Naughty Norberg!

[jayb]

(Norberg makes a 2' bush, producing pods with large-seeded purple kidney bean, they taste great and are ideal for dry and shellies. )

Well, after telling someone what an easy and reliable bean Norberg is , never putting a foot wrong. I picked a few pods for shellies the other day and was a little surprised to pod these rather than red/purple kidney bean types. At first with the pale pinky one I thought it was small seeds and hadn't coloured up. Then opened a grey and a faintly pattern pinky one.

Humph what a lot of bean crossing going on, I think I'm going to have to rethink saving seeds.

[Jang]

Interesting. Difficult to know how to rethink. I imagine the recommended planting distances, to be absolutely safe, would mean growing only a very small number of varieties for most of us. Or are you thinking that some kind of bagging might be feasible?

[Galina]

Bagging an unopened flower truss is not difficult and they self pollinate of course. Easy with wedding favour organza bags where you just pull the handles. The truss will obviously grow as the beans develop, so it is a case of a slightly larger bag or check frequently. I had a couple of bent beans on my Romanians, taking the baggie off slightly late, but that was no problem either. For seedsaving it only takes a few in any case.

[jayb]

I was wondering about a veggie mesh tunnel for bush beans at flowering time and perhaps a few climbers could share a little of the taller net tunnel. But then Galina's suggestion of covering with bags might be an easier option.

[jayb]

I don't remember beans crossing quite so much previously. I wonder whether individual summers make a difference or perhaps timing for what else is available for bees to forage on. Might just be a change in bee populations in the area and some favour bean flowers more. Overall I have noticed a fair amount of activity on beans and peas this year. Perhaps having the squash patch close to the beans draws them in too.

[Jang]

Yes, either more is happening recently, or some of us and other bean growers are reporting on it more.
But in fact, there’s always been quite a lot reported in dedicated bean growing networks such as Easy Bean Network, Facebook Heirloom Beans Addicts Anonymous and Bohnen-Atlas

[jayb]

Lol, I think I need to get out more!

[Jang]

Well, if you grow a lot, there’s no time to go out between about February and October! 😊

[Jang]

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