Nice article, George... can't imagine why it made you think of me though. ;-)

Those are really beautiful vines. Long beans are (usually)
better adapted to your climate than mine. This summer, though - unlike
the cool, wet, cloudy excuse for a summer we had in 2017 - has been a
beauty. Sunny, dry, warm, and humid - a bit uncomfortable for people,
but just the way long beans like it. The trellis is so densely covered that I can hardly see through.

Although they don't mind heat, long beans do need consistent soil moisture - especially once blooming starts. If the soil is dry, blossom drop increases, and the pods that form become hollow & run to seed very quickly. They really thrive on moisture, you almost can't over-water them... much more tolerant of warm wet conditions than common beans.

Cowpeas & long beans also are much better at adding nitrogen to the soil than common beans.

The bumps on the flower stalks which attract wasps & ants (and ladybugs!) are called extra-floral nectaries. I first grew yardlong beans for the novelty; but I began growing them in greater numbers because once blooming starts, those nectaries attract beneficial insect predators. Those insects very effectively control my aphid population, so long beans are a vital part of my IPM strategy.

It also helps that DW knows how to prepare them in many different ways, and I learned to enjoy them. It is worth noting that the red/purple long beans - unlike purple snap beans - will keep most of their color when cooked. A dash of vinegar after cooking will restore a deep burgundy red color, making them a very attractive side dish.

There is a lot more diversity available now than when I first became interested in long beans, something I am very happy to see. Growing up, all that was available was the strong-flavored, black-seeded "Asparagus Bean". Now there are varieties available with red, black, white, or bi-colored seeds; pods that are red, or several shades of green (and even spotted); and a range of flavors & textures. Baker Creek, Evergreen Y.H., and Kitazawa all carry good selections. In recent years, I've become especially interested in those with bi-colored seeds; both of the long beans I'm growing this year (Thai Soldier, and 3-Feet-Plus) are in that category.

Last year my yardlongs & all but one of my cowpeas were failures. This year I only planted two yardlongs, but both are vigorous & bearing heavily. I grew Thai Soldier (from Baker Creek) and had to laugh at their description of it as "bush". The runners are nearly 6' long now & climbing everything in the adjacent rows; if I grow them again, I'll use a trellis.

Due to foot trouble, I was unable to cultivate my rural plot this year. Too bad, because I usually grow another 4-5 cowpeas & yardlongs there, and this has turned out to be a perfect summer for seed saving. :-( I can't complain about the production from my home gardens, though.

Thanks Chris! Any recipes would be greatly appreciated. I'm been overjoyed, just having figured out that they saute better than boil. Only took me about 33 years to figure that one out. Then, "to add insult to injury," I went to Baker Creek's page on long beans and Jere Gettle had that statement blazoned across the top of the page!

I've noted the same about moisture. We typically have summers much hotter than yours. Yet, on years mine haven't done very well, at times. They definitely require water.

Speaking of attracting pollinators, I've noticed, in recent years, that our native bees have had a population explosion. We also have a whole lot of wasps, some of which are smaller than a pencil lead. They all work the flowers of my beans and peppers. I have practiced a good isolation policy with the peppers, and, typically don't grow two of the same species on a given year. But I had to revise my isolation practices with the beans. Some years I was getting a ton of cross pollination between beans, once, between varieties separated by 40'! This is good if one wants to experiment with crosses. It's bad if one wants to preserve varieties. So, now, I give about 50' separation between my beans. This year, I only got Georgia Long planted, from among the cowpeas. Typically, however, I have at least two more cowpeas planted.

I haven't had a cowpea cross since around 1998, when we lived in Mexico. Perhaps the extra-floral nectaries help divert attention from the actual flowers.

Thus far, with different cowpeas & yardlongs separated by 50' or more, I've only seen one cross. There might be more in the saved seed, but this is still a very low crossing rate - under 1%. Since cowpeas are not commonly grown here, it may be that pollinators here don't know what to do with them. This might change over time, as the local pollinator population adapts to take advantage of the new food source.

The wasps have certainly adapted. I've watched their population skyrocket in both locations (rural & suburban) since I began gardening there. They are constantly on patrol, picking insects off of the vegetation... haven't seen a caterpillar yet this year. Not sure if they have learned to hunt the Japanese beetles yet, but one can hope. ;-)

Your crossing observations about common beans mirror my own. When I first started saving seed seriously, I had an extremely low crossing rate, much less than 1%. The bumblebee population has grown, though, and this has caused an increase. Nothing severe, maybe to 2%; but to those of us who are trying to preserve varieties rather than create new ones, any crossing is undesirable. One of the seed beans from last year (Bosnian Pole) had a cross appear in the row, so I am regrowing it this year, with more separation & a smaller number of plants.

I too am rethinking my spacing, to perhaps grow fewer varieties each year, at wider spacing. This means, though, that I would need to reduce the number of beans I maintain. Unless I get off my butt & invest in the seed storage freezer I've been thinking about for years (kicking self in behind). I need to run a new circuit to support it, which is the reason I've been procrastinating.

I'll talk to DW about those recipes. One of those is the Filipino soup/stew Pinakbet, which uses kabocha squash, eggplant, long beans, lima beans, and tomatoes in a tamarind soup base. I've asked her before to write down that recipe, but she doesn't really measure anything, just goes by feel. We use the red long beans just lightly boiled or steamed, then served with vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic powder. The sauteing sounds good, I'll have to try that with the beans we harvested yesterday.