2015 Little Easy Bean Network - Old Beans Should Never Die !

[aftermidnight]

Me too, very impressive lineup.
Annette

 

[aftermidnight]

@Bluejay77 , I got a little more information from the gal I got 'Candy' from, she originally bought her seed from Annapolis Seeds in Nova Scotia. She grows it just about every year, once in awhile it does throw a runner but for the most part it stays a true bush. She's going to pay particular attention to what it does this year. Only 7 seeds so far but the plants are still looking good so maybe I'll get a few more seeds or.... hit my friend up for a few more .
Annette

 

[Blue-Jay]

Hi @aftermidnight,

Owen Bridge owns and operates Annapolis Seeds. I have purchased seed from him before. Owen sent me an outcrossed pole bean that came from their bean growing. Judging by that my guess would be that they probably grow alot of the beans close together. Could be true bush Candy might be the result of more crossing with a true bush bean. Not a bad thing. I mean I wouldn't mind having a true bush form of Candy. That would be neat. I know that Robert Lobitz grew my Candy and he was friends with the owner Jason (can't remember his last name) of Salt Spring Seeds in BC Canda I believe also sells Candy and I think Owen at Annapolis once told me he has acquired beans from Salt Spring. Jason sent Robert Lobitz (Paynesville, Minnesota) a bag of outcrossed seed once from which Robert managed to get some of his many named varieties out of that bag of beans. So what does that tell you. You can just guess.

Anyway Candy was originally a half runner. I think Candy probably has picked up some other genes depending on who you get it from. I reaquired Candy from SSE since it was turned in by one of the members years ago and kept in frozen storage for a long time. I thought it was probably not far removed from Candy as I had first found it for that reason.

It's interesting what happens to varieties as time goes along. I believe that all our heirlooms given enough time will undergo some changes. Who knows what they will be like in a thousand years, but I'm sure if there are people around that want to grow them.
The heirlooms will still be around.

 

[aftermidnight]

@Bluejay77 I don't think Annapolis is selling 'Candy' this year but I do believe Dan Jason (Salt Spring Seeds is. I think he has moderate climber in the description on his Seed Sanctuary list.
I have met Dan a really nice fellow and I've sent him bean seed in the past namely the Italian pole bean I have grown since 1965 'Emilia's Italian', when I finally tracked down the history I named it after the Italian immigrant that brought it to Canada when she immigrated in 1911. I also sent him some Bird Egg #3, he was impressed at the size of this one. I also sent him the Fort Portal Jade seed I grew as I wouldn't be growing it again.
I was mistaken when I said my source for 'Candy' was growing it again this year, she won't be until next year so I'll keep my fingers crossed I get a few more seeds from my plants and grow them again next year in hopes they stay a true bush, if they do I will send you a few seeds .
Annette

 

[flowerweaver]

Here's a report on just the BUSH bean harvest (half-runner, pole, and Lima to come). All the 2015 bush bean photos are now posted to my Flickr account. I planted 6 of each variety, so you can see the toll 50.25 inches of rain had on the crop. 198 sown beans only yielded 434 good beans. Somewhere I have notes on how many we actually threw away due to molding and immaturity, which harvested when, etc.

There were a few surprises. A couple of African Premiere #2 were off types like the African Premiere beige. A couple of Koronis Purples were bigger and darker. The oddest were that Bird Egg #2 didn't look anything like the originals which were brown and beige with a neat pattern; these turned out dark red and that Evening Moon did not look at all like the original seed. The original seed is part white and part tan, and these were very dark with a subtle pattern, and three were black with tan markings. SeedO has been helping me harvest but we've both been careful, and there was nothing this color planted near it. @marshallsmyth and @Bluejay77 take a look at the photo below and see if it looks like something else you recognize.

Supposedly, Evening Moon (!):

Oddly, the most productive bean in number and weight (57 at .4 oz) was Evening Moon (or whatever it is)! That, followed by Shoshone Outcross #2 (44 at .2 oz), Shoshone Outcross mix (39 at .2 oz), Little Brown Cat (36 at .3 oz), and Horsehead (29 at .3 oz). By weight, Little Brown Cat and Horsehead would surpass the Shoshones.

Here's the entire 2015 Bush bean harvest, out of 140 row feet, such as it is--not even enough to make soup!:

Bush Beans 33 types planted, in the order listed. Number harvested (in parentheses):

1. African Premiere #3 #2 (14) have lost their markings, two off types like AP beige
   
   
2. Bird Egg #2 (6) ??? don't look like original seed at all, nothing planted near them like it. Dark with a slight pattern, except for three which are black with tan markings.
   
   
3. Booming Prairie (6) not in great shape
   
   
4. Bomba (7) not as dark or green as originals
   
   
5. Buckskin Girl (16)
   
   
6. Choctaw (15)
   
   
7. Early China (0) none sprouted
   
   
8. Eden Prairie (0) molded
   
   
9. Evening Moon (57) ??? 54 dark 3 tan with dark NOTHING like originals
   
   
10. Giele Waldbeantsje (0)
    
    
11. Green Hutterite (12)
    
    
12. Great Lakes Special (8)
    
    
13. Horsehead (29)
    
    
14. Imbotyi Chaphaza (LEBN) (8)
    
    
15. Koronis Purple (9) 2 were larger and darker outcrosses
    
    
16. Little Brown Cat (36)
    
    
17. Maggie's Crescent (24)
    
    
18. Magpie (27)
    
    
19. Marico ? I thought we harvested some of these, but I can't find them or my notes at the moment
    
    
20. Money (5)
    
    
21. Mpumalanga Boontjis 2 (4)
    
    
22. Mrocumiere (12)
    
    
23. Mrs. Keeney's Pinks (12)
    
    
24. Not Corbett Refugee now Fantasy as per RC (5)
    
    
25. Piros Feher (8)
    
    
26. Purple Face (0) there were a couple of these but my cat disrupted the box and they have not been found!
    
    
27. Rose Creek Beauty (0) did not sprout
    
    
28. Bumblebee (4)
    
    
29. Shoshone Outcross #1 (12)
    
    
30. Smith River Super Speckle (12)
    
    
31. Shoshone Outcross Mix (39) not as colorful as the original mix
    
    
32. Stone Bread (3)
    
    
33. Shoshone Outcross #2 (44)

 

[897tgigvib]

That's amazing! Evening Moon looks like you harvested from 2 or 3 plants, and what you have are 2 or 3 different outcrosses, and I sort of suspect that the outcross generation did another cross pollination outcross.
I kind of think that happened to Shoshone a generation or 2 ago.
So sad to hear about eden prarie molded, they're so pretty, but she does hide her pods low in the plant some.
Thank you for working so hard to grow those.

 

[PhilaGardener]

Those look great, flowerweaver !

 

[897tgigvib]

@flowerweaver oh, just now looking at your flickr page photos! Each and every photo dropped my jaw!
Bird egg 2 was on the same trellis cage that african premiere dark outcross was growing on. African premiere dark was making pods green with red markings, similar to borlotti pods.

 

[flowerweaver]

I'm so glad you enjoyed seeing them @marshallsmyth --if only it had been a "normal" season (whatever that is anymore, I've forgotten) it would have been a bigger, better crop. I'm so happy they made anything at all considering the wetness. I took a few notes and photos of pods and flowers colors, but since it rained constantly for a month and a half I really wasn't able to get out to take many of them.

I had also intended to photograph the beans when they were fresh, too, but I had a house full of workmen coming and going for a month on the tornado repairs so everything was in flux, constantly moving around. I'm amazed we could keep this many like objects together at all!

One thing I noticed is with the ending of the drought the native bees and bumblebees have returned en force and I think they have been busy, especially in the Lima beans. Obviously, they enjoyed the Evening Moon. I think you are right, there are several outcrosses in them.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@flowerweaver,

Those beans from Evening Moon look like a mixed up mess to me. Evening Moon is a bean much like Molasses Face white base color with an eye patch. Evening Moon's eye patch is very light. I would describe the color as flesh toned. You can do what you like with those but personally I wouldn't save them. Throw them in a stewing pot with some other beans and make something out of them to eat. Soup or baked beans anyone?

I took a look at your flickr photos. Looks like you got some growable seed for next year anyway. Those red Bird Egg #2 are outcrossed no doubt. I wouldn't grow them as Bird Egg #2. Give them a working name if you like to pursue growing them. Were they true bush in form or did they give off runners. Bird Egg and Bird Egg #2 I would call them half runners.

I had finsished the mulching job on my big bean garden plot almost two weeks ago. I don't plant to visit the big plot again until at least the 15th of August. Everytime I go back I just get disgusted everytime I spot new deer tracks in the mulch. Will have to see what survives out of the entire planting. This season is kind of a mixed bag for me. Everything I planted in my little backyard plot and in my two flower beds is doing just terrific. I'll have to put up some photos of the backyard stuff in another post.