Carol

What was the name of George's beans? Old Time Greasy, or some such? Sometimes it's hard for me to keep track the way GW has their site formatted, and especially with all the comments flying back and forth!
I WOULD however, take George's advice on beans and just about any other gardening and/or survival question :)

Barbara

Barbara, I think he called them "Old Timey Greasy Bean". I probably had enough to cook them alone, but I chose to add them to a stir fry and the taste was excellent. Those that were filling out good did have strings, but they came off easily during prep. I like them.

If it is the one he's spoken of often, then I think it is Long Cut Olde (or Old) Time (or Timey) Greasy Bean.

George is the Bean King!

Dawn

I gave out seed to a number of beans, if I remember correctly they were:

Long Cut Olde Timey Greasy Bean - which is actually a mixture of North Carolina greasy beans. Some are round and some are flat. Some are long and some are short. Some have very shiny pods and some don't. All have strings and produce very tender pods. They are all good eating. This bean has a little less meaty pod than most of the beans I grow. But it tastes good and produces an abundance of small roundish white seed. I have some seed left from last year, but this year's harvest will be slim. I got this seed through E-bay, in 2006, from a fellow who bought out some older folks' supply, as they had to stop gardening. They had been selling these in the farmers' market in or near Ashville, NC.

Tennessee Cutshort 5" fairly round fat podded Seed is more round than not, though with some squaring on the ends. Color of seed is "Kentucky Wonder Brown." This bean can come in quite early for a pole bean. Last year I "clocked it" at first harvest of snap beans at 56 days. I have harvested some dry seed as quickly as in 87 days. Here in Oklahoma I can normally plant it for seed, harvest the seed, and re-plant for a fall crop of snaps. I let this, and most of our favorites, fill out considerably before I pick them as "snaps." They are strung and cooked with some filled out seed in them. That's how we like our beans. Anyway, this one was given to us back in 1985 by Jerreth's great Aunt Clara and her husband Doy, who lived in Salem, Illinois. They in turn, had received their seed from Olive Stroup. Olive had received the seed from her sister in Tennessee. Her sister claimed that these were grown all over the South. I'm interested in trying "Tennessee Cornfield" listed now by Sustainable Mountain Agriculture, as I wonder if it might not be the same bean. This is our family's favorite bean.

Childers Cutshort  I received this one from Gene Hosey a Gardenweb member, back in 2006. He got his seed from his elderly mother, who in turn received the seed from Eddie Childers of Merrimac, KY (Taylor County) around 1975. Interestingly Gene's mother sometimes raised it without support, commenting that it liked "to be sticked," but didn't have to. This year (2009) I actually grew some of Childers Cutshort on two broken spading forks, stuck into the ground. The arrangement works. But I'd rather give them a regular pole. I can see no difference between Childers Cutshort and Tennessee Cutshort. They appear to be the same bean which came to us by very different pathways.

Cherokee Striped Cornhill  This looks like a larger version of Genuine Cornfield Pole Bean. Seed is somewhat elongated, beige with dark brown swirls. I received this seed in 2008, from Tony West, of Ohio (Blueflint is his GW moniker). I believe Tony got his seed from a Cherokee family in Eastern Tennessee. This bean has nice LONG pods and like all of the above mentioned beans, stays tender for a very long time. It is an old fashioned string bean. Vines are rampant. Production is prodigious. But if this year is any indication, the variety may be day length sensitive. I planted a large planting of this bean fairly early in the year and it didn't even begin flowering until July. But this one is loaded now. Last year I only planted two hills of it, and that, quite late. So I didn't think anything of it coming in late.

This year I received seed to an Alabama heirloom snap bean called Cooper's Running Snap Bean. It has 8" round podded pods, which are green with purple streaking. The plants seem very vigorous and resistant to heat. My source wonders if they are not some selection of Rattlesnake. I have never grown Rattlesnake. So I can't tell. They are not stringed, and they would get tough, about like a Kentucky Wonder. But nevertheless I like this bean. Hopefully, in 2010 I can get a good quantity of seed.

Okay, that's all for now. I have more beans and am sure I handed out seed to others.

George

OK, there you have it from the bean authority. Mine are Long Cut Olde Timey Greasy Bean. Until I started reading the bean forum and a lot of George's comments, I didn't know much about beans. I grew them, but I didn't know how to select them. Almost everything I grew was slightly fuzzy and I didn't want it to be. At the plant swap I asked George for a greasy bean. I brought home a little bag and planted most of them. I know I will need to pick them again tomorrow if I can get into that part of the garden.

My plan for next year is to plant beans in rotation so I can try some new ones but I am happy with this one and I don't mind if they produce "slightly irregular". They are good..........(even raw Barbara).

Yup Carol
George is definately the BEAN GUY par excellence! Lucky you to have some of these to be feasting on. I like to pay heed to good experience such as George's. You JUST KNOW, he knows what he's talkin about.

George
I saved that link for next years bean growing season. You can be SURE I'll be trying some of your recommendations. Where else can a person get such good input on varieties like you can on this forum? I sure don't know of any.
Hard choices about which veggie I love the most, but next to tomatos I think it would have to be good beans! Good taste, good protein, good nourishment, good chow!

Barbara

George,
The beans that have done the best for me are the Tennessee Cuthort. Need to pick again tonight. They didn't seem to set well to start but setting a lot better. A wonderful taste. Jay

Jay, please don't start that. I haven't tried that one either. You could start a bean frenzy just like you did a tomato and garlic frenzy.

Oh, OK Jay, you can talk about them. I just checked my bean seeds and I have a tiny pack with a few Tennessee Cutshort in it, so I'm over the envy now. Will have to grow those sometime in 2010.

More bean topics.......
I would like to know what you grow your pole beans on. One of mine is on a horizonal cattle panel and the other is on one side of an arched one. I like the looks of "bean poles" growing in the garden, but I never seem to have the right things to do that with. Let's hear the ideas.

Carol, I've noticed Jay does like to start things.
He also is an enabler who likes to get people hooked on growing certain things....and then he feeds their addiction.

My favorite bean poles are three cedar tree limbs, each about twice the with of a broomstick and about six feet tall, with the bark stick attached. I made a teepee of them, wiring them together at the top with baling wire. The years I used them, I had six or eight of them and they were covered in beans.

Usually I just grow them on a trellis consisting of 6' tall woven wire fencing and 8' green metal fence posts.

The teepees were 'cute' all in a row there in the garden but took up a whole lot of square footage. The fencing trellis is much more efficient in terms of the space it occupies.

If you have small children around, you can do what I did when my nieces and nephews were young. You make really large bean teepees made with 8' posts and with the 'inner' teepee large enough for children to crawl inside of them. I grew beans, mini-pumpins and gourds on them. The kids played inside and I harvested outside.

If you grow the really, really tall sturdy sunflowers like Russian Graystripe or Mammoth Russian or the Burpee's American Giants Mix and you give the sunflowers a headstart, you can plant beans to climb the sunflowers. It is beautiful and practical.

Those are the various ways I've grown pole beans. I've never found bamboo poles here that I thought were sturdy enough to use for bean teepees.

Dawn

I am not opposed to buying a few more cattle panels and maybe forming one more into an arch. I think I could put another one near one of the gates if I just improved the soil a little. It would probably look nice there especially if I grew something colorful, like purple long beans. I have never planted in that area but I have most of the grass killed out over there and plan to work on that a little more after I cut the grapevine back. Only the birds benefit from the grapes anyway. Since that is near the area of the new raised bed that would be about all I would have room for over there. I'll have to check out the shading situation before I decide.

I have been laughing about moving the fence, but we are probably going to do that, but not just for gardening. I am fed up with all of the dogs that run loose. They can't get in my garden, but they certainly visit my yard enough. Plus I am afraid of the little ones that belong to the renter next door. Now that the two cedar trees have been cut it opens up a fairly large sunny area that is far enough from the lateral lines to be planted with food crops, but only if it was fenced. That is a project still in the planning stage and there are a couple ahead of it.

Just offering a innocent opinion and getting accused of all kinds of mischievous deeds. LOL.

Carol I have seeds for some of George's other varieties. I planted a few late. But most were too close to the sunflowers. I had the idea they would climb them. But they got shaded and didn't do real well. The Tennessee's are planted along an old fence that used to be a chicken pen. I attached baler twine to the top and let it hang down for them to climb on. Has worked well.

I think Dawn has grown more varieties of most things than I have. So maybe she is influencing me!!!! Jay

Carol,

Hooray for the removal of the cedar trees that opened up a sunny area! Moving a fence is a colossal pain, though. Still, it will be worth it.

Jay,

Oh, I am shocked you would turn around and point the finger at me. Totally shocked.

If I have grown more varieties of things than you have, though, you'd better get busy and catch up! LOL

My theory is you can never have too many varieties of plants, or too many varieties of seeds in your collection. And, of course, you can never, ever have too many tomatoes. Or beans. Or corn. Or peppers. Or okra. Well, I could go on and on.....

Dawn

I have been growing my pole beans on a hoophouse frame made from 3 cattle panels wired together and held in place with steel t-posts for several years now. I love the ease of standing in the shade under the hoophouse and pulling handfuls of beans without bending over in the hot sun.

Here is a picture of the beans hanging down:

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These are Kwintus from Park Seed a type of roma bean that up until this year was my favorite bean, it is white seeded and never stringy at any stage. This year a friend gave me 5 or 6 Cherokee Trail of Tears seeds and I loved it. Beautiful pink blooms, beans with a touch of purple and not stringy at any stage either. I am letting the pods dry now for seeds and they are almost black they are so dark.

I have also grown pole beans on bamboo teepees. Years ago I bought a bundle from maybe A.M. Leonard Co. and still have some unused. They last forever without rotting.
The problem was the beans would grow over the top of the poles, drop down and the resulting beans would sometimes be curled and misshapen and hard to reach for picking. I definitely prefer the hoophouse method.

I grow the beans about 6 inches apart on each side which gives me about 20-feet of beans. I want to figure a way to run this thing all the way across the garden and have more space for the vining things.

I love the cattle panels for lots of things. They are strong and ridged, so you usually just need poles on the ends. I have 3 that I use horizonally, one that is an arch, and another we cut in half to make two up-rights. I wish I hadn't cut that one now because I like it arched rather than vertical. I only have three in use at the moment (1) blue lake beans (2) seven tomato plants (3) the arch has beans on one side and cukes on the other.

I use one for peas in the spring, and will probably mount the verticals on the long side of my new 4x12 raised bed.

I was soliciting ideas about bean supports because I like the look of the teepee with beans but it looks like it would take a lot of space, so I wanted to see what others thought. I don't know that I will ever grow beans for anything other than green beans unless I am doing it for seed.

Glenda,

I love your cattle panel hoophouse. Do you cover the cattle panels with plastic and use it as a hoophouse for seedstarting? I know that I would, but I'm a zone warmer and have pretty mild winters.

Carol,

Y'all are making me want some cattle panels for hoops and arches. I'm sure Tim will appreciate having one more thing added to my list of needs/wants for the yard and garden.

He's never said "gosh, woman, where does it end?" but I bet he thinks it from time to time.

Dawn

Dawn,
Being that I've already been accused. Don't forget you need a high tunnel and some cold frames!! LOL. Oh it only ceases when we move on. Till then there is always need seeds to grow, better methods and new tools to try. Jay

Dawn, We both know that the answer is that it never ends. LOL

My DH laughs at me, but is always the first to buy things that he thinks I want. Now we haven't gotten the greenhouse, but he has even been talking about that. I told him I would be content with another hoop house like I had in Lone Grove, but I think he wants to make it more permanent. Who am I to fight that? Of course, it means I will have to wait a little longer, but that's OK. Usually I am able to do my plant starts in the bunkhouse because from January until about April, I don't have much company. I can always do them in the house but I like growing them in the bunkhouse better because it is nicely insulated to keep them from getting to cold, but is not heated unless someone is there. If it goes much below freezing, I turn on a little gas heater so the pipes don't freeze anyway. I think growing in temps cooler than the house is best. I put them on shelves and throw a foil camping blanket over them when they are young. The silver reflects the light and the covering is enough to hold the heat from the lamp. So far that has worked OK.

Of course, a greenhouse would work best and I would have the natural light. Mostly I want one to grow things in winter, and I don't mean summer crops. I probably wouldn't even heat it unless it was a few days in spring when I had tender transplants or a few nights in fall to keep peppers going. It seems that most years we have a lot of warm weather that is decent for growing, THEN we get hit with another cold spell. In fall, we seem to have a few days of cold, then it is fall again for two or three weeks. For those kinds of situations, I might consider heating, but mostly it would be solar.

I planted my Sungold seed last year in a milk jug outside in the spring. A couple of really cold night, I moved them to an unheated shed for the night after they sprouted but otherwise they grew outside. They were very strong plants and I didn't have to harden off. Peppers are the real challenge and I still start them all inside.

I find it amazing how strong some plants are. They can withstand cooler temps than I once thought and I think most people overwater. I find that the big thing is to protect them from chilling winds, and of course, freezing and frost. My biggest problem is providing enough light. It's easy enough when they are small and all can fit in their little seed trays under the lights, but they grow quickly. After that first transplant, it gets much harder.

I am planning to put hoops and a cover over the new raised bed, but I don't have that done yet. I tried to place it so that even during the rainy season I wouldn't have problems getting to it. I probably will just use construction plastic which should last the winter. If I don't have a greenhouse by the next winter, then I may consider buying greenhouse plastic to cover it.

See...there is always something else to want. Having said that, I am not a big spender on other things. I rarely buy clothes because I live in blue jeans. It would be a waste to have my nails done because they grow too fast. I don't like the way they do my hair in the beauty shop so I don't go unless I need a haircut. I don't smoke, gamble, or drink, so I am rather low maintenance (Lowe's excluded, plus a few seed sources).

It's interesting how conditions affect beans, and other plants. Until just recently my Tennessee Cutshorts (and most others) have been producing very small, stunted pods, if any thing at all. Only Cherokee Striped Cornhill has produced long pods. But then, that one didn't produce anything at all until a few weeks ago. Then, came the rain and some cooler weather. Those which survived the heat and drought have begun to rebound, but most still produce small pods.

On July 10 I started another cattle panel of Childers Cutshort. I had to nurse them along for a while. But now, they are producing well; and, the pods are normal 5" sized.

Jerreth and I have a system for support. We use cattle panels (supported horizontally on T posts) and individual poles for harvesting food crops. We grow on teepees for seed. That way, when someone goes out to pick, they know what can be picked and what can't.

George

Dawn, I built a poly hoophouse out of Schedule 80 grey pipe and covered it with gh plastic and used it for 3-4 years until a tornado pulled up one end and damaged it. Next I did the hoophouse with the cattle panels and used it for a season or two. It was really just useful from about April on for me because you can't really heat them successfully. They retain zero heat.

It was a wonderful place to winter over some pots of things and to take seedlings from under the lights to harden off outside.

When the plastic go too bad, I decided to try to grow on the frame and that is all I do now.

Glenda

George, I had the same results with Tenn. Cutshort. They were small and thin-skinned and went right to seed. But now that the weather is cooler and there's more rain, I'm getting longer, thicker beans from the same plants!

I knew it was a bad bean year when my Lazy Housewives didn't do any good. I was afraid I'd have to tear them out because it's been my experience they're not good fall beans. But they're growing long beautiful beans now. Hopefully fall will make up for the lost spring this year. Keep hope alive for a late frost! Unfortunately, some of my bean plants didn't make it through summer, so there'll be no yellow dragon tongue beans next year unless I buy seed.

I'm a cattle panel hoop convert. I'm thinking about putting up a couple more. I don't hook them together, I just install a hoop over the walk-way between two raised beds. I can plant along the side of the raised bed, pick from the walk-way and plant other stuff in the rest of the bed. I do find, though, that the beans being planted near the edge of the raised bed do dry out pretty quickly so I have to water them pretty often.

There are always those beans that I miss when I'm picking and then when I find them they've developed their seed. It's these that I save for seed, and eat the rest.

Dawn, I bought a really interesting little book at a garage sale a couple weekends ago. It has a really cute little greenhouse that I think might be workable for me, shown right on the front of the book! It's "How to Build Greenhouses - Walk-in - Window - Sun House - Garden Tool House by Donald R. Brann, Easi-Bild 811.

Carol, I'm a low-maintenance gal too. But I do have my extravagances -- kitchen gadgets and garden seed. LOL

Glenda, I tried extending the season last year by putting acrylic shower doors across the raised bed. We had romaine through most of December but it went to the dogs after that. I agree that what's most damaging is that cold wind.

Carol,

It is true that it never ends. I think my poor non-gardening husband thought for a long time that at some point we'd get to that point where all we do is just plant and harvest. Ha! The list of things I want/need/must have is long and I normally am not someone who wants a lot of stuff....unless it is gardening or cooking related. I'm low maintenance too. Tennis shoes, blue jeans, tee shirts, hats and gardening gloves. Well, and seeds and stuff. You know what I mean....

Tim does laugh at me, but he too buys me what I 'need', and even those things I 'want'. He even listens to me talking ad nauseum about gardening even though his gardening involvement tends to be limited to (a) rototilling soil to make new beds and such, (b) pounding 6' and 8' metal fence posts into the ground for me, since I'm only 5'3", (c) lifting heavy stuff like hay bales and bags of mulch, (d) eating the harvest.

I have a long list of wants including a greenhouse, a high tunnel, a cold frame, a hoophouse and cattle panel arches to grow things on. I really, really want a real root cellar, but don't know if that will happen unless we win the lottery (and we don't even play the lottery).

I'd be really low maintenance if it wasn't for the gardening addiction.

George, I really like the way you have your seed beans on an easily distinguishable support so nobody gets confused.

It is good you're seeing some rebound with the bean plants. Now if only the warm mild weather lasts a long time before cooling down!

Glenda, I overwinter a lot of plants in the garage because it is very well insulated and we are zone 7b. Last year (admittedly a warm winter here with only a few nights in the mid- to upper-teens) I overwintered my brugs in pots and had blooms all winter, but had to drag them outside every morning and inside every night.

I normally start seedlings inside on a homemade light shelf in the guest room. (The guest room really doesn't have any room for a guest!) It is upstairs though, and when I start carrying them outside to harden off, that's a lot of trips up and down the stairs. I also have a screened-in porch on the west side of the house. It has two real walls and two half real-walls with the top half of those walls being window screens. We cover the screens with greenhouse plastic in the winter and it is great during the day but cools off too much at night. If we ever take out the screened portion and put in real windows and turn it into a sunroom, it'd be a great place to raise seedlings in winter.

I've always wanted a hoophouse, but your comment that they don't hold heat backs up what I always "knew in my gut". That's why I haven't got a hoophouse already....I felt like it wouldn't hold heat very well. I have built temporary hoophouses using PVC pipe and 6 mm clear plastic to use as a season extender in early spring when a severe late cold spell threatened after plants were already transplanted into the ground OR in the fall to get past the first freeze and then have several weeks of Indian Summer left for growing.

Ilene, I need a book like that. : ) I don't know when we'll get around to building one, but one of these days we will. Before Tim joined the local volunteer fire dept. in 2004, we had all the time in the world to work on projects like that in the winter. Since then, not so much. He loves the fire dept. though, so I can't complain about the 'to do' list that he never quite gets around to doing.

Jay, It is all your fault. All of it. Cease and desist from posting photos of your cold frame and then I won't want one so much. : ) Of course, after you build your high tunnel or greenhouse (or both!) you must post photos of that. It'll give me one more thing to nag Tim about.

Dawn

I have had a high tunnel and I think they are worth having. Mine was only 10x13, but I put a lot in it. I have been reading a lot lately about greenhouses because I think one is in my future and I found this article very interesting.

I am planning a lean-to style attached to another building (not my house), but there are several things in this article that I believe to be good advice.

Carol, I like that linked article. I'm going to put this in my clippings.

Dawn