|
Post by macmex on Oct 13, 2021 15:30:38 GMT -6
Welcome, and thanks for sharing! I'll be getting some seed to you soon. I have beans which I like more, but I don't have a bean I can depend upon more than this one. Woods Mountain Crazy Bean is a must-grow-bean for us.
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Oct 13, 2021 16:59:56 GMT -6
Welcome Coloradogardener!
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Oct 13, 2021 23:15:24 GMT -6
Hahaha! This is so funny! This thread popped up and I started wondering how many of these seeds I had left. As it turns out, I have exactly 7 seeds of the original seeds Sherry had sent me. I didn’t grow them until A few years ago, I think it was 2018, I’m not sure on the year, but my seeds had pretty good germination rate. Most likely next year, I’ll try and plant half of those seeds. I always try and keep two or three back just in case. These seeds are not currently in the freezer, I took them out in March because I had planned to plant, then all the rain started and I put them up on a shelf.
|
|
|
Post by macmex on Nov 8, 2021 13:13:58 GMT -6
This gardening season has been tough for me as I've struggled just to get time to get out in the garden much of the time. Sweet potatoes have been a pick me up, for me, as I did get them planted and managed to irrigate in a timely manner. They produced too. I'm hoping to finish digging before it really freezes, but it's hard to get out there.
Beans are another pick me up at the end of a tough year. Some beans really come on strong when we start getting moisture and cooler temps in the fall. Some of the best eating varieties will ONLY set pods when it gets cooler. Woods Mountain Crazy Bean is not really one of these fall beans. It will produce pods when it's really hot. Yet it's obvious that this variety has a veritable explosion in production when it's getting cooler/colder. I always try to give this bean plenty of isolation distance, as it is so very unique. I even culled a plant or two, this year, because they started trying to climb like pole beans. I love pole beans but Woods Mountain Crazy Bean is meant to be a stocky bush. One of the advantages of this variety is that I can plant in wide rows and cover them with blankets when we have our first freezes. By doing this I have extended my bean picking season by a month, some years.
This year I planted Woods Mountain Crazy Bean way out at the farthest end of my main garden, giving them about 60' isolation distance from the nearest other variety of bean. Because it's so far out there, I have also missed picking it at times. It's been easier and faster to go to Cherokee Striped Cornhill, which is closer as well as being a pole bean. Cherokee Striped Cornhill just about qualifies as an official "fall bean," as it even hardly flowers when days are real hot. It, too, produces buckets of beans when nights are cool. So this year I've harvested more Cherokee Striped Cornhill than Woods Mountain Crazy Bean. It's not only less distance, but I can pick while standing up.
But lately I've made the time to get out to Woods Mountain and pick. Not only are there a ton of really good beans there, for our pantry but also I want to harvest seed. I've mentioned before: with this bean, it's best to pick mature pods, as they begin to fade, and finish drying them in the house for seed. If you live in an environment with less fall rain, then maybe you wouldn't need to do this, but in the Tahlequah area, once the fall rains start, things tend to get soggy and this bean's dry pods will get soaked, ruining a lot of seed. Picking while they're still green works better for me. And that entails PICKING beans of every stage while I gather my seed.
Here's a picture of what I've been finding when I go out there to pick beans. This is just one single plant.
I can fill a 1 1/2 gallon pail with pods, in moments, picking from only 4-6 plants. The plants are super thick and the pods are intermingled with the stems and leaves. No matter how intensely I pick, I can usually come back from an different angle and glean a good deal more.
Like I've said before: this bean doesn't have a cut off switch. With the rains and cooler temps, even bedraggled plants which barely survived our two month heat and drought, are reviving, producing beans and even more flowers!
Here's a photo of some of the pods which are mature enough to use for seed. Even so, they're also tender enough to cook and eat, if I should desire. Woods Mountain Crazy Bean is a true tender podded variety. Once strung, mature pods still make for succulent eating. But I try to save a lot of them for seed. For our climate I can think of no bean that even comes close to the dependability of this one.
Here's a photo of some of my oldest plants, which mainly dried up and died by now. Interspersed with them are seedlings from seed that dropped out of pods I missed.
Some missed pods look so pathetic that one is tempted to think they're not worth picking.
But if one takes the time, there's seed to be had.
I have Woods Mountain Crazy Bean seedlings volunteer every spring, from wherever patch I grew them the year before. Interestingly, some, when left to grow amidst the weeds, start climbing like pole beans. I'm not sure if this is triggered by conditions or if it's because of a cross. At any rate, when producing seed I will weed out plants which start vining. I don't mind a runner or two, but am convinced that this bean's true form is a stocky bush without runners.
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Jul 28, 2022 20:42:12 GMT -6
Aaack!!!!!! Last night while rummaging around my seeds, I came across the envelope Sherry Hill sent me years ago. Can anyone guess? I found a few seeds of Woods Mountain Crazy Bean. These are my last remaining original seeds. I put them into a damp paper towel and I just checked them. I didn’t need a bean project, but here it goes.
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Jul 28, 2022 20:44:29 GMT -6
I guess I gotta go buy more flower pots. I’m not taking a chance. Back in 2018, I sprouted a bunch in paper towels, planted them and something cut them down. I lost every bean!
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 28, 2022 21:20:27 GMT -6
Outstanding sprouting action! I don't blame you one bit, moose. Pot 'em up, better safe than sorry. Hope nothing cuts them off this time...
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 29, 2022 6:03:44 GMT -6
Boy we get attacked from all angles, don't we bon? Best of luck with your replacement Woods Crazy beans...
|
|
|
Post by macmex on Jul 29, 2022 6:16:43 GMT -6
Yes, make seed for next year! Jerreth and I put in a 22' wide row of these on the 24th. They should be popping up any time now.
|
|
|
Post by hedgeapple on Jul 29, 2022 6:51:13 GMT -6
Mine are popping up all over. 🤞
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Jul 29, 2022 23:02:52 GMT -6
I had 5 out of 7 germinate. These are the last of my seeds, so hopefully I’ll be successful.
|
|
|
Post by chrysanthemum on Jul 30, 2022 13:54:17 GMT -6
This bean was one of the first ones I read about on this site, and the recent discussions of it coupled with my entirely unsuccessful attempts to grow pole beans this spring made me decide to get a pack of seeds to give it a try this fall. My seeds arrived on Thursday afternoon, and I soaked 20 of them for a couple of hours. I had given the soil a good watering that morning, so I planted them in the evening and gave the row another good soaking. They’ve been getting watered morning and evening since then, and I’m not so patiently waiting for the first signs of sprouts. I had seen photos of the beans on this site before, but I hadn’t really been sure of the range of colors. Mine were shades of beige or tan with brown markings. The photo above is the beans I have left after planting. I don’t like to use a whole pack at one go in case conditions just don’t work for that particular planting. I like to be able to try again.
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 30, 2022 16:51:21 GMT -6
Cool! Thanks for the photo of the package, Chrysanthemum. I've got some ordered, along with a bunch of other seeds from Sandhill. I may plant a few in a bag for this fall, then plant lots of them at the garden next year. Hopefully these will be a good performer, bush beans have done good here in the past.
I've never had much luck, other than bad luck, with pole beans. With the exception of Rattlesnake. I definitely plan to work to change that next year. Best of luck with your beans!
|
|
|
Post by hmoosek on Jul 31, 2022 14:41:35 GMT -6
Here we go. Starting to peep!
|
|
|
Post by woodeye on Jul 31, 2022 15:02:17 GMT -6
Nice!!
But it brings to mind that I forgot to stamp RUSH on the order that I sent in a few days ago...
|
|