said to heck with the chicken on my plate and had more beans, DH liked them too :).
Today I'll pull the pole out, if I've counted right it took 154 days from start to finish and I have 2 1/2 cups of dried plus the ones that are still drying, it would be more if we hadn't eaten them :). Until now I've only eaten the beans I've grown as snap beans, first year for shellies.

Annette

Annette, mine went for 101 days, but the longer you can give them the better! How big were the cooked beans?

I should have taken more notice, when I picked the last beans and shelled them most were far enough along to keep for seed, the rest had either faint markings or hadn't developed them yet. I'd say after steaming they were about 3/4" in length give or take a bit.

Annette

On dried seed near the hilum this feels just slightly rough to the touch, in the shelly stage it looks like this. Is this the only bean that has this formation? I've never seen this on any other bean I've grown.

Annette

Annette, when I shelled pale beans, I stopped and strung them and left them to dry inside the pod, then they had color when I shelled the dry beans. Hope your pale beans are still viable. You may have shelled them too soon.

Can't explain that wrinkling though. Mine didn't do that, though some of them were misshapen in other ways. I thought it was the high-phosphate fertilizer I used last year, to force blooming. I used little fertilizer or Sevin this year.

Happy, I lucked out, I have quite a bit (for me) of dried seed in perfect condition, most from pods that dried when still on the vine. The last few beans on the pole which included these we ate.
Just an observation, I don't think these are misshapen, I think this is the norm for this bean. I took this picture just before they went in the pot, on dried beans these wrinkles shrink and aren't really noticeable.

Annette

Annette, that wrinkle appears to be a deformity. I never observed such a thing in my BE#3 shellies (or dry seed) except for last year, when excessive rainfall & flooding caused serious stunting in all the beans I grew. See the photo I posted earlier in the thread, which shows the beans in shelly stage.

I'm happy for your success; I had some reservations that BE#3 would mature for you. It's really tough to bring long-season beans to seed in the cool climate of the Pacific Northwest. That you & Drloyd have done so - and the methods you used - should be an inspiration to others with similar climates.

Zeedman, I have not accomplished this yet. - Dick

Shelling Jimenez today, I wonder if it might be related to BE#3, as it is the same size and shape but a redder pod and the bean is streaked with brown instead of purple.

Three more pictures to finish off this year's Bird Egg#3 trial. Started early even in a less than stellar growing season they did very well here in the PNW.

Not only is this a great tasting bean it's been a fun project, seeing if I could actually grow it successfully here.

Annette

They look a lot like October beans, they create a lot of gas in me and others folks that ate mine. My aunt refused to eat anymore after her first batch! They tasted great, but side effects were unbearable! I grew them from dried beans that I bought at the grocery store. How are they on the gaseous effect? :)

Remarkable achievement and great photos!

Dick

Annette, well done! The red pods look very much like the Jimenez, I wonder if they are related or even the same bean. Maybe compare them when you grow them both next year?

Wertach, somebody told me to put a little baking soda in the beans soaking water. Maybe in the cooking water too. Supposed to help.

Wertach, we've had no problems with this bean :). I've never grown october beans but the seed looks to be a slightly different shape.

Annette

Happyday the pods both have that color but shellies of Jimeniz are smaller. At least they were when I grew them. Zeedman reports that Bird Egg #3 shellies are over an inch long and the seeds dry down to 3/4 inch. He once compared them to large limas and said they could be served with toothpicks!- Dick

happyday, I've tried the baking soda thing. It didn't work for me. I have diverticulitis. If I look at a peanut... I get gas! LOL

I have been drinking fig leaf tea for a little over a week now and it has helped, I think. Haven't ate any beans yet. Got some BJBBS soaking now.

Green beans are about the only beans that don't give me problems. I can tolerate most of them, some pain, but with October beans..... I would have to get better to die! LOL

The bad part, I love beans!

DrLoyd, I know, I grew them both this year. BE3 is bigger. But they are similar.

BE3 is like the draft horse of common beans!

Just to finish this thread off..... I grew Bird Egg #3 again this year and tried them in the green bean stage. Cut diagonally and steamed for a few minutes, delicious :).

Annette

BE#3 is a great-flavored snap bean. It's just not terribly productive in that stage, and there are many snap varieties which are better suited.

After my crop failure in 2010, I am growing BE#3 again this year, in quantity... three 24-foot rows.

Like all of my beans this year, they suffered from early stunting. After being planted on time, they germinated well, then just sat there for almost all of June. Still haven't positively identified the cause, but it affected many of my beans. Fortunately, BE#3 is fully recovered, has been growing vigorously, and now has a lot of pods in snap stage. It could be a stretch to get dry seed before frost, but I am hopeful. I want to return my seed stock to a level where I can again share it freely.

By the way, my first planting this year was with seed saved from 2005, the year I first grew it. It was 'preferred' seed, the largest & healthiest that I separated out for that year. Age had taken its toll, only about 25% of that seed germinated. I culled out the seed saved from 2010 (about 75% was bad) and replanted with the good seed in the dead spots; those germinated almost 100%.

Zeedman, when I started cutting them up the first time it felt like they were going to be tough so thought I'd freeze them and use them in casseroles. I blanched them for 3 minutes and popped them in ice water, couldn't resist sampling a couple of pieces and found them to not only be tender but very tasty, we've had several meals with them and will have more. Although I have enough seed for a few years I will save a few this year and rotate them.

My beans were also sluggish in June but eventually they took off. We hit a hot spell this month and although looking very healthy they stopped flowering in fact the two varieties I planted later just started flowering last week so although we'll get beans from them, seed will be iffy.

Annette

I am growing this bean for the first time this year, and have noticed that there are a lot of pods that are small and drying up, without any seed inside. I've never seen this before and am wondering if it is a pollination issue, or maybe a cultural one? Perhaps 20% or so of the pods are empty. The pods that set are just now coming to shell stage maturity, so we haven't had a chance to try any yet. Has anyone else noticed a lot of "blank" pods in the Bird's Egg #3 beans?

Jana

Jana I was hoping others would chime in here, the only time I've seen this happening is when I've been growing solely for seed. My thoughts, the vines had produced as much as they could and now they were too pooped to pop.

Annette

Thanks for your response, Annette. Initially, I was disappointed at BE#3 bean set, but as I am now sitting at a kitchen table full of other beans waiting to be shelled, somehow it seems OK! In re-reading this thread, I see that zeedman noted that after the initial set, later pods would shrivel and fall off. I have only harvested a small sample so far, and am interested to see what the final harvest will look like.
Jana

Well, with the killing freeze two days away, I harvested all of my BE#3 today (and every other bean that was ripe). The vines were not as healthy as in previous years, and the pod fill was significantly lower... but I still was able to get 20 pints of frozen beans, and about a pound of dry seed. After the crop failure in 2010, it was a relief to replenish my aging seed stock.

Great, my Bird Egg#3 did extremely well this year as did all the beans I planted which surprises me being the growing season we had. September is usually very wet and it's been dry this year. BE#3 seed has been in for a couple of weeks now, the most I've ever harvested so I'm set for a few years. I left most for seed as my stash was getting low, I've been spreading this bean around :). I just weighed my dried seed, 1 1/2 lbs. (one pole, 8 strings).

Annette