Here are four names for what appears to be the same bean: Orca beans The black and white pattern definitely evokes a killer whale; especially with the extra round bean shape. Unlike orca whales, these beans are not great swimmers. They sink to the bottom and swell up to double in size. Not the best … More 4 names for 1 bean
We drove out the seed thresher to the field and threshed some beans. Note that we are processing whole plants rather than individual pods. (That’s probably obvious from the video.) The seed thresher is actually a Soil Shredder that has been modified to run on DC current so we can easily change the threshing speed. … More Threshing seed beans in the field
Marie-Claude Comeau of Ferme La Radicule grows certified organic seed with draft horses in Manseau Québec. All her seed is sold on contract to retail seed companies. In this episode Marie-Claude talks about why after working on vegetables and seed farms for a few years, she chose to focus solely on seed crops. How she … More The seed growers podcast episode 2 – Marie-Claude Comeau of Ferme La Radicule
Don’t you hate it when you spill the beans? Especially when you’ve just finished setting up for your CSA pickup? Perhaps a flash of anger as you envision all the picking that went into that. A bit of worry about whether you’ve got enough beans left to last all dropoff. Some frustration that you overloaded … More Do you hate spilling the beans?
As patient as a bean in a bin. These are the beans that have not yet been picked. These are the beans that are left once the seed crew went through and hand picked out all the bad beans – the splits, the moldies, the germinated, the stones that are not beans, the occasional pea … More As Patient As A Bean In A Bin
You would think beans and peas would be a natural fit for #seedsavingformarketgrowers They are selfers and don’t cross much. They are pretty much all open pollinated, so you can easily save solid market varieties. And they are fun to shell!!! But, if you’re a market gardener, I don’t think beans and peas should be … More You Can’t Pick Your Bean And Save It Too
It turns out a watched bean does dry down! And now we have a greenhouse full crinkly dry bean plants covered in crisp pods ready to thresh. I’m appreciative for what a drive plants have to get their seeds to maturity. And grateful for the abundance they provide. It helps buffer out erratic autumns and … More A Watched Bean DOES Dry Down!
They say a watched pot never boils. How about a watched bean? Does it dry down? About 10 days ago, just before that series of frosts, I pulled in some tender pole beans plants. Before I started the job I had felt quite a bit of trepidation. It’s a lot of work to bring in … More Does A Watched Bean Dry Down?
Seed cleaning is a science and an art. We use box fans and home made screens to get our seeds pretty clean. We do have some fancy equipment (like the office clipper) that offer more precision. But the most precise tool we have is our fingers Yes, once we’ve gotten seed as clean as our … More The Secret To Clean Beans
Over the years we’ve accumulated a few fancy pieces of seed cleaning equipment. The one we probably use the most is the Office Clipper from A.T. Ferrell. Please note – you don’t need a machine like this to save seed! For years we only used box fans and home screens to clean seeds. With these … More Cleaning Bean Seeds With The Office Clipper