It was slightly warmer today than it has been but still didn't get above 24 degrees until late afternoon and the wind made working outside less than tolerable so I decided to finish up this years bean calculations and make a big pot of Ham and Bean soup.
The Mrs. can make her Cornbread she insists on when she get's home :)
I have to say this was one bumper crop year but I had a feeling the numbers would turn out that way. After the huge hit my ongoing bean experiment took from all the over time back in 2011 and the drought of 2012 if this year had been a bust the entire experiment would have failed. I was down to about my last 50 seeds that could be planted, all left overs from 2011's crop.
This years crop was done with only two trellis and 10 plants per side for a total of about 40 plants that sprouted and lived. I managed to get a gallon and a half of actual edible beans off those forty plants plus about another pound of seeds for next season.
With a yield like that which comes out to 24 cups of dried beans and using my ration figures from years ago of 1 cup of dried beans per person per day that averages up to some 640 plants per person for a year. That is almost double the original yield I got when I first started this experiment back in 2008. If I remember right the original yield ratio came out to approximately 1000 bean plants per person for an entire years supply.
I suspect there are several factors at work here. I have constantly been amending the soil with a never ending supply of old horse manure, wood ash, misc. compost and barn leftovers that consist of old hay and sheep manure. This year especially I added a layer of old barn leftovers so thick it acted like mulch and kept the weeds out (except for the damned MorningGlory of course). Another factor is more than likely due to my taking the seed beans off the strongest plants that produce early each year which has basically acted as a form of natural selection.
We are eating the weak :)
The most interesting aspect of this entire experiment has been the overall change in the actual plants. The bean plants that have been coming up now have thicker vines, grow overall about twice as fast as the original ones and have normal looking bean pods of green that turn brown when dried. The original bean variety had tan pods with purple veins on them. The beans inside still look exactly like they did from the beginning though.
What I might do next year is plow up a totally new section of ground and plant some beans there and in the old garden to see if my yields continue to increase or if adjustments would have to be made when planting in virgin soil. My guess is to be safe if I was starting out new I would need to shoot for the old figure for sustainability.
To expand this experiment out the logistics of planting 3000+ pole beans is kinda daunting though if you think about it. Mostly the poles would be the issue. I assume I would be planting them in a hill/row combination and using the old method of a tee-pee type stick stand. There is no way I could come up with 150 trellis like I use now on short notice.
There are also other factors to keep in mind. Protecting 40 plants is an entirely different problem and much easier than protecting a couple thousand but it helps to have a figure to start from I guess.
From the cooking angle I have been very impressed with my home grown bean variety. Just allowing them to dry in the pods I have several jars of stored beans from four years ago that still cook up nicely without any more prep than an over night soaking in cold water and a day of simmering. No pressure cooker needed to get them soft enough to eat. As a general rule of thumb I have been adding about an hour to each process for every year they have been stored. So far with no complaints.
My final analysis of this year is to consider it a fluke surplus year and continue to plan on using my old figures if/when truly sustainable planting would need to occur. The problem there is I don't even have 3000+ seeds to start with but the first year's crop would be geared totally towards the next years production anyway.
Just things to consider if you have to start using your preps today.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!
I buy big crocker sacks of beans at the grocery store in season. They are really cheap. Of course, they are not renewable and "there's the rub"
ReplyDeleteHarry - Precisely. The first x-number of years would be to ramp up production to at least the point my experiments and numbers say I need to be at for sustainable numbers.
Delete1000 + bean plants per person would be a lot of work without modern day farming equipment.
Good work.
ReplyDeleteWhat variety of pole bean were you growing? I've had bad luck with most of them. The rains are at the wrong time of year here and we get lots of spoilage on dry beans.
That said, I've found southern peas to be good producers. I get the bush types and plant them multiple times.
For green beans, the "yard-long" types are awesome. Lots of production.
David - I started out with a variety named, if I remember right, Dragon Tongue I believe. They big tan colored pods with purple veins. I noticed right off that some of them wanted to climb and some didn't. The climbers shed the tan and purple pods the next year but the beans look exactly the same inside perhaps they got a bit darker maybe.
DeleteI have bad luck with peas here it seems it always get's too hot too fast after it warms enough to plant them.
I have not grown any that look like your beans, I grew McCauslan this year with good success but it is a white bean. Maybe you can just build a temporary fence over the long row of beans? I use long poles that I save throughout the year. kind of mak a long swing-set looking thing over the row for the beans to grow up. Morning glories are a hated weed, hard to believe people buy the seed for flowers.
ReplyDeleteSF - Originally these beans were almost a white with dark brown lines on them but they have been getting progressively darker overall. Not sure why. I suppose it's possible I am getting some cross breeding with the GMO stuff planted here abouts maybe.
DeleteBindweed/Morning Glory is the bane of my gardening life. I hate it.
SF - Ya I figure a long fenceline type affair would be my best bet for after collapse pole beans. Set a thin stick and lean it against the single strand fence kind of affair I guess.
DeleteI keep meaning to ask every time I see your post on pole beans. How do dried pole beans taste? The pole beans I grow are Blue Lake and Kentucky Wonder. I can these as green beans or snap beans as some call them. Are we talking about the same beans? If we are do you ever prepare any of them as green beans?
ReplyDeleteMB - I don't even treat them like green beans the pods are much too thick with this variety to do that I think. What I do is just let them hang on the vine until the pod becomes so dry it is ready to open up itself. I harvest them and open the pods into a big bowl and just put the dried beans into a glass container, usually a canning jar but I have used other jars. They keep for years and never have had any spoilage or vermin inside.
DeleteThe longer they set around of course the longer i have to soak and simmer them. They taste like any other pinto bean I have gotten out of a can perhaps a little more of something a richer taste but maybe that's just my biased ego :)
Thanks for the info. Like Eric and kymber, I love the pressure cooker for dried beans, I have also read not to put salt into the older beans while cooking as it will take them longer to cook. Add your salt to taste after the beans are done.
DeleteMB - Yep lol the wife screams if I add salt to anything while I am cooking it :)
DeleteThe wife bought a pressure cooker. I was skeptical but she made a believer out of me. If the beans are soaked, they require a very short cooking time. Once you get them up to pressure (takes a little longer than getting them to a boil) you hold the pressure for 5 minutes, and then take them off the heat. They continue cooking inside until the pressure is gone. So if fuel consumption is a concern (or you don’t have the wood stove running), you could cook beans on a small hot fire that you tend for 10 minutes or so and you’re all set.
ReplyDeleteEric - Yes you are 100% correct. After you mentioned it I remember my grandmother used to tell me the same thing. You are also right it isn't too much of a big deal as long as the fuel is available but when it counts you will want a pressure cooker. Thank you for reminding me of that.
DeleteEric is right about cooking the beans with a pressure cooker. another trick is to put a teaspoon of baking soda in the soaking water, soak them overnight and then cook them the next morning and they cook up pretty fast. we use alder branches shaped into teepees for our climbing beans and peas.
ReplyDeletethanks for the info about your experiment - it's always good when someone else does the math and the work for you - teehee! your friend,
kymber
Kymber - I am betting I will have to do pretty much the same thing only in a row and then lean the sticks up against a fenceline type affair. Or at least that is the direction I am leaning...
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