Thank you for your dedication. I used to watch all your videos, but it's been four years since I moved away from my garden and into the city. I will have a piece of land again so that I can continue my own projects. Your way of speaking about your work is that of a professional. You observe more than you explain and these careful observations are wrapped in a humble hypothesis which can guide the experiment for the next growing season. Fantastic. I wish you all the best up in Ireland. Corey
In the last couple of years ive been selecting runner beans for overwintering outside in North Devon. I started by collecting seed from as many varieties as i could which had produced seed in the garden i work. These were then direct sown outside alongside a section of deer fence in essentialy pathway soil. Of those 60 odd seeds which were sown,several overwintered, and ive saved seed from those, aiming to do a bi-yearly seed save, sowing one year and saving from those which survive and produce the earliest seed the next.
The best so far, far outperforming the rest, has been a white bean with syrong green mottling. Unfortunately i do not share your skill in record keeping, and the origional cultivars are lost to time, but id imagine being the 3rd generation there may have been some muddling of DNA. If i do manage to ID the seed ill let you know. Coiincidently, by direct sowing, i hope i might be selecting for slug resistance, as thats normally been the restricting factor for me!
I've also seen the quality of my beans diminish after 2-3 harvests. I leave the not so tasty pods to mature and harvest those as dry beans. It is so amazing how much food one little bean can produce.
I have noticed the same diminishing quality. I wish I could get those later beans to mature and dry properly in our climate, as that would be a good option.
Hello Bruce. Many thanks for the mention. I had a much better harvest this year. I couldn’t pay much attention to the beans and let them go pretty wild and I deliberately planted them closer together. I did notice more beans per truss but as you say not perfect so maybe that’s just one of those annual variables we can’t really have much effect with on. We certainly have more chopped and in the freezer this year than last year but because of the very wet colder August here not many went to seed, perhaps by splitting the crop and hosting some inside a poly tunnel we can fix that. Looking forward to next year where maybe I can do more experimenting. I must try to keep some alive over winter!
It was nice to take your suggestion and run with it, and even though it didn't seem to make a huge difference to the number of flowers becoming pods, it did open up an interesting approach to limit these plants that I had always considered long season plants. And I do think pruning will really improve growing for dried seed, so looking forward to exploring that next year. B
I've only grown runner beans for 2 seasons. I noticed that there were only a few pods for each group of flowers. I thought the birds were eating the flowers/small pods, but after watching this, it may just be that it is normal for them to grow this way. Very interesting.
@@beateschluter664 That kind of heat might explain the lack of pod development in the polytunnels, but the same thing happens in the outside gardens, and we rarely get temperatures that high. I might be something that happens for a few different reasons, or simply that the plants can only support so many pods.
I have a couple of the small retail pallet collars in the backgarden one I grow runnerbeans in every year. I plant them quite close and only pinch out the tops once they get to the top of the canes. I dig a small trench in the middle of the bed and this I fill with kitchen green waste and any garden clippings. At the end of the season I incorporate all of the tops back in to the soil. We have a bountiful harvest and for a family of 4 who like runnerbeans there is enough to eat and we end freezing and blanching some.
As excited as I am for *this* video.... OOOOOOH, PUPKINS IN THE BACKGROUND! 😍 Interesting to see your ideas about growing beans for drying. I keep trying to save seeds from my sweet peas, and I've always read that increased cutting produces more flowers. Which is great and the main reason I grow sweet peas. But I've had little luck saving my own seed because the pods get moldy before the peas develop. I'll have to give this more thought next year. Cheers Bruce!
Here in Northern California I grow a variety of runner beans for its huge white beans "Moldovanesti Buffalo". Completely delicious as a shelly bean or as a dry bean. I have not tried them in the pod format, but perhaps i should. They do come back, although not always, so I always replant a few. I love the perennial quality, delicious white starchy beans like Greek Gigante beans. They don't have to be completely dry to eat, in fact they cook up faster if not completely dry, but here in California dry is not so hard to accomplish.
Yeah, they can be a delicious bean, and would love to try other varieties. And I also like the partially dried ones, which are available for a longer time in Ireland! 😁
I had this issue too. This was my first year (successfully) growing scarlet runners, but I got a very low yield. I planted them too close together and gave them too small a trellis, because I didn't expect them to work. They did grow to maturity, and produced a lot of red flowers, but very few bean pods. I will have to try trimming them next year if I see them putting out too much green growth.
Such an ineresting you tube, as are yours on beetroot, pepper etc varieties. I've been gowing runner beans in eastern Canada from some brought over more than 50 years ago from England One year some droppped seed overwintered and grew which is extraordinary as our temperatures can go to -10C to -20 C in winter. I've tried runners as dried beans but prefer the taste of kidney beans actually I think runner beans taste better in the pod stage. Hummingbirds like them. They make a wonderful screen/hedge.
That is impressive that they would survive the winter! I wonder if the different varieties of runner beans have significantly different tastes as a dried seed.
Bruce, thanks for sharing your data and observations. It help me a lot to improve or try changes in my garden. If one day you come to Turkey, let me know to see if we can meet. Regards, Jaime, Un Latino en Turquìa
I tend to cut half of my beans down to 4 foot from the ground at the end of July, they make some side shoots which then produce nice beans by late August, The ones I didn't cut by then slow down production and the beans are not so good so I let them just produce seed. Thanks for your informative video.
Do you have a video on harvesting beans (dried and fresh) and how you store them? And how do you determine the best beans to save for seeds? Is there a trick to get beans to dry on the plant in damp conditions? Mine tend to go moldy before they dry so there isn't usually much of a harvest late in the season. Storing the roots over winter is also super interesting and I would love to hear more about that.
The mite problem can be sorted through natural means you can buy predator mites from invert shops for bio active setups they actively hunt all other mites
Excellent another video to enjoy... curious to know which system of mathematics you use to plant...do you follow the moon or the sidreal chart. Love your work sir
Regarding why not all flowers develop into pods: I've read that runner beans, specially the variety "Feuerbohne"* is also grown as an ornamental plant. Maybe it's worth checking whether there are varieties that are exclusively selected for beans and not their ornamental value. (If you already did and mentioned it in the other video - please ignore) * literal translation is "Fire Bean", red flowers and purple black speckled seeds. The seed package I got at a local store even mentions their ornamental value and abundance of flowers.
Yeah, apparently it was originally developed as an ornamental, and it is a beautiful plant when in flower. The varieties I use are bred for pod production.
I have never thought about over-wintering runner bean plants. In your video, I think you say you over-wintered them by planting them in the polytunnel where they stayed for the following season. Did you have to give the plants any extra frost protection at all or did they come through the winter unaffected by the cold? I don't have a polytunnel but as it's effectively just roots that are being overwintered, I'm guessing I could over-winter them in a frost-free garage in a pot but the issue would be giving them light and frost protection when the shoots emerge in the spring. Do you have any thoughts on this based on your experience?
I didn't give them any additional protection in the polytunnel, but if I was overwintering them outside in the ground, I would probably cover them with straw or something to keep the frost out, and then make sure to uncover them in the spring.
I never knew beans were perennials so thanks for that. My green runners (the round type) are in the PT still, do you think they'll overwinter kept in the ground in there (similar kind of weather to you)?
@@REDGardens Thanks, i'll give it a go. Hope you're managing to stay out of the rain btw, it's terrible at the moment, I don't think it's stopped raining here for 4 days now. I saw that many farmers in the UK and Ireland have got crops still in the fields as they can't get on there to harvest them. One business over there was advertising for people to come and hand pick their fields of Beetroot.
I had heard that as well, but I don't think it explains the aborted beans I have seen on the plants outside in Ireland, where we never have high night temperatures.
I had no idea runner beans were perennial. Thanks again! :)
Thank you for your dedication. I used to watch all your videos, but it's been four years since I moved away from my garden and into the city. I will have a piece of land again so that I can continue my own projects. Your way of speaking about your work is that of a professional. You observe more than you explain and these careful observations are wrapped in a humble hypothesis which can guide the experiment for the next growing season. Fantastic. I wish you all the best up in Ireland.
Corey
Wow, thanks for that comment! 😁
In the last couple of years ive been selecting runner beans for overwintering outside in North Devon. I started by collecting seed from as many varieties as i could which had produced seed in the garden i work. These were then direct sown outside alongside a section of deer fence in essentialy pathway soil. Of those 60 odd seeds which were sown,several overwintered, and ive saved seed from those, aiming to do a bi-yearly seed save, sowing one year and saving from those which survive and produce the earliest
seed the next.
Are you finding any one variety working better for you?
The best so far, far outperforming the rest, has been a white bean with syrong green mottling. Unfortunately i do not share your skill in record keeping, and the origional cultivars are lost to time, but id imagine being the 3rd generation there may have been some muddling of DNA. If i do manage to ID the seed ill let you know.
Coiincidently, by direct sowing, i hope i might be selecting for slug resistance, as thats normally been the restricting factor for me!
I really appreciate the dry, scientific approach to these videos.
🙂
I've also seen the quality of my beans diminish after 2-3 harvests. I leave the not so tasty pods to mature and harvest those as dry beans.
It is so amazing how much food one little bean can produce.
I have noticed the same diminishing quality. I wish I could get those later beans to mature and dry properly in our climate, as that would be a good option.
Heavily pruned plants for dried beans is something I'll be trying next year after seeing this. Thank you!
Hope it works well for you. I think it might be a decent option for our climate at least.
Hello Bruce. Many thanks for the mention. I had a much better harvest this year. I couldn’t pay much attention to the beans and let them go pretty wild and I deliberately planted them closer together. I did notice more beans per truss but as you say not perfect so maybe that’s just one of those annual variables we can’t really have much effect with on. We certainly have more chopped and in the freezer this year than last year but because of the very wet colder August here not many went to seed, perhaps by splitting the crop and hosting some inside a poly tunnel we can fix that. Looking forward to next year where maybe I can do more experimenting. I must try to keep some alive over winter!
It was nice to take your suggestion and run with it, and even though it didn't seem to make a huge difference to the number of flowers becoming pods, it did open up an interesting approach to limit these plants that I had always considered long season plants. And I do think pruning will really improve growing for dried seed, so looking forward to exploring that next year. B
I've only grown runner beans for 2 seasons. I noticed that there were only a few pods for each group of flowers. I thought the birds were eating the flowers/small pods, but after watching this, it may just be that it is normal for them to grow this way. Very interesting.
Yeah, it is an interesting issue. I haven't been able to figure out what is causing it, or if anything can be done.
Temperatures above 30 ° C?
@@beateschluter664 That kind of heat might explain the lack of pod development in the polytunnels, but the same thing happens in the outside gardens, and we rarely get temperatures that high. I might be something that happens for a few different reasons, or simply that the plants can only support so many pods.
I have a couple of the small retail pallet collars in the backgarden one I grow runnerbeans in every year. I plant them quite close and only pinch out the tops once they get to the top of the canes. I dig a small trench in the middle of the bed and this I fill with kitchen green waste and any garden clippings. At the end of the season I incorporate all of the tops back in to the soil. We have a bountiful harvest and for a family of 4 who like runnerbeans there is enough to eat and we end freezing and blanching some.
As excited as I am for *this* video.... OOOOOOH, PUPKINS IN THE BACKGROUND! 😍
Interesting to see your ideas about growing beans for drying. I keep trying to save seeds from my sweet peas, and I've always read that increased cutting produces more flowers. Which is great and the main reason I grow sweet peas. But I've had little luck saving my own seed because the pods get moldy before the peas develop. I'll have to give this more thought next year. Cheers Bruce!
I have never grown sweetie, but I do have similar issues with trying to save garden peas.
Hi Bruce there are other coloured runner beans around i've found that the purple runner bean stands out against the green .
I'll keep an eye out for seeds for those varieties, thanks.
I will have to try these dried👌
I absolutely love your project, and the videos you produce. They are so helpful
Thanks!
Here in Northern California I grow a variety of runner beans for its huge white beans "Moldovanesti Buffalo". Completely delicious as a shelly bean or as a dry bean. I have not tried them in the pod format, but perhaps i should. They do come back, although not always, so I always replant a few. I love the perennial quality, delicious white starchy beans like Greek Gigante beans. They don't have to be completely dry to eat, in fact they cook up faster if not completely dry, but here in California dry is not so hard to accomplish.
Yeah, they can be a delicious bean, and would love to try other varieties. And I also like the partially dried ones, which are available for a longer time in Ireland! 😁
Always so much knowledge thank you!!
Excellent video! Thank you.
Haven't grown any beans yet, but runner beans sure look interesting. Thanks for sharing!
I had this issue too. This was my first year (successfully) growing scarlet runners, but I got a very low yield. I planted them too close together and gave them too small a trellis, because I didn't expect them to work. They did grow to maturity, and produced a lot of red flowers, but very few bean pods. I will have to try trimming them next year if I see them putting out too much green growth.
Hope you have better harvests next year.
Such an ineresting you tube, as are yours on beetroot, pepper etc varieties. I've been gowing runner beans in eastern Canada from some brought over more than 50 years ago from England One year some droppped seed overwintered and grew which is extraordinary as our temperatures can go to -10C to -20 C in winter. I've tried runners as dried beans but prefer the taste of kidney beans actually I think runner beans taste better in the pod stage. Hummingbirds like them. They make a wonderful screen/hedge.
That is impressive that they would survive the winter! I wonder if the different varieties of runner beans have significantly different tastes as a dried seed.
Bruce, thanks for sharing your data and observations. It help me a lot to improve or try changes in my garden.
If one day you come to Turkey, let me know to see if we can meet.
Regards, Jaime, Un Latino en Turquìa
Thanks! I would love to visit Turkey, perhaps in a few years!
@REDGardens next summer we had planned to visit Ireland. Is it possible to visit your place and meet you?
@@latinoenturquia8486 Yes, I am generally around, and love to talk with other people about the gardens.
Thanks for all your information
😁
I tend to cut half of my beans down to 4 foot from the ground at the end of July, they make some side shoots which then produce nice beans by late August, The ones I didn't cut by then slow down production and the beans are not so good so I let them just produce seed. Thanks for your informative video.
That is interesting. I wonder if we would have enough warmth later in the season for that kind of approach.
Do you have a video on harvesting beans (dried and fresh) and how you store them? And how do you determine the best beans to save for seeds? Is there a trick to get beans to dry on the plant in damp conditions? Mine tend to go moldy before they dry so there isn't usually much of a harvest late in the season. Storing the roots over winter is also super interesting and I would love to hear more about that.
I don't ave a video about that yet. And still working on how to dry them in damp conditions.
Very interesting (again) 🎉
The mite problem can be sorted through natural means you can buy predator mites from invert shops for bio active setups they actively hunt all other mites
I have tried runner beans here in s tx 2 yr ni luck flowers come but then they fell the next day
Excellent another video to enjoy... curious to know which system of mathematics you use to plant...do you follow the moon or the sidreal chart. Love your work sir
I plant when I get around to it or when appropriate for my conditions. I don't follow any cycles or dates designated by others.
Regarding why not all flowers develop into pods:
I've read that runner beans, specially the variety "Feuerbohne"* is also grown as an ornamental plant. Maybe it's worth checking whether there are varieties that are exclusively selected for beans and not their ornamental value. (If you already did and mentioned it in the other video - please ignore)
* literal translation is "Fire Bean", red flowers and purple black speckled seeds. The seed package I got at a local store even mentions their ornamental value and abundance of flowers.
Yeah, apparently it was originally developed as an ornamental, and it is a beautiful plant when in flower. The varieties I use are bred for pod production.
I have never thought about over-wintering runner bean plants. In your video, I think you say you over-wintered them by planting them in the polytunnel where they stayed for the following season. Did you have to give the plants any extra frost protection at all or did they come through the winter unaffected by the cold? I don't have a polytunnel but as it's effectively just roots that are being overwintered, I'm guessing I could over-winter them in a frost-free garage in a pot but the issue would be giving them light and frost protection when the shoots emerge in the spring. Do you have any thoughts on this based on your experience?
I didn't give them any additional protection in the polytunnel, but if I was overwintering them outside in the ground, I would probably cover them with straw or something to keep the frost out, and then make sure to uncover them in the spring.
First of all, use coloured ones like Brunhilde and nekargold. Picking will be much easier
I never knew beans were perennials so thanks for that. My green runners (the round type) are in the PT still, do you think they'll overwinter kept in the ground in there (similar kind of weather to you)?
I think they might need protection from the frosts, even a layer of straw should help.
@@REDGardens Thanks, i'll give it a go. Hope you're managing to stay out of the rain btw, it's terrible at the moment, I don't think it's stopped raining here for 4 days now. I saw that many farmers in the UK and Ireland have got crops still in the fields as they can't get on there to harvest them. One business over there was advertising for people to come and hand pick their fields of Beetroot.
✌️😎
Apparently high night temperatures result in flower drop and aborted beans
I had heard that as well, but I don't think it explains the aborted beans I have seen on the plants outside in Ireland, where we never have high night temperatures.
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