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Post by hmoosek on Nov 9, 2022 19:26:03 GMT -6
chrysanthemumI have been wondering what to do about this bean as well. I’ve always waited till at least they got to the soft leather like stage before pulling. Let me show you an example of a big boy pea I pulled in the “green” stage. It was plump and fully filled out, but after letting it dry and then shelling, the seeds looked awful. The row at the top is how they look when letting them dry on the vine. Bottom row was pulled “Green.” This is why I’m hesitant about pulling my WMCB.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 9, 2022 20:04:29 GMT -6
Thank you for the response and that picture, hmoosek. That definitely gives me pause. I just checked the weather forecast, and it says we have an 89% chance of thunderstorms on Friday. We so badly need the rain, and it’s just what we’ve been praying for. I’m wondering if maybe I can just put a kitchen trash bag over the tomato cage or something for this particular plant. I just don’t want to lose the seed by letting it get wet, but I’m not sure that I should harvest it yet.
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Post by hmoosek on Nov 9, 2022 20:33:33 GMT -6
This is new territory for me chrysanthemum. I’m hoping one of the more knowledgeable folks will guide us. I’ve been saving seed a long time, but I’ve never tried pulling them before they started to dry down.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 10, 2022 19:05:15 GMT -6
Well, I decided to pick beans today. I gathered some to put in the refrigerator to be cooked later, and I pulled the ones off my seed plant that looked full and had started showing more color change. They look pretty green to me in the picture, but when I was picking them, there was a clear difference between these and the ones that I left on the plant. I hope these will dry down okay inside. I sure hope that the thunderstorms they’re predicting for tomorrow morning do indeed materialize.
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Post by woodeye on Nov 10, 2022 21:51:09 GMT -6
Nice Pick! chrysanthemum.
I decided to move the WMCB's 15 gallon grow bag into the garage today rather than leave them outside and cover them for freezing temps. It will get some light through the window in the door and I'll monitor it, then add lighting if necessary. It's close to the washer and dryer and I never let it freeze out there. If there is a blizzard and the power is off, they won't make it, but if the power is off for an extended period of time, they wouldn't make it out in the yard either...
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Post by rdback on Nov 11, 2022 9:26:34 GMT -6
Sorry for my tardy response chrysanthemum. I've been tied up with some family matters.
Since you've already picked your pods, it's a little late to give advice, but it might be helpful in the future.
Now this is only how I do it, other folks have their own ways and are very successful at it.
If at all possible, I let the pod dry down completely on the vine. All the way to brittle stage. Then I pick them. Also, I take my time shelling them - kinda like by next Spring. No need to hurry, and it let's the beans cure faster and more thoroughly. By leaving the seed in the dry husk, the husk itself pulls moisture out of the seed. If you shell the bean immediately, all you have working for you is the air. Air-drying works too, but it actually can take longer.
Now, if you can't wait until completely dry to pick, try to get them to the "leathery" stage. By that I mean the husk is soft and pliable. You can "bend" the bean easily. The seeds inside are fully developed, but still soft. By the way, there are some bean varieties that are best shelled and eaten at this stage. Some folks call them "full" beans. Anyway, just keep the pods away from moisture and let them dry down naturally. But, keep an eye on them. If they start looking slimy or start to mold, shell the seeds out right away. Then let them continue to air dry. Quite a few (most?) of these seeds should be viable for growing.
Now, looking at your photo above of your "seed" pods, I think there's some there that might be ok. Mainly the lighter colored ones to the left. The more you move to the right, the chances of good seed might be less, but who knows? They all might just turn out fine. In the meantime, I'm focusing on the plate to the left - Dinner!
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Post by macmex on Nov 11, 2022 12:17:09 GMT -6
Hopefully you'll get some good seed Chrysanthemum, I normally harvest Woods Mountain Crazy Bean seed while picking pods to eat. I just take the ones that have started to fade in color for seed, setting them on a try to finish drying. In my environment, when I leave this one on the plant, waiting for the pods to finish drying down, they often get water damaged and lose their seed before I can get it. Pods which are good for eating and pods which are good for seed (with this variety) overlap. The ones which are good for seed are often still fine for eating... but I save them instead.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 11, 2022 19:54:59 GMT -6
Thanks for the replies, @rdback and macmex . I was really hesitant to pick them early, but I used macmex’s earlier photo (way back in this thread, perhaps as early as page 1) as a guide. My beans definitely showed color change that doesn’t show so well in the picture. The ones on the left I’m not sure I would go so far as to call leathery, but they’ve released the beans, so to speak, in that the beans aren’t wrapped so tightly in the pods. The ones on the right are more snug, but I have the advantage of living in a very dry climate, so things do dry well inside for me. I’ll be keeping an eye on them. It turns out that all the forecast rain bypassed us today, so I didn’t even need to pick the pods. At least I’ll be keeping them out of the cold.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 12, 2022 17:07:30 GMT -6
I was a little nervous about how all my garden plants were going to handle the sudden change from warm to cold with blustery north winds to boot, but I have to say that I’m impressed so far. I had to give everything a good watering today, so I was in the garden for a long time. The beans in particular just didn’t even look phased in the slightest by the abrupt weather change. It won’t be too warm in the coming weeks, but I don’t think we’re expecting a frost either, so hopefully I’ll keep having some production. I picked another handful of beans this afternoon to add to the plate’s worth pictured above. Our plan for dinner is biscuits and gravy, so I’ll sauté the beans for a side dish.
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Post by woodeye on Nov 12, 2022 18:15:46 GMT -6
My WMCB's seem to like the west side of my garage, they don't seem to be suffering at all. It's 51° out there right now, but I'm supposed to have a low of 24° outside tonight. It will dip down to about 40° in their new nursery, but they probably won't mind. I have a heater on standby if it gets much lower than that. chrysanthemum, I looked at your morning low for tomorrow morning on the Weather Channel weather guessers site and it has a low of 32° for you tonight. Yikes!
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Post by hmoosek on Nov 12, 2022 21:05:22 GMT -6
31 for me woodeye. I was able to get the WMCB inside, but had to leave everything else outside. I did manage to cover the two bean outside plants with cardboard.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 12, 2022 21:54:24 GMT -6
You’re right, woodeye, the forecast low is now 32 on several different sites. I’m not able to protect anything at this point, so we’ll just have to see what happens. I hope it will be a couple degrees warmer than predicted.
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Post by woodeye on Nov 12, 2022 22:07:35 GMT -6
hmoosek & chrysanthemum, best of luck, I hope the forecasts are wrong by a few degrees and your plants are spared.
A few weeks ago I had a freeze warning, so I covered the WMCB's, but it didn't get as cold as predicted. My elm tree leaves didn't even get frosted. Hopefully the same will happen for you folks...
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Post by hmoosek on Nov 12, 2022 22:18:51 GMT -6
Its dropping pretty quick. It was 40 a few minutes ago and now its 38. Its a clear, calm night, so you know the temps are going to drop. The weatherman says a low of 30 and possibly a degree or so less in rural areas. I bees rural alright. Hahahaaa. Some days your the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 14, 2022 16:03:40 GMT -6
Thankfully even though we did drop to 32 Saturday night/Sunday morning, my WMCB are looking good this afternoon. I don’t know how well the beans will grow with cool days and cold nights, but at least they have some chance for more production still. I’ve been checking the beans I gathered for seed, and they seem to be drying down fine. All the ones that were snug in their pods earlier have been released, and the ones that were already starting to dry are definitely continuing that process. We’re at about 35 percent humidity inside, and during the winter we often use a humidifier if things get too dry. We’re not at that level of dryness yet, but we are having good conditions for drying bean pods, it seems.
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