Jen Fulkerson

Thanks everyone, I will save some of the best beans. I bought a package from red long beans and planted them with the beans I saved from the year before.

Judith I heard that excess nitrogen attracts aphids too. I always sprinkle in a mix of organic fertilizer like green sand, azamite, bone meal, blood meal, and biolive. Then I top the bed off with compost. It's such a small amount of nitrogen, and organic is supposed to take quite a while before it's available to the plants.  I thought maybe over the years it's accumulated, but one of the beds had to be redone because the hardwire cloth on the bottom slipped out of place, making a space for the gopher to get in, so it's essentially a new bed, but maybe not, because I did reuse the same soil. I don't know anything is possible.  I didn't do anything different than I normally do.
I have a cattle panel trellis, so I always grow beans and peas in this spot, and they are supposed to be nitrogen fixers, so maybe that has something to do with it. Also I have heard lots of complaints about other people having a lot more aphid problems than normal. I work in a nursery in town, and it's always a challenge keeping things healthy and bug free, but this year it was impossible. This is why I thought maybe the weather?
The attack was mostly contained to beans, squash, and kale. Everything else stayed aphid free, even the tomato that is invading the bean space strange enough.
Thanks

I grow Yard long beans (snake beans, asparagus beans) every year. They are the only fresh eating beans that do well in our hot dry summer.  It's pretty common to get aphids in mid to the end of August. This year it hit hard at the beginning of July, and it's
the worst infestation in a long time. I sprayed them with water several times and released ladybugs. It was a battle, but the ladybugs are winning the war. Buggy Beans are pretty unappealing, so lots of them dried on the vine.
Is it worth saving the full size dry beans to replant? Will it affect future growth? Do you think it could make them more resistant to aphids, or maybe more attractive to them?
What do you think?  Save them, or toss them?

So sorry for your troubles John.   Hang in there 💪. I'm a pessimist by nature, but try to remind myself to look on the Brite side.

I finally stopped putting them in the chicken coop at night. Everything has been going great. They enjoy sticking close to whoever is outside.
I feed them a few times a week. I want them to catch their own food, but they are still young and I don't want them to go hungry either.
Unfortunately Mischief has gone missing. She was in the yard Saturday morning, but we haven't seen her since. We have looked for her, and called her. She always shows up when I feed them, and she didn't. She could still show up, but I don't have high hopes. Mayhem misses her, and so do we.

2025 as well as 2024 have been very difficult years on a personal level, and a gardening one.  2024 I called year of the pest, because rodents and birds caused a lot of trouble.  I thought about calling 2025 year of the bugs, or aphids. With the exception of a late August aphids on beans until this year I just didn't have any bug problems. Sure a little now and then, but before I could even think about doing something predators would take care of it. Not this year. I started out with stink bugs, and got a major infestation of aphids in the beginning of July. I have heard countless complaints about the terrible aphids this year, so maybe the weather?  Anyway it's been a pain, I bought ladybugs, and they are finally winning the war.
I also thought about calling it the year of neglect. I just haven't put the time or effort I normally invest into my garden this year. I think it's a little to do with the fact I'm garden cashier at work this year. I enjoy it, had to kind of fight to get it, but it makes for some very long hot days. It's tough to want to go outside after work.
Amazingly even with the aphids, and neglect I still got a lot out of the garden this year. I grew bell peppers this year, and even though I didn't get a lot I did get the largest most perfect bell peppers I have ever grown. Tons of tomatoes, squash, and other veggies, fruit and herbs. The star of the show has been the Zinnias. They have bloomed and bloomed, and are so beautiful. Different sizes, shapes and colors.  In an effort to be positive I'm calling 2025 the year of the Zinnias.

J I'm so sorry you had a crummy year. Unfortunately it's just happens that way sometimes, but don't give up. 2024 was the year of the pest for me. I built cages, and  draped netting over my veggies. It was a pain, but at least I got veggies.
2025 I learned to trust myself.   I've been gardening for as long time.  I'm not an expert, but I feel I'm a pretty good gardener, with lots of room for improvement. I like to let nature keep the balance in check.  
For some reason this year I discovered stink bugs. I kinda freaked out. I was on the internet trying to figure out what to do, I made a trap, and was out there every night picking them off the plants. At some point I realized I was making myself crazy, and stopped. This may be the first time I'm seeing stink bugs, but thinking back, I probably had them before, and just didn't investigate the problem. eventually the problem fixed itself. Just like it did this year.
A tomato plant died unexpectedly, again I overreacted. I was sure I was over watering, and changed all my watering, which lead to a lot more problems.
An early, and severe aphid attack started to send me into the freakout zone. It was the worst I have dealt with in a long time. It must be the weather, or something because everyone is saying the same. Anyway I seriously considered spraying some organic pesticides, for a minute anyway. I ended up spraying them off with water, and buying ladybugs. It took a while, but the ladybugs are winning, and plants are recovering nicely.
I learned that even though it's great to learn new things, and try different techniques, I also have to trust myself, and hold true to my beliefs.  2025, was a pretty crappy year in the garden, mostly self inflicted. The last couple of years have been a real struggle, so I hope I've learned to stop stressing about what's going wrong, and enjoy what is going right.

Mart first of all when you say rubbing alcohol what strength are you using? 50%, 070%,  or 92?  Second will this solution work on flowers and shrubs?
I work at a Co-op, and I'm often in the nursery.  We have a terrible time trying to keep aphids and other pests off the plants. I thought I would suggest this solution. It's certainly less toxic than the other stuff they use. I don't want to suggest anything that could be harmful to the flowers, and other plants.
thanks

Oh no, I'm so sorry. I'm very impressed with your positive attitude. I hope everything turns out well for you.

Something interesting I was thinking about. I read that a hugelkultur is a great habit for toads, lizards and other like critters. Last year I gave up and removed my hugelkultur. Maybe this is the reason we have a smaller population this year. I will never really know, but it makes sense to me.

I fight Bermuda grass the is a lot like what you are dealing with. Unfortunately I don't have good news. I like to grow in hugel beet style. I dig 2 to 3 feet down, this usually gets below all the weeds. I don't want to bore you with the details, but I add weed cloth to the edges. I make raised beds out of pallets. This keeps the Bermuda grass out for a while.
Even if I use weed cloth, or cardboard and 8 to 12 inches of wood chips it doesn't kill the Bermuda grass. I have pulled up weed cloth and found a thick mat of Bermuda grass roots. Sadly. You fight the fight, because you will never win the war. Just pull it as soon as you see it, and keep going.
Good luck to you.