2016 Little Easy Bean Network - Gardeners Keeping Heirloom Beans From Extinction

[PhilaGardener]

Yes, Happy Birthday @aftermidnight !

 

[journey11]

Yes, Happy Birthday @aftermidnight !

That's so cool!

 

[Pulsegleaner]

The hila on those seeds looks odd. Are they Sword/Jack beans (Canivallia as opposed to Phaseolus)

 

[aftermidnight]

Thanks for the birthday wishes guys, haven't anything special planned other then going out for dinner tonight. This morning DS#2 is bringing us a couple of cords of wood, so that'll take part of the day stacking that. It's the first day of fall and it actually feels like fall outside, you can really feel that freshness in the air. I'm thinking we're in for a real winter this year, the last two have been snowless.

Annette

 

[PhilaGardener]

The hila on those seeds looks odd. Are they Sword/Jack beans (Canivallia as opposed to Phaseolus)

Maybe. They are printed by an Aussie company (rather than GMO) but they don't ship internationally. (lol)

 

[Pulsegleaner]

It seems a distinct possibility. I'm fairly sure they often do use jack beans for this kind of thing, for the same reason companies in the US who do this often used runners (they're big beans so there is a lot of printing room)

It just that if I or anyone I knew DID get some of these as a gift (say someone was over there bought them, and somehow managed to get them through customs) It would be something one would like to know for ones safety (the jury is sort of out on whether mature jack/sword beans are safe to eat)

 

[journey11]

Wanted to show you guys two beans I got from @marshallsmyth that turned out to be really cool.

Weaver makes these huge, puffy pods. Never seen one like it, and I've grown over 80 now.

Was hoping someone here would know more about them, anything about their history and origin...

(Young pods and mature pods)


And Black Neptune Lima is loaded with some huge pods too, just starting to fill out. I planted these a little late, but we shouldn't see frost for another 4 weeks, so I think they'll make it before then.

If I remember right, these were an outcross from Marshall's garden that he named.

 

[Hal]

@journey11 Instant jealousy on my part when viewing those pictures. Those 'Weaver' pods look huge.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@journey11, I sent Weaver and Neptune to Marshall at the end of 2013. I first grew Weaver and obtained it through a member of Seed Savers Exchange probably around 1980. It has been traded around among members of SSE for nearly 40 years. The bean is part of the permanent bean collection of SSE. It produces these incredible long flattened pods. I have harvested them at 9 inches in length and they still cook tender as long as they are not seedy. Food historian William Woys Weaver (his name being no relation to the bean) believes that "Weaver" may have been introduced by a California seed company in the 1920's. I don't know what the name of the seed company could be or wheather it's even still in business.

In 1980 a fellow from Tennessee by the name of E.P. Griggs sent me several limas that he stated were very old varieties and he wanted someone to insure their survival. These limas had no names. I named them Celeste, Neptune and Ganymede. Several years later I donated them to SSE. These limas are also part of the permanent bean collection of SSE. Neptune should not be a black seeded bean. I believe Marshall probably has found a dark colored outcross and continued to grow it and named it Black Neptune. That's fine nothing wrong with that. I myself as you know like to work with outcrosses. This year I grew Neptune for the second time since 2012 and I am finding a very dark purple bean among my Neptune crop which at a little bit of distance you could say looks black, but I think it really is a very dark shade of purple. I don't know if I will continue to grow this dark purple bean or simply weed it out and possibly discard it to my stewing pot.

 

[journey11]

@journey11, I sent Weaver and Neptune to Marshall at the end of 2013. I first grew Weaver and obtained it through a member of Seed Savers Exchange probably around 1980. It has been traded around among members of SSE for nearly 40 years. The bean is part of the permanent bean collection of SSE. It produces these incredible long flattened pods. I have harvested them at 9 inches in length and they still cook tender as long as they are not seedy. Food historian William Woys Weaver (his name being no relation to the bean) believes that "Weaver" may have been introduced by a California seed company in the 1920's. I don't know what the name of the seed company could be or wheather it's even still in business.

In 1980 a fellow from Tennessee by the name of E.P. Griggs sent me several limas that he stated were very old varieties and he wanted someone to insure their survival. These limas had no names. I named them Celeste, Neptune and Ganymede. Several years later I donated them to SSE. These limas are also part of the permanent bean collection of SSE. Neptune should not be a black seeded bean. I believe Marshall probably has found a dark colored outcross and continued to grow it and named it Black Neptune. That's fine nothing wrong with that. I myself as you know like to work with outcrosses. This year I grew Neptune for the second time since 2012 and I am finding a very dark purple bean among my Neptune crop which at a little bit of distance you could say looks black, but I think it really is a very dark shade of purple. I don't know if I will continue to grow this dark purple bean or simply weed it out and possibly discard it to my stewing pot.

Thank you for that background history, Russ. I will copy that to my files. I like knowing a little something about where they come from.

I only grew Weaver to increase seed this year, but will plant enough to try next year. It looks like it's going to be a good bean for canning. Just a few pods make a generous serving. Black Neptune I will have enough extra for a meal. I'll be curious to see if it has stabilized.

Nearly all of my beans have been harvested and are drying down. I have lots of nice seed to send you on all 8 of mine here soon.