Yes, but I want to eat my common mallow and purslane, not mulch with them!
Huh, I’ve never heard of that bean species before! I wonder if there’s anywhere I can buy seeds of it? That sounds very interesting. Is it tasty?
In all seriousness, I think living groundcovers are likely to be a better solution for me than chop-and-drop weeds, since a living plant can cover more soil than a dead one. So I’m letting sprawling, short, edible weeds like common mallow and purslane volunteer in every garden bed they want to.
I started to write a big, long explanation on what might be wrong with your beans but decided to chop it down to just; things need water to grow, and you can’t landrace or select your way around that.
Still some things may need less water than others and I noticed you mentioned Pinto Beans. I have Pinto beans that originated about ten years ago that I found in an unopened bag from the grocery, and that had fallen behind the shelves in the pantry ten more years before that. They are the most easily productive beans in my collection and will, if planted early usually make a decent harvest even if not watered at all.
I also have some bush Lima Beans that this year produced a small bag, maybe 1/2 a pound with no watering at all, from twelve plants, they are pictured below. I started watering them a couple weeks ago and if they have time might make a lot more. Those below in the picture are the earlier, non-watered ones.
@UnicornEmily If you would like to trade some Lima beans drop me a message with your address. I can spare 100 of these for 25 of yours. I have lots of Pintos too, if you want some of them.
ps I highly recommend, when you discover something that works, run with it.
That I don’t know, it probably taste similar to wild tepary beans. I’ve never tried them so can’t really say, other than they are probably very small like wild tepary beans.
I agree, ideally that’s the solution because living plants actively feed the soil-food web.
Practically to get “Control of aggressive weeds”, chop & drop is very effective for most weeds, so is a black tarp on a HOT summer say, this has a downside of also solarizing your soil life (Effectively making it somewhat sterile) but it gets rid of those pesky weeds (Only for most extreme measures).
a thick mulch layer is very effective at building soil, it’s only more effective if there are also living plants tapping into this compost layer.
Squash planted in compost go BEAST MODE, & because it’s a living plant it also feeds soil life while still composting the rest. Also side benefit, it extends season by making warmer soil.
Wow! The humble Pinto bean, really flips my perspective on Phaseolus vulgaris drought tolerance.
@MarkReed Me too! I’d love to trade as well. I’ll message you.
Thank you, Mark! I would love to swap seeds! I’ll PM you.
(Nods.) I’m pretty sure landracing alone won’t fix the harshness of my climate, especially since it’s getting hotter and more arid every year, on average. I’m working on digging deep holes, removing the many, many, many rocks, and adding organic material in their place (leaves, sticks, kitchen scraps, etc.). I have noticed that everywhere I’ve improved that way results in far more productive plants. And it’s sustainable, because I’ll keep on adding mulch on top, so whatever is removed will be replenished every year.
I have come to believe that, at least in very harsh climates, both landracing and effective water management as part of the overall design plan are important to help plants thrive. Swales with deep mulch and hugelkultur both seem to be excellent strategies for me. So does shade — I think my beans most likely want partial shade, just like almost everything else does. It was amazing to see the difference between my peach trees this year — the ones in full sun suffered and barely eked out a single peach, while the ones in partial shade fruited prodigiously and looked lush and happy. It really does seem to be true that “full sun” plants are really “please give me partial shade!” plants in my climate.
I grew tepary beans in Sandy. My soil was straight sand and rock, covered with woodchip mulch. The teparies got a gallon of water on planting, created massive beautiful plants but no seeds until late in the summer. Day length sensitive?
I assumed at the time that they got too much water.
The teparies I am growing in my south window were planted a month ago. They were watered well when I planted them and nothing since.
(Only for most extreme measures).
I’ll PM you. 
