Thursday, February 24, 2011

Summer bean flower

One of the most exciting thing for me before going off to school this week in the garden is to watch our snake bean plant bloom and now producing long long long bean very fast. The snake bean bloom always remind me of my mother small backyard garden during my childhood where I would always play with the blooms while I wait for my mother finish with our laundry.


 Snake bean needs a long period of growth before it start to give your first harvest. This summer in Adelaide we have to wait for 3 months for it first flower bloom. As long as the summer is still warm it will continue to produce delicious pods because it has a long harvest season compared to bush bean. The beans can grow to abour 30cm long in just 3 days. I did not make a special trellis for snake bean this year, I let them climb all over sweet corn and tomatoes. Snake bean has bigger bloom than Redland Pioneer bush bean and Purple King bean twice bigger the size.
We only grow 3 types of beans this summer. Redland Pioneer bean have white flower and produce some beans very fast after sowing in over just a month.
I don't have much luck with Purple King bean. This is my second attempt at growing Purple King in summer but it is easily succeptable to desease.

It does produce many flower and beans but the plant does not look healthy.
 Can't wait to have our first taste of Allenby Garden home-grown snake bean.

31 comments:

One said...

The snake bean flowers are cute. You seem to have a continuous harvest and so many varieties too.

cinafong said...

Wei, the flower looks so similar to one I have in my garden which I just posted but mine is not long bean or a vine, after looking at your beans, I wish I had the same though.

rainfield61 said...

These long beans must be good for curry.

And you can get all the ingredient in your garden.

Anonymous said...

Bean flowers are so pretty, especially the Purple King - I could mistake it for orchid bloom!
I usually grow one or two dwarf bean varieties and one climbing. But I do grow a lot of them, so I have them in the freezer all winter.

cikmanggis said...

pucuk kacang ni sangat sedap dimasak lemak besama keledek.Rencahnya adalah ikan panggang atau ikan rebus,bawang merah dan lada hitam serta santan kelapa.Sedap:)

p3chandan said...

Snake bean and our long bean here is the same Diana? Cos mine also look like yours though I love the colour of the purple bean flower, so lovely!

miruku said...

I've just planted my first kacang buncis not long ago, hope to have good harvest like yours lor. I only let them climb on my corn stalks, no horizontal support, don't know is it ok?

Sue Garrett said...

Lovely flowers - worth growing just for that - it will be interesting to see if the seeds you sent me will grow in our climate.

Annelie said...

The word snake just makes me back away.... But I forced myself to read on and learn a little about this bean. Interesting.
Love things that grow fast, like you, I like to watch progress.
Beautiful pics of the flower with the rain drops.

Annelie

Chloe m said...

First of all, thanks for commenting on my blog. I can't believe you had to go through that experience with an earthquake! How scary!

I love your new header photo. Very pretty!
I like how beans provide such a pretty flower before the beans. It's like a two-for-one!

kitchen flavours said...

Your beans are looking beautiful! I have only two long beans plants, growing well, waiting for the first flower to appear!
About the komatsuna, I have read your comment. I have included the photo of the seeds that you sent, perhaps you could stop over my very same post and take a look at the seeds first. The seeds are similar to that of 'sawi'. If that is not the seeds of komatsuna, then I think that I'm not the only one who is curious! Do not worry about sending me the seeds. Take a look and let me know what you think! Thank you, Diana, I really appreciate it!

CathJ said...

My fav... ^_^

~TastyTravels~ said...

Beautiful bean flowers!! =0)

Mark Willis said...

I have tried a couple of times to grow these Snake Beans in my garden (we call them Yard-Long beans), but I have been unsuccessful, which is a shame because I love them. I think they really need warmer conditions than our UK Summer can provide. This year I am trying "Mayflower" and "Cherokee Trail of Tears" beans for the first time. Have you tried them?

TheFusionTea said...

Fresh n joyous looking plant.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

One~ We have baan lucky so far this summer with continuous harvest. I still need to have a lot to learn how to preserve them.

cinafong~ I drop by to your blog and take a look;-).

Rainfield61~ Long bean with curry sounds delicious.

Ana~ How many bean plants is enough to have many supply for winter? This is the first season I freeze beans for winter and I hope we can build up some frozen bean stock for winter.

Cikmanggis~ Terima kasih bagi resepi. Pertama kali dengan pucuknya boleh dimakan. Ada juga kawan saya kata pucuk snow peas pun sedap buat masak lemak santan.

p3chandan~It is the sama KakShidah. I don't really understand why here in Australia they call it Snake Bean;-).

Milka~Your sweet corn is very tall. You might have to use a ladder if they climb so high to harvest the kacang buncis later.

Sue~It will be fun to test whether the snake bean will bloom in the UK. Hope they can adapt to your climate.

Annelie~It was really rare to have rain in mid-summer here. I took the opportunity to snap some photos after the rain.

Rosey~ Yes it is really nice to have pretty bloom and something to harvest from them later.

Kitchen Flavour~ Those 2 plants will produce you many beans! I will stop by and look at those seeds;-). Thank you.

CathJ~My favourite too but I can only see it once a year.

Holly~ They look like orchids.

Mark~I never grown them before.I have not heard of "Mayflower". But I heard the story behind "Cherokee Trail of Tears" where it was a savior, provide food to community during hard time. I wish you good luck on growing them this coming spring. I have collected some snake bean seeds last year when the season is almost over due to cold weather to make sure the seeds are a bit adaptable to cooler weather. I am hoping to do the same this year. The snake bean bloom are much prettier this year compare last year:).

TheFusionTea~ Happy due to the much neeede rain that came to rescue.

littlekarstar said...

The flowers are so delicate and just gorgeous! When did you sow them? I'm taking notes for next spring! I loooove snake beans!

Bom said...

How fun to always have a harvest coming up. I am a foodie as well so all sorts of recipes are running through my mind. I never knew beans had quite good looking flowers. Thank you for sharing yours with us. I've been wanting to try my hand at gardening vegetable but can never seem to get myself to do it. All I have is a green chili plant and its planting was accidental.

Also, I was wondering if you would let me add a link to your blog on my site.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Mrs Bok~ I usually direct sow snake bean in November when the weather has start to warm up. If it is grown to early, it might suffer some setback and sown too late it will not be in time to produce beans as it requires about 3 months to grow and then produce beans.

Bom~We are still novice in vegetable growing just started 2 years ago. You are welcome to add a link from my blog to yours:).

Sue Catmint said...

hi mkg, the snake beans look great - maybe you're no longer such a novice gardener. hope rayyan's going ok. cheers, cm

Mark Willis said...

Hi Diana; The Mayflower bean also has an interesting history. It is apparently descended from beans that were taken to the USA by some of the first settlers from England, who travelled across the Atlantic ocean in 1620 in a ship called "Mayflower".

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Catmint~ I still have many new vegetables that I am looking forward to grow this autumn for the frist time. So I still have much to learn. He is already healing from the minor fracture.

Mark~ Thank you for the information about "Mayflower". I like history very much.

Channal said...

Lovely flower... look like Sweet pea my favorit!
Hugs Anna

shaz said...

What a beautiful bloom. You have such a green thumb. I can't really get beans to grow well, not sure why. Oh and I read your last post, finally realised that amaranth is bayam. I LOVE bayam, must grow some. I love visiting your blog, always learn something new :)

Discovery School at First Baptist Heath said...

LOve these blooms.. and would love to see a sanke bean near harvest time.. I grew up in the midwest United States and only really know bush beans. Would you prepare this like a green bean..?

Anonymous said...

What a pretty plant. Haven't heard of this one before.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Channal~ I have never grown sweet pea before but they do look similar.

Shaz~ I also just realised amaranth is bayam a few months back when I bought the seeds.

Mom of M&Ms~ It can be used in curry or stir fry. You can also slice them in bite sizes and pop them in fried rice.

Photogal~Snake bean has many names-Yard Long bean.

Sue Catmint said...

hi mkg, so pleased to hear rayyan is healing. cheers, cm

Hughbert said...

Mine in Adelaide (Prospect) just started flowering too... I have a couple of beans around 20cm. This year and last year I have grown snake beans, both times I almost gave up on them because they seem to sit there and do nothing for months on end, but then finally they start to really grow and last year got heaps of beans off just the one plant.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Catmint~ I hope your fracture is healing nicely as well.

Hughbert~How wonderful that means that the snake bean start to produce in tune with the weather we have here. Although they do take a lot of time to grow and make you wonder will it ever produce.

Anonymous said...

Hi. I am interested in the possibility of publishing one of your snake bean flower photo's in the magazine I work for. Can you please email me when you can? Thanks a lot. Fiona: editorial@earthgarden.com.au