Posted on 03/27/2015 1:25:20 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.
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/johnny
“...bush cucumbers. I don’t know a variety name but I found a small pot at a greenhouse last spring. I got so many cukes it was hard to keep up. Just used a large tomato cage. Easy to pick and it was so prolific I had lots of young ones ready at the same time for pickles too. Also gave lots away. I’ll never grow vining cukes again.”
Oh, swell, you have this bush cucumber and don’t tell us the name or where to get it. :o) So, where can we find these bush cucumbers?
My father was the same way, he went up and down the alleyways in Chicago and you would not believe the things people threw away. he also would drive about a mile across the Indiana border to the “forest preserve” (It’s in quotes because there is no forest). But they had riding trails and a few horses took advantage of it. Dad would drive his old junker down there and scoop up all the poop for his garden.
It was at a family run nursery called Flowerland. Maybe I kept the plant stake I’ll check.
Went out in the garage to my potting table and general gardening mess. Could not find it right away. That doesn’t mean it won’t turn up. In the meantime I googled bush cucumber and Burpees has 4 of them. But mine didn’t resemble any of them. Called the nursery where I got it, he said it will be 2 weeks before he will know but they are using the same grower again and he should have them. He just couldn’t tell me the name until he sees the lists. Meanwhile I’ll keep a lookout for the tag, I vaguely remember saving it. I have to get that area cleaned up anyway.
Printers are a miracle! You are most welcome! I’ll try to share as much as I can!
Thanks for going to all that trouble to find the name of the cucumber bush. A bush with cucumbers should be easier to grow than trying to keep individual vines alive.
Thanks for the report. Lots of good info there.
Installment 3 on BEANS
Our presenter is a native of India, and was telling us she and her family get most of their protein from beans and legumes.
She pointed out to us that some beans have very showy purple or white flowers and some even have purple pods.
One species she was telling us about is the ornamental Hyacinth pole bean, which can be grown on a fence as an ornamental. She made the point that the flowers of these and most beans are so lovely, you can actually consider putting them in your flower beds.
The Indian variety of Hyacinth bean is very decorative with white flowers. They grow rapidly, and the complete plant is edible - generally the flowers and smaller leaves can be eaten as well as the beans and pods.
BEANS - HARVESTING GUIDE
* Pick most of the beans in a week interval to get high yield. Pick the green beans during their young stage. The pods should be firm, tender and seeds inside should not be allowed to fully develop. If pods are fully developed, the inner beans will turn hard and take longer to cook.
* Most bean harvesting takes place in 55-85 days from planting, and 15-25 days after the full bloom stage.
* It is best to harvest beans as they begin to reach the desired size. This will help promote more blooming and more produce from the plant.
* Beans are self-pollinating, so you can grow cultivars side by side within your garden. Bean flowers are largely self-pollinated and bean varieties usually do not cross.
* In your home garden, when we grow so many different kinds of beans next to each other and save seeds, they will show up as cross-pollinated flowers next season.
[Texokie note: caveat about those who wish to save seeds. - grow only one or two, or varieties that you know will not cross if you want to keep your seeds true. Ellendra can probably answer questions about this better than I can! :-D]
* Our presenter stated that if you keep your saved seeds true, you can replant them the next year... but if you do a number of varieties in order to have a variety of beans from your harvest for your food stores, then she recommends obtaining new seeds each year.
* Bean seeds are ready to harvest when the pods are dry and kind of crunchy.
* Keep seeds open to the air in a dry location until pods dry out completely.
* Store the beans in a cool dry place such as refrigerator or unheated basement. Beans remain viable for approximately 4 years after harvest. Remove from freezer just before the 2 month mark of planting season. Our presenter says she stores just about all of her beans in the freezer - green AND seeds!
BEANS - Storage Guide
* Green beans: Select young tender pods when the seed is first formed
* Store all kinds of bean pods in a refrigerator in air-tight bag or container with paper towel for about 7 days
* FREEZE (GREEN) BEANS - You must blanch them. It diminishes freezer burn
* Package green beans in zip lock bags or containers for storage
*Green beans can be stored in the freezer @ 0 deg F for about 10 months
*Green beans can also be canned or pickled for long-term storage
More notes on her favorite INDIAN VARIETIES:
[Texokie note: we asked her about how to get these, and she said she orders them from India. The rumor is that she will provide our administrator with some source info. If that is indeed provided, I will share it. Otherwise, there is the possibility that they can be obtained online from somewhere! She isn’t the only person from India hungry for home!]
Cluster Bean (Gawar)
* These crunchy beans from India are low in calories and similar to green beans
* Plants of these beans are extremely hardy and grow tall to about 7-9 feet
* Need almost NO water and grow very easily in drought like conditions and/or high heat
She told us that for the first couple of years trying to grow them here, they were not happy at all. Then she tried decreasing the water, and they liked that. She said she actually does NOT water hers! They are in a special part of the garden and they basically fend for themselves, if I understood her correctly! I WANT SOME OF THESE BEANS!!!!! LOL!]
* She commented that she learned in her researches that Oklahoma is actually the very best place outside of its native areas in India for the Gawar to grow! [Texokie note: she did not say if they couldn’t grow elsewhere, just that Oklahoma is actually the best place.]
Hyacinth Bean (Valor Papdi)
* Indian variety of the Hyacinth bean is a very decorative vine with white flower that grows rapidly. The complete plant is edible.
She did mention that they are best noted to be used as green beans and dried beans are not recommended. She said that while the dried beans are edible, they can be VERY difficult to digest.
Surti Papdi
* Decorative vine or bush that grows rapidly with attractive white flowers
* They like the summer heat and start producing in just 35 to 40 days
[She did not have time to discuss this particular variety in any detail.... OH FRABJOUS DAY!!! I just did a search and found not only a pic, but the seed catalog I think she uses!!!! She said she got her “seeds from India” - which I took to mean a general getting of seeds from India. From this web site, I see that she really DID answer my question about online source! it is:
http://www.seedsofindia.com/item/Surti-Papdi-—Chandni—199
www.seedsofindia.com
P.O. Box 318
Marlboro, NJ 07746
Phone: 1-908-875-8140
Fax: 1-732-252-6634
This edible podded bean is especially popular in the State of Gujarat. The bean is cooked with spices and makes a great accompaniment with Indian breads like poori. It is also an essential for the vegetable medley dish called undhiyu. Seeds are pale brown in color. Chandni is a vining variety. Growth habit: VINE
SKU Number: 709
From Texokie’s chicken-scratch class notes:
Long beans: wait to plant at least a week after the last frost.
While the first storage of her seeds are the freezer, she says that in the winter she will take them out and let them be cold in her garage.
She noted that as a general rule, “smaller seeds have longer “shelf” storage time than the larger beans. In other words, smaller seeds are viable longer than larger seeds.
Lightly mulch the bean sprouts when about 1-2” tall - and she says she actually does this with all her veggies. Then she adds mulch as they grow. She makes the point that at the stage when the first leaves are just unfurled, [her picture shows the two little lower leaves with the first true leaf straightened out, but not quite unfolded to full open ]she will put just a little more soil around the base of the seedling to strengthen it so it won’t fall over. Then, of course, the mulch at the 1-2” height.
Have fun!
This concludes the BEAN HANDOUT
“You can share the envy. ;)”
I’ll second that envy and raise you a bilious with jealousy!!! ;-D
That’s one awesome pile of poo and straw/hay. LOL
Do you ever get any rainfall at all?
I’ve heard that they are great. I usually just plant my homemade pickle next to the fence, and they take care of climbing up it all by their lonesome.
Yeah. I had not heard of two in a hole either... and I confess, I had not read that part during the class presentation, and could not ask.
Yes, I'm jealous...
Don't ask about the sodium levels. They are high. ;)
/johnny
Just in case one fails to germinate?
Don’t know what else it could be - seems to make sense. I guess we can try it and see what happens. In one case, let both grow, in another, pinch off one.
I have made the decision to limit my actual gardening this season. It is tough to resist planting stuff. However, we had a lovely celery root from the grocery store that we decided to propagate and see if we can get some actual celery this time! It is coming along very well.
The wisteria is budding out. In addition to my onions, the strawberries over wintered and are coming back!
How limited? Are you going to grow a few things?
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