Since there are so many new readers, I thought I'd update you on the bean trials we've started to do across the country. I collect too many bean samples to grow on my place in Napa, or I've been sent too many or it's nice to know how beans do in other parts of the US. This year I started by sending between one and three packs of beans for my pals to grow. By all accounts, it was a fair year for beans. The drag is when you have a plant that is clearly happy and thriving, even flowering, but not giving beans. This can be a lot of things from not having the minimum number of daylight hours required or maybe altitude issues. That's why it's important to grow them.

Next year we'll do it again. Send me an email at bean-trial@ranchogordo.com if you'd like to participate. I think I'll insist that everyone take at least two varieties in case one is a bust. Hopefully you can grow enough for a pot of beans and then send back some fresh samples.