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Post by jondear on Oct 16, 2015 11:03:39 GMT -5
I'd like to learn more about the hand mixer method for threshing beans. I've used a single beater in my drill to whip joint compound for doing drywall before.
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Post by flowerweaver on Oct 16, 2015 11:56:40 GMT -5
OK, I have a question. I am finding a lot of stink bug egg cases on the undersides of my bean leaves. Usually I would compost the plants, but I am worried there will be even more of these next year if I don't do something. I've read they will over winter in leaf litter. I would like to burn them, but currently there's a burn ban. What to do?
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Post by reed on Oct 16, 2015 12:02:18 GMT -5
Shove em down in a tub, fill it with water and drown em?
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Post by oldmobie on Oct 16, 2015 12:19:22 GMT -5
OK, I have a question. I am finding a lot of stink bug egg cases on the undersides of my bean leaves. Usually I would compost the plants, but I am worried there will be even more of these next year if I don't do something. I've read they will over winter in leaf litter. I would like to burn them, but currently there's a burn ban. What to do? Just brainstorming: 1) Could they be fed to animals? You could recover the nutrients by using the manure. 2) Could they be submerged in water a few days, like in a barrel, IBC tote or stock tank? You could use the water on the garden and then compost the plants, after the eggs are drowned. 3) Could they be stored until the burn ban is lifted? 4) Could they be buried? I nearly added boiling, but considering how I would have to do it, (metal barrel on blocks with fire underneath) the burn ban may be prohibitive. |
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Post by flowerweaver on Oct 16, 2015 12:40:18 GMT -5
Good questions. I know that peanut hay is very nutritious, but on the other hand alfalfa can only be fed to livestock in small quantities because it is too nutritious. The soil is too rocky for burying. I guess I could pluck an infested leaf and stick it in a jar of water to test that. But we are talking A LOT of bean plants, maybe 700. I don't have any really deep sources of water on the place, only shallow kiddie pools for the dogs.
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Post by oldmobie on Oct 16, 2015 15:44:50 GMT -5
Good questions. I know that peanut hay is very nutritious, but on the other hand alfalfa can only be fed to livestock in small quantities because it is too nutritious. The soil is too rocky for burying. I guess I could pluck an infested leaf and stick it in a jar of water to test that. But we are talking A LOT of bean plants, maybe 700. I don't have any really deep sources of water on the place, only shallow kiddie pools for the dogs. Do you still have enough heat for solarization? You could lay 'em in full sun, soak 'em good with a hose and cover 'em with clear plastic. In your dry environment, maybe put black plastic on the bottom, for more heat and better moisture retention. |
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Post by steev on Oct 16, 2015 16:36:09 GMT -5
Stuff them in trash bags and leave them in full sun to bake?
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Post by flowerweaver on Oct 16, 2015 17:29:01 GMT -5
Decades ago in college I left my clothes full of seed ticks from a hike in the woods in the trunk of my car for a few weeks thinking they'd bake and starve to death in the hot sun. Apparently not. After putting the folded clean clothes from the laundromat back in there I unwittingly transferred them to my dresser, where upon they spread throughout my apartment. I was living on the coast where ticks were not known. I even found them crawling between artwork and the glass that framed it. So, I think I'll nix solarization, not knowing the heat tolerance of stink bugs.
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Post by paquebot on Oct 16, 2015 19:35:20 GMT -5
I'd like to learn more about the hand mixer method for threshing beans. I've used a single beater in my drill to whip joint compound for doing drywall before. A single beater would just whip the pods away from it. I tried that first. Double beater pulls the pods through and breaks them up. Bought a cheap one at WalMart just for that purpose. Martin |
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 19, 2015 0:21:05 GMT -5
flower, It's a tuff cookie. If it's the brown marmorated stink bug, even cold doesn't kill them. If you have a chipper shreader, you can chip the leaves and compost them, ACTIVELY. As in turn turn turn. And Bury! Otherwise, you'll have a gazillion more next year and so far I haven't found anything they won't eat. I'm putting all my infected stuff in the greenwaste, so that the pro's can compost them. I just don't have enough hours to turn the compost every day. Burning is still best. Are you allowed to burn on a rainy day? What about a back yard bbq?
They never let us burn anymore, so I have to have a BBQ to get rid of the uglies. And yes it's a pain in the ass to drag the stuff to the weber and put it in branch by branch. Hence the greenwaste!
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Post by flowerweaver on Oct 19, 2015 10:22:07 GMT -5
12540dumont they are the green, not brown, but I've read similar about them living through the winter. I don't have a chipper shreader, but it may be reason enough to invest in one. It's supposed to rain later this week so I think I will have to work quickly to pile them in the fire pit and then turn them to ash. And if it passes me by (as it often does) I may have to drag out my tiny charcoal grille and have a go. I would hate to have 2016 be the Year of the Stinkbug.
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Post by paquebot on Oct 21, 2015 23:35:17 GMT -5
Had about 25 varieties of beans to thresh out today. Some were nearly-full grocery bags and some half. Anywhere from a pint to 1½ quart of beans each. Took 3 hours with a cheap Rival hand mixer. Only split one bean, a Red Cranberry. Even used it on Insuk's Wang Kong and Sadie's Horse Bean with no damage. Took longer for the wind to winnow out the chafe than it did to separate the beans from the pods.
Martin
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Post by Walk on Jan 29, 2016 16:23:50 GMT -5
Thanks to all of you who pioneered the hand mixer bean thresher. I bought a used mixer from the Salvation Army for $1.50 to test out the method. I thought I would have to wait until harvest to give it a try since all our beans were already cleaned. But my friend Kathleen had several bags of various beans left to thresh and yesterday we tried it out. It worked great!!! Now I'll only have to figure out what to do with my free time during harvest season ;>).
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Post by khoomeizhi on Jan 29, 2016 16:45:50 GMT -5
all these testimonials sure make me want to grow a lot of beans.
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Post by flowerweaver on Jan 29, 2016 18:56:41 GMT -5
As a follow up, I was able to burn off both bean fields last weekend, the burn ban was finally off. So here's hoping I've knocked down the stink bug population. Now I have to decide which beans get planted.
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