Gnome Good Morning GS! Hahah, I thought you might say that ) Well, guess I know what I will be shopping for next!! At least I'm not the only early bird.... are you really in Sweden??? wow!!
hahah LOL, guess that sounded like a dumb question!! hah.. I bet it's SOOO beautiful there though!! I've always wanted to go somewhere like that!! and yes, <sigh> I am really in Florida!! But, originally from Indiana Ok, ackkk, off to work I go (hi ho hi ho hi ho!!) See ya'll later!!
Good Morning Kandie, But of course you can grow Greasy Beans just as beautiful as these and maybe more so. They are about like young children that need to be shown the correct path to follow in life or they will just run wild and get tangled up. with a little tender loving care they both will have a very productive life span. In either case it takes a lot of time but well worth it. How high is your deck? The bean vines will climb 10 or more feet if you have the string for them with a good overhead support. Maybe you could post a few pictures of your yard and deck and we can figure out where would be the best. If you had just two rows (3)would be better between 30-40 long you should be able to get plenty of beans to eat fresh and as Gloria says have plenty to jar some up and last but also important have some left over to share with others that can not grow their own. The teepee might work if you can get inside to pick the beans. You need to be careful when picking the lower beans and not damage the main vines as it would effect the young beans higher up the vine. Yes the tunnels are a nice place to get away from ever day problems. You can often times go in one end of a tunnel stressed and pause a bit and the beans will try their best to hug you and believe me they are real friendly. When you go out the other end you will be refreshed. Do not worry because next spring you can have a Greasy Bean Hut that will be admired by all that pass by and some may beg you for seed. Hope you have had a pleasant day. G. Bean
I've got an idea.. maybe a gazebo type thing. 8 posts in an octagon shape, run string across the tops of the post joining each post back an forth. The beans grow and cover the entire thing.(leave a small door way) Then put a chair inside to sit and pick beans.
Hi Gloria, Keep them gears turning and cranking out the good ideas and by spring we will have a thick note book full of great plans. You can draw up the plans and a list of materials needed since your husband is a builder he could help you with the finer points. You might could build a tall swing set to go with your gazebo and put some beans on it and he might even have some extra pressure treated timbers left over from some of his jobs. I try to find used material instead of buying new stuff. It adds to the fun. Have a good evening. G.Bean
So that's the trick! A friendly Gnome to help my garden grow :-D I don't remember who posted the "Over the Hedge" comic strip but I loved it! Especially his pointed little head! That explains the pointy little hats :-D Deanna
Beans I posted this so all could see how big Greasy Bean can grow his beans but I put it in the wrong forum so I deleted it there and here it is...now that man can grow a bean!!
Greasy Bean, I posted your pic and you haven't stopped by to see it! Where are you today? Kandie, this is what you and a few others will be growing next spring if Greasy Bean has his way.
Morning Gloria, Thanks for posting the little bean picture. I may send you a couple of the Hibisous later for the folks. I have been having a bit of trouble with my ISP since Friday evening and computer has been locking up. Also have been picking beans for the neighbors to can. Had to dig about bushel of carrots so we can sow some more green seeds that Perdi sent me and will go good with the other greens. The half runner beans like in the picture are about finished for this season. We picked about 5 bushel from the two rows which is a good crop. We have put about a bushel of the greasy beans on string to dry. The leather britches are good as the canned and not near as much work. In case you are wondering what leather britches are just Google (leather britches) and it should bring up Mother Earth News and it will explain how to do it. They are really good and quick and easy to do. Beats standing over a hot stove for hours on end canning a 100 or so qts. Hope you all are having another wonderful day. G. Bean
Hi Greasy Bean, glad you're back. I think if I am lucky and make any amount of beans next year, I'd like to preserve both ways. Dry and jarred. Mostly dry cause I don't use a pressure pot to can as you know. Probably would take me forever to jar, huh? OK.. so the half runners and greasy beans are totally different, not the same type beans, right? The only runners I've ever planted were speckled butter beans. Fill me in. I found a half runner bean in seed rack in the heirloom section. Thinking of ordering some. Originated from Germany. Is this what you have? I'm going to google those leather britches now.
Hi Gloria, Well the two beans are in the same family group as they are both climbers and will cross with each other if grown in the same patch. That might be what happened to the ones in the picture. Since I did not intend to sell the beans to a super market it did not worry us if they did cross. The greasy bean does not have the fuzz like the half runner is why they are shiny. Most folks pick the half runners while the bean is small and are just cooking the pod. I like a big bean in mine. If I wanted to just eat something green I would fix me a mess of grass clippings because it would be the same thing and a lot less work. Yes, I think our half runners came over on the boat and when it arrived here was good but since then the big bean growers have bred the good out to where it is not the same bean. The greasy bean is not a certified seed so the big growers have not changed it around and is why no seed stores can sell it. I may order some more seed from a man who only grows the heirloom beans. He has a lot of the real old beans that have been passed down for several generations. He has been growing beans most of his life. I may have sent you his address. The first time I ordered from him we had several bad storms and the beans did not do well but it was not his fault. It takes longer to jar the beans if you do not use the pressure canner but the people managed before the pressure pot came on the market. The low acid foods need to reach 240 deg or better to help prevent spoiling. The hot water bath does work but it takes me longer to do a 100+ qts. No matter how we jar them up we do not have to worry about the chemicals that the big growers use because we do not have to use them. We just plant plenty and hope for the best. I will likely do another bushel or so the leather britches shortly. Hope the seed that I am fixing for you do good. I will do a sprout test on them to figure out how many you will have to plant to get a good crop. I will do the same thing with Kandie's seed. I want to get her out in the open so the beans can get plenty of sun light. Check with you later. G.Bean
GBean, I have Goggled leather britches and now I understand more. That is what I will do. I can not believe my Mom never told me or showed me any of this! I have the perfect place for drying the strings of beans. I'm a wizz at sewing so that's right up my alley. While I was Goggling, I found some more info on jarring with a pressure cooker so I think I will also take Mom up on the offer of the pressure canning pot. I'll get a new seal since it hasn't been used in the last ten years and that should do it. I'll be set for the greasy beans. Hope I ain't counting my chicks before they hatch!
