haha, yes, but then harvesting becomes a challenge if you have to use a pick axe to get them out of the ground. we've had a little rain this past week, but are still about 35-50cm behind normal. the ground is rock hard in any locations that i've not amended or heavily mulched. that means that my two week project is stretching way long and it doesn't matter because all the other projects are in that same soil so until we get some rains... the weather set records for most of the week before this one we were up into the 32+C which is very hot for this late in the season. if we can get another few weeks without frosts i may even get another crop of lima beans. the rest of the beans are mostly empty pods. it's not been a great year for them. i do have a harvest, but small, about 1/3 of what it would be for a normal season. one good thing about planting so many different varieties is that some manage to produce no matter what. i picked dry pods yesterday so as to beat any rains that are in the forecast. more coming along but not too many left now. some fun new crosses have shown up including a few that i've been aiming for (by repeatedly planting blocks of certain varieties next to each other). will take several years to see how they work out. tomatoes and peppers did well enough. i just picked another 18L bucket's worth of red peppers. not many left now out there. i've been eating and giving away quite a few. will have to roast some more. my current project is about 2/3 done (renovating the first strawberry patch). of course it has turned into yet another project (filling in an area next to where the lima beans are growing) -- but that is ok as i do need a space to move the extra subsoil and it is about 1/5th the distance and effort of where i was moving the stuff before (but that is all full now). pictures eventually... peace...
ok a few pictures of some bean crosses that have shown up that will be interesting to see what happens as i try to grow them out in the coming years. Pink Pinto from two of my most reliable beans (Red Ryder and Pinto). and another cross (Red Ryder and a selection of the tan Goats Eye beans from a blend called Peregion). the pattern on these is hard to see unless you scan them in direct sunlight. i may have some in the red beans from previous years and not even noticed them. so the next time i have a chance to go back and scan what i have on hand i'll see if i can find some more to try growing further. Red Goats Eye my garden project turned into three or four more projects, but i'm getting there... hope to finish at least the digging and transplanting tomorrow before forecast rains show up... we'll see... cheers
You have inspired me this year to grow more beans. I have my Great white northern beans that come up every year, now. I grow these for drying and love them in my winter soups and casseroles. I have had sprout before sowing some of the others cos its been a couple of years since I grew them. Luckily most of them have sprouted. the painted lady, Purple king, Carols' heirloom purple and black turtle beans. i'm still waiting to see if my cannelinni, roquefords, top crop,Jackson wonder (lima type) and king of the blues are still viable. One of the problems I had with the chook dome was that thins didnt self sow but i'm not sure if that was because the chooks scratched and dug everything too deep or that the mulch I added buried everything too deep to grow back.
there are so many different kinds of beans. i don't grow many white beans because we grew up eating mostly just a few types. i now grow so many kinds that i doubt i will ever have enough time in my life to eat all of them after getting them to grow out. and i'm finding a new network of bean people to trade even more with. and then i'm also cross breeding and having new ones show up each year. so it will be a fun continuing project... fun link: https://www.abeancollectorswindow.com/ what i have found so far is that most beans do have a distinct flavor and that in combination with the texture and different growing habits makes things fun. i'm trying to focus on just the bush beans and a few of the other smaller stature plants. not that i won't keep some growing on the fence but i don't have a lot of space like that. plus we really like the bush lima beans so i'll keep growing those too. my harvest wasn't all that great this year. will survive, but hope for a better year next time around. will keep going no matter what anyways. i am still having too much fun. i wouldn't worry about germination problems if you haven't been storing them in a high heat/direct sunlight type of location. i do try to grow some of each in my collection every year to refresh the seed supply, but overall i'm not finding problems with them other than the animals which want to eat them as they sprout (certain ones seem more noticed than others) and of course, the trouble with weather which every gardener has to work around. in other news... my strawberry garden project was finished and i did take pictures: https://www.anthive.com/project/tasks/ the next year or two i'll redo the other part and level that out too. i don't like having to climb and walk on that mound for picking. there's a lot of goodies buried under there that should be ready. i'm finishing up the gardens as i can. we went from drought to too much rain in about a week's time. it has been raining quite a bit since. i have odds and ends now to do up until the ground freezes and even after that i can get out and trim bushes/trees back. a major recent task was trying to get the back fence put back up or fixed to keep the easy deer access problem down. they had trampled through a fence that was overgrown with wild grape vines. we had some old fencing that was donated but hadn't put up yet. of course a simple project becomes more than that, cutting out the wild grape vines. dealing with a groundhod den, cutting down a large honeysuckle bush that i'd wanted to get out of the ditch for the past ten years. etc. my shoulder was hurting from digging, i pulled it somehow and am trying to take it easy so it can heal up before i make it worse. having that happen before a project where i'm going to be sawing and lopping branches and having to put up the gardens wasn't the best, but i think i'm getting through it ok.... as i keep telling myself "that which doesn't kill me... hasn't been trying hard enough..." i'm still taking a break for the beginning of this week because we've had so much more rains the ground is mud. i'll do some light stuff, but nothing too major. we also had the roof chimney reflashed to try to take care of the intermittent leak that has been going on for six years since we had the roof replaced. with a lot of rain through this past weekend the leak is still there so we'll call them back Monday and hope they can get it taken care of... no rain due this week, but it is deer hunting season and coming up on the Thanksgiving holiday so, we'll see... otherwise, reading books, sorting beans a little, i'll get back to it once i'm stuck inside more, and some music editing, a short trip away, well, pretty much life as usual is keeping me busy enough. i sure don't ever feel like there is a shortage of things to do...
ok, new website page up (me going on about one of the gardens): https://www.anthive.com/project/ne_garden/ probably still needs some editing and final polish, but at least i finally got something done. cold and some snow here (for all you peoples in the southern hemisphere or in the tropics). an earlier start to the hard freezes and cold spells than the past few years. that is ok with me i needed a break, but at least i was able to get about 1/3rd of the above garden gone through and always good to be able to see how the soil has changed over the past 6 years back there...
snow pics for all you south pole people to see and feel a little cooler. https://www.anthive.com/project/decorations/
(yesterday) going through and selecting beans for planting next season... took a few pictures. the first Yellow Eye selections are done. these are all from the Yellow Eye harvest from a cross which finished earlier than the rest. i'm not sure if they finished earlier because of the drought or what, but it will be interesting to see how these selections do this coming season. i divided the harvest into four selections: Regular (little to no speckling - regular shape): Large Speckled: Flat Speckled: Round Speckled: more verbiage on webpage (at the bottom): https://www.anthive.com/project/beans/ (today) selected four others for pictures... [for scale the E on the board is 1cm long] Yellow Soldier White End Pinto Red White White Black Small
where oh where has everyone gone? seems very quiet here lately... i miss you all! ok, recent news, more pictures in the bean page... i had some sunlight the other day and these pictures pick up some of the hints i'm trying to capture, but still not showing what i see. and i like pictures of beans... you can see the hints of red along the edges and at the ends. wish you all could see these in person they are so purty... again you can see the hints of yellow, it is a very bright yellow. it will be interesting to see how far i can select for this to strengthen the color. the lavender color faded on most of the beans, but for some reason these selected ones didn't fade as much. i've never seen this light olive on anything i've grown before. i just like the patterns and colors of these. in other news, finally got new PC parts on order. i've been talking about it for years. finally did it. now just have to wait for delivery and then have fun putting together and moving stuff over and all the testing and changes. a good mid-winter project. otherwise, things going well, snow, cold, some sunshine here or there. pretty much normal. hope you are doing well.
new PC up and running. last parts got here Tues afternoon. very nice to finally be in the modern era. as far as permaculture goes, it is a low power CPU, one very tiny fan on the CPU which i will eventually replace with a heat sink and no fan at all. the power supply is fanless. some day i'll have to get a power meter and see what it draws, but shouldn't be much at all. maybe 50-80 watts including the monitor and backup disk drive when it is spinning. when playing music might be a bit more but not sure how much that adds. most of the time when i'm not playing music it shuts down that part of the system anyways (the main house stereo is a much bigger beast). my old machine was very loud and well overdue for being replaced. Mom will be very happy when i finally get rid of some of these piles of old computer parts. now i have some projects still to get wrapped up before the conversion is completed, but it has gone pretty well. *whew* while waiting for computer parts i did some sorting on the beans. took a few pictures when the sun was out. then with still a ways to go until i can get back to it i left it where i was, boxed up the sorting cups and put them away: been a bit too warm here (above freezing some days).
new computer is up and running well. spinning off plenty of projects so i'm busy with those too. sorting through old stuff to recycle or shred for worm food. the past few weeks have also involved possible jury duty. which i've never been through before. yesterday almost selected for a small jury but was one person away from the cut off and thus sent home with half a day's pay. today i find out they don't need me the rest of the week - i am done for this summons and have no idea if i will be called again sometime - supposedly all up to random chance. recent pics... i am glad the colder weather and snow has returned. it is too early for spring...
the weather is gradually turning, still cold at night (below freezing), but the daytime temperatures are finally getting warm enough we can get outside to do some gardening things and get ready for the coming growing season. it is still several weeks too early for most things. we usually don't plant warm weather crops until the end of May. some others we can do a few weeks before that. *being patient* ...
the early flowers are finally starting to show up. we've had a lot of sun the past few weeks even with the night time temperatures well below freezing some have decided to arrive.
I envy you with such dramatic seasons. Snow looks so beautiful and peaceful...but I just know its cold too.....brrrr Isnt it amazing that you can have so many different varieties of beans. They taste similar but they look so different. I have kept up with my Great white Northern beans but have added a Lima bean type, a Pean and black turtle beans. I thought I had done quite well til I saw your lot again. Still, I've got the makings of dinner for over the winter drying quite nicely. I am so looking forward to winter, I've had it with our overly hot summer. Cant wait to be cool. i've decided not to work the winter season this year so I can actually get to have a sort of holiday for a change.
yes, cold. a few nights ago it was -6C. we are now getting some sorely needed rain. without snow cover the ground gets so dry and we've not had snow or rains for several weeks. i managed to get ouside for a little while yesterday and finished getting the remains of last year's climbing beans off the fence so it is ready for this coming season. was a bit too cold and windy to do much else. one thing about living here in the middle of open fields is that the winds can get pretty brisk. we have the cedar trees now big enough to provide a lot of protection, but out back in some places it is still pretty open (and i want to keep it that way so we get the full sun). as for beans. while they may taste similar to each other they are distinct flavors and textures for many of them. when i cook them i just boil at a very low simmer in water. i only add spices/toppings after i've sampled them for ones which are new to me. when used with other things i'm usually using one of my bulk beans so i'm already familiar with their taste and texture. i've found some really nice small beans which stand up well to cooking for hours at a time. they are great in chili and add a more hearty and chewy texture. it takes time to shell them out and sort but i like that part of the process anyways, especially in the depths of winter when not much else is going on. so far i'd say there are easily 50 different kinds of flavors/textures in what i have been growing here and perhaps more that i've not had a chance to grow out enough yet to cook some up. then there are those that i like to eat fresh or at the shelly stage. which are whole other layers of complexities and factors to evaluate along with their growth habits, colors of flowers and pods and disease resistances. if you ever need to find other varieties let me know i may have contacts in NZ already. for me the shelling and sorting when they are dry is like picking stones off a beach, it appeals to my tactile and visual OCD type things. if i need something to do in the middle of winter like that i'll sort beans again because they do change colors as they age. some i find that i've put in some groups no longer really belong there... to grow all these selections out, i'd need a lot more acres and more minions.
groundhog duty the past few weeks. i plugged some holes up last fall and was hoping that would be the end of it, but they have returned this spring and are trying to get back in there. so i've had to pound some stakes in and pile rocks on the area to keep them out. i really don't want a groundhog den only a few feet from the fenced garden area... one reason a garden should be in zone 1 is that you are more active there and can keep a better eye on things and defend it. we've essentially got our main vegetable gardens out in zone 2 or 3 and the fence isn't good enough to keep all creatures out which need excluding. snow and rain forecast today/this week. still well below freezing some nights. spring is gradually coming, but this year the temperatures are well below average to start. in good news, i hope i've found someone to knock down the brush in the back part of the lot. i was going to do it all by hand gradually, but that kind of time is hard to find during the growing season. for a price but if it saves me 80hrs of work back there it will be well worth it and i can keep my efforts aimed at the front part here with all the gardens and the other projects. hope it works out...
we've gone from frosts overnight to 27C in two days. i'm not sure yet we are done with frosts, we still don't plant any warm weather crops until towards the end of this month anyways. cucumbers we may try to get in earlier. maybe some peas and onion seeds will get planted... lacking rain. finally started a light rain last night and this morning and is well appreciated. projects stacking up as usual and more compressed because of the extended cold, but that is ok, it's good to be moving and busy again. was pushing to finish the edges of one garden i started expanding and cleaning up last fall, it was the other part of the first strawberry patch redo where i had lima beans growing in a single row. the rest was covered and pretty much wasted space that i still had to keep weeded. i tell myself if i'm going to weed a garden i'd like to get something from it so i took out all the covering mulch and black plastic and moved the subsoil from the strawberries in there to fill it in some more and raise it up a bit more. some of the rotting wood chip mulch was left behind to help the soil out and that was where i was stuck for the winter months. this past week we got the borders set up and moved rocks (we do that a lot around here ) to hold things down. using some strange material from my brother's warehouse he was trying to clear out. we hauled it last summer/fall and left it near where i was going to use it until i could get back to it this spring. remind me to put my glasses on when taking pictures, i didn't notice the edge had fallen over until i was editing picture this morning. lol also took a few flower pics while i was out there... bee and flower beetle and flower in other news, beekeeper finally put hives out back again. he did put them further back from where they were but he still is blocking our access through that side. luckily the other neighbors are good people and didn't mind when the guy with the brushhog and then a bit later he got out his backhoe to clear the back field. that has probably saved me a a huge amount of manual work and he did it in a few hours time. many of the bushes in there were thorn bushes and it would have been quite a bit of bloodletting to get in there and cut them all out by hand. he also managed to get some of the bushes and trees from along the edge of the large drainage ditch so that also saves me a lot of work this season... which is probably a good thing...
well, so much has been happening since i last updated here: the garden shed did get finished: at a great cost to me. while putting up all that glue, tile and grout i severely pulled a tendon in my arm. almost my entire summer i've been gardening at very limited capacity. the garden shed is not a garden shed any longer. the new tile looked so nice that we decided to not drill holes through it or put up new shelving and instead moved all of Mom's fabric supplies for her quilting into there and then cleaned out the garage and put up places for the garden tools and supples there instead. best idea i've had in a long time. no more mices or bees can get into the walls through that shed and the garage also looks much nicer too. eventually i sold my car. a big weight off my shoulders. it was getting to the point where it would have needed a lot of things done to it and the mice kept getting in it. the guy i sold it to was mechanic enough that he had no trouble wanting it when it started right up. he didn't care about anything else as he'd be able to fix most of it himself. that's also a major expense for the insurance i no longer have. simplification is continuing. i'm liking it. by weight and volume this means i got rid of about 50% of my material possessions, but by expense about 98%. i did need some glasses fixed and so that is where some of the $ went... nice to have that all taken care of at last... in garden news, slowly getting this weeded through: we had a vacation last week for a few days, my sister was in town from out west visiting and we had a great time, but right before she was due to arrive i managed to pull my achilles tendon. weeding of all things. something i've done thousands of times before. same method, same muscles as usual, don't know what i did, but sure hope i don't do that again. my fencing project is on hold until my arm and leg get well enough. also the NE Garden has been left where i stopped planting the beans (about 1/10th of what i was hoping for back there, but i just couldn't get it done). so one day, knowing that Mom hated how it looked back there with all those weeds i got out the mower and was able to knock it all back. that didn't involve any twisting of my arm. so now we've just kept mowing it until i can get back to it (next year i hope). the same with cleaning up all those rotting pallets that are caving in... and the fence and taking care of the River Nile erosion gully that is forming at the end... all things i need to get done eventually but none of them emergencies. the gardens themselves are doing well this season. we've had a recent dry spell the past several weeks and then the last week it has rained about 25cm. earlier in the season we had one of these: the recent rains haven't been that heavy all at once to where we've flash flooded, but i've been worried about the dry bean harvest. yesterday i was able to get out and pick some of them and i hope to make a good dent in them today and tomorrow now that the weather has cooled off. tomatoes coming in lately, put up about 40L of tomato chunks last Sunday and will have plenty more to do in a few days. we gave an 8L bucket of Roma's to the neighbor out back and will have plenty more of those too... cucumber season was great here: we did about 95L of dill pickles and then i asked if we could pull out the plants since we didn't need any more. 13 8L buckets later we finally did get the plants pulled out. the red pepper patch was hail damaged and many of the peppers were spoiled by that. i did have a few meals from the patch, but i wasn't all that happy with the flavor of the peppers. i had so many still in the freezer from last year that it wasn't a hard decision on my part to pull those plants and let the worms feast on them. next year i'll go back to the red peppers i know i like or try some other varieties. so the main tasks for the next few weeks will be to keep chipping away at whatever projects i can get done, finishing up the tomato harvest, getting the dry beans kept up with as they finish, any weeding i can do and trying to avoid further injuries.
Beautiful job on the tiling!! I expected you to say....its not just a garden shed now, its my shower room. hehe Mate!!! tendons needs rest, you arent doing yourself any favours by pushing yourself like this. I've had to slow down due to straining tendons in a finger, of all things. Patience isnt one of my virtues, but I dont have too much of a choice right now. That is still a serious amount of rain, going by your pics. What are those poor plants that are just about under water?
Great to see your bean growing - we are doing more here too in a hope to provide more of the dry goods with chick peas and beans added to the mandalas to extend our range and reduce our reliance on the supply chain. We could sure use a bit of that flooding rain here in the Hunter Valley.
there's no water and no heat in that space so it would be a lot of work to get fixed for that. also, no air vents or electricity. i'm quite happy to have it as very mouse and bee proof extra storage. this house is pretty small and lacking for storage space... too bad i can't use it as a cellar or pantry, but it isn't insulated space and it gets very very hot with the morning sun. ok, other topic, tendons, yes, they do need time to heal. my arm is going along much more slowly than my leg, but the past week i've been able to get all the bean gardens gone through and have started to get more shelling done. sometimes my leg hurts more but it is healing a lot faster. i don't think i pulled it as bad as my arm. the rains have not let up much at all and the next week continues in that trend. last month we had 4x normal precipitation and are about at normal for the month already and it's just the 3rd day. the ground is saturated. i'm not doing any weeding or digging or picking for the next few days. i do need a break and rest for my leg, plus i have a lot of beans to sort out and shell. the plants in the water are beans. they've done pretty well this year in that garden even in spite of being flooded out - in fact that garden has taught me that some of my varieties of beans don't do very well in other gardens due to the soil being very very poor (which i know already, but i didn't know it made that huge amount of difference it does). a few of the varieties grown in that garden have produced very nice beans this season... now i have to figure out how to get the same decent soil in all my gardens. a long process when i don't have an easy way to bring in materials or the $ to do it... ah, well, the season is progressing for sure... we did about 24L of tomatoes last night after i picked beans all day. my leg is going to appreciate a day or two off...