I Don't Like Rattlesnake Beans Anymore What's Better?
- Thread starter Rabbit
- Start date
I'll try to find the name of the green pole bean variety I grew this year. I was impressed... they were round, virtually struggles, and had great ( but not too strong) beany flavor. We've always grown bush beans because we prefer their quality, but I'll switch to pole beans for easy picking IF I can find a variety with comparable quality.
My yellow bean experiment wasn't sucessful... they were advertised as a round podded bean, but we're flat with prominent strings.
Summerthyme
My yellow bean experiment wasn't sucessful... they were advertised as a round podded bean, but we're flat with prominent strings.
Summerthyme
Freeholder
This too shall pass.
My favorite bean is Kentucky Blue. I think they have a little bit of string, but not too much. But there are a lot of varieties i’ve never tried.
Kathleen
Kathleen
Martinhouse
Deceased
Is there a pole version of Contender beans? I don't know if they're stringless, but many have told me that they are the best and as a bush bean are short season. I loathe even the smell of green beans cooking, so I can't make any personal recommendations
Josie
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Sorry for the graphic image. But I have never heard of that variety before and that's what popped into my head! After researching it, apparently some people DO shell them and the prepare them just like any other dried bean.
hammerhead
Veteran Member
I've had good production from a Blue Lake/Kentucky Wonder cross.
Freeholder
This too shall pass.
Yes, that’s the Kentucky Blue I mentioned. Not everyone carries it anymore, but a little searching will find it.
I still haven’t found anyone to till a garden space for me, but if I do, I’d like to get several varieties and grow them side by side for comparison. That’s a fun experiment to do - but you need to take notes if you do it! Otherwise by the next year you will probably have forgotten half of what you learned.
Kathleen
I have grown rattlesnake beans for years. I do find that if I am not diligent about picking regularly they get tough. Also toward the end of bean season, they grow slow and get tough before getting big. They were developed in Alabama to thrive in the heat and humidity of the south. We got our seed in the 70s while visiting relatives in Alabama. My parents saved seed every year and gave me some when I started my garden. It is the only bean I grow. I love them. No other I have tried comes close to the flavor of rattlesnake beans.
greenhart
Veteran Member
They are lighter in color, milder in taste and earlier in production than Rattlesnake.
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
Blue Lake and Kentucky Wonder. Gotta do a better job at rabbit proofing my beans so I have some for canning.
Martinhouse
Deceased
Rabbit, if you grow several types of beans at the same time, a lot of them may cross-pollenate and you won't want to save seeds from any of them.
Nah... beans (and peas) are almost completely self-pollinating. The shape of their blossoms makes thrm difficult (and unattractive) to bees. Even hand pollinating to create a new variety is a bit tricky and time consuming.
I've saved seeds from both yellow and green bush beans for years, growing them in the same row, or in parallel rows next to each other, and at least phenotypicaly, they haven't changed.
Many other plants are much more demanding to keep a pure strain... vines can be some of the worst! But legumes are simple...
Summerthyme
Martinhouse
Deceased
Summerthyme, my pole beans ALWAYS had lots of bees on them. They crammed themselves well into those purple rattlesnake blossoms and then wiggled back out and crammed themselves into the next blossom.
Because of this, when I once noticed some flat-podded beans with white blossoms growing in a row of Rattlesnake beans, I didn't save seeds that year. I had plenty left over from the year before so it was not a big deal, but I wanted to make sure there was no cross. I figured that odd bean plant came from a bean that got stuck in the hopper at a seed company. A hopper that filled seed packets.
I doubt I'll ever have a big garden again, but it's good to know that beans don't cross very easily. Thanks.
Because of this, when I once noticed some flat-podded beans with white blossoms growing in a row of Rattlesnake beans, I didn't save seeds that year. I had plenty left over from the year before so it was not a big deal, but I wanted to make sure there was no cross. I figured that odd bean plant came from a bean that got stuck in the hopper at a seed company. A hopper that filled seed packets.
I doubt I'll ever have a big garden again, but it's good to know that beans don't cross very easily. Thanks.
That's interesting, Martinhouse. I read about the difficulties of cross pollination many years ago in one of the seed saving books... I definitely could be misremembering some details.
For those who absolutely can't afford an accidental cross (you're saving a rare type, or fresh pure seed isn't available to buy), it will take some dedication and ingenuity to be sure you never get a cross.
But knowing which types are almost guaranteed to cross without stringent protective measures, and which you can relax a bit about, is going to be important, unless you have lots of useful (and knowledgeable) help to build and install screen houses and other covers.
Summerthyme
For those who absolutely can't afford an accidental cross (you're saving a rare type, or fresh pure seed isn't available to buy), it will take some dedication and ingenuity to be sure you never get a cross.
But knowing which types are almost guaranteed to cross without stringent protective measures, and which you can relax a bit about, is going to be important, unless you have lots of useful (and knowledgeable) help to build and install screen houses and other covers.
Summerthyme
Martinhouse
Deceased
While we're on the subject of beans, I found a new type of weed all over my garden fences this past summer. At first I ignored them, assuming they were the little blue wild morning glories. But then I started seeing little bean pods and so I checked closely and the plants definitely had nice little pale purple blossoms. The leaves were three-part leaves, and each leaflet was heart-shaped but with a rounded point and no bigger than about 1" by 1 1/4". This was a vine and the leaves were maybe 8 to ten inches apart, not thickly grown. The bean pods were 2" to 3 1/2" long and quite narrow, and rounded, not flat.. I would have loved to gather them as a wild food, but I would NEVER assume they were edible.
Since they were only on fences, they must have come from birds pooping the seeds, but I can't imagine how they got here and where they are from. I've lived here since 1977 and have NEVER had this growing anywhere before this year. So they must have been dropped by birds the year before and then grown from when they germinated at the beginning of this last summer.
So I guess I've discovered a neat little miniature bean vine. I wonder if they will grow again this next summer from dropping their pods at the base of all my garden fences?
Since they were only on fences, they must have come from birds pooping the seeds, but I can't imagine how they got here and where they are from. I've lived here since 1977 and have NEVER had this growing anywhere before this year. So they must have been dropped by birds the year before and then grown from when they germinated at the beginning of this last summer.
So I guess I've discovered a neat little miniature bean vine. I wonder if they will grow again this next summer from dropping their pods at the base of all my garden fences?
It would be great if you could get that plant identified! A self seeding volunteer bean could be very useful. However, like most volunteer plants, it might not be something you want to encourage lest it start taking over.
In the past 15-20 years, we've had several "new" (as in, never saw them before- and I know pretty well every plant that grows on our farm) weeds pop up. After battling purple loosestrife and henbit for years, my new policy when finding a new plant is essentially "nuke it from orbit to be sure!"
If I find one that might have food or medicinal value, I'll try moving it to an isolated bed or even a big pot, until I see it's habits.
But a self seeding bean could be cool... I had both peas and beans volunteer in the garden this year after we finished harvesting and tilled down the dead plants. It was great... they formed a dense, weed blocking carpet, and will add organic matter next spring... plus, since they are legumes, they added some nitrogen to the soil. But I've never seen volunteer beans or peas in the Spring. For that matter, despite the fact that we get hundreds of volunteer tomato plants every spring (and they often produce very well, albeit a bit later than the ones I start early and transplant), I've never seen a volunteer pepper plant. And I wonder why!
Summerthyme
Squash and corn come to mind.
