2017 Little Easy Bean Network – Everything Beans, Post It Here & Join The Fun

[Blue-Jay]

The twelvth Lobitz unnamed bean grow out was a bean from packet #10 White. This bean grew as a true bush. Seed was round white (fist photo) and produced one round white bean and one white segregation of a slightly elonged shape. I have attached the name of "Cold Spring" to the bean in the first photo and have attached the name "Lake George" to the second photo.

#120 - "Cold Spring"

"Lake George"

 

[Blue-Jay]

The thirteenth Lobitz unnamed bean grow out was a bean from packet #10 Black. It produce a round black seed like the original without any segregations. I have not attached a name to this bean.

#120 - #10 Black

 

[flowerbug]

The elventh Lobitz unnamed bean grow out was a bean from packet #10 brown. A brown round seed bean that grew as a true bush. The bean also produced a round brown seed like the original and also a round seed patterned similar to a trout (fist photo) or a Jacob's Cattle bean. I have attached the named "Eden Valley"(first photo). I have not attached a name to the round brown seeded bean (second photo).


#119 - "Eden Valley"

i'm not sure why, but i really do like the round beans and Eden Valley is a sweet heart! thank you for all the pics Russ. i'm soaking 'em in and enjoying each one. even those white beans.

 

[Blue-Jay]

I made one planting of Lobitz unnamed bean from packet 23a code none. One single seed that looked different from the rest of the seeds in the packet I planted in a flower pot. It was very small and a bit shriveled and I waited a long part of the summer for it to very slow develop into a plant the produced about a half dozen pods and new bright seed. The bean somewhat resembles "Early Stearns". It's coloration looks like it could be related to Robert's beans of "Canoe" and "Mazeppa". I have named this bean "Cold Creek".

#121 - "Cold Creek"

 

[Tricia77]

Great job Russ! They are beauties and I love the names!

 

[Tricia77]

The tenth Lobitz unnamed bean grow out was #32 93-DS-44. This bean grew as a true bush. First photo is two of the last original unplanted seeds I have left. The bean appers to have created 3 additional segregations. The second photo I have attached the name "El Rosa" for the town in Minnesota in Stearns county. The third photo I have attached the name "Paynesville Kidney". The third and fourth photos I have not attached a name to those beans.

View attachment 22829
#32 93-DS-44

View attachment 22830
#118 - "El Rosa"


View attachment 22837
"Paynesville Kidney"

View attachment 22831
#32 93-DS-44

View attachment 22832 #32 93-DS-44

I also have these to grow for Stephen! I can’t wait to see what I find next year!

 

[Tricia77]

I made one planting of Lobitz unnamed bean from packet 23a code none. One single seed that looked different from the rest of the seeds in the packet I planted in a flower pot. It was very small and a bit shriveled and I waited a long part of the summer for it to very slow develop into a plant the produced about a half dozen pods and new bright seed. The bean somewhat resembles "Early Stearns". It's coloration looks like it could be related to Robert's beans of "Canoe" and "Mazeppa". I have named this bean "Cold Creek".

View attachment 22839
#121 - "Cold Creek"

I also have this unnamed bean to grow next year. All the seed in my packet looks the same.

 

[Tricia77]

The fifth Lobitz unnamed bean grow out was #30b 97D-00M-03A. The beans growth was that of a true bush with out runners. Ron Thuma's original seed to me grown in 2010 looks like a dark purple trout patterned seed. The bean did not produce any segregations and the new seed also looks like a dark purple trout patterned seed. I have attached the name of "Skunk River Trout" to this bean.

View attachment 22819
#113 - "Skunk River Trout"

This is the third one I have to grow next year for Stephen. It’s going to be an interesting year!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I love that background story, wouldn't it be fascinating to know what those codes meant. Some of those beans really stand out, I'm not going to even try to pick a favorite. And your honoring his naming traditions is fabulous, have you considered asking James if any specific places had special meaning to Robert? That might make coming up with names easier.

After Robert Lobitz of Paynesville, Minnesota passed away in 2006. A fellow Seed Saver Exchange member Ron Thuma of Hartford, Missouri wrote to his brother James Lobitz and acquired from James some beans that Robert had not named. They might have been in some process of grow out to try to stablize them. I had found this out when I ran into Ron at one of the Seed Saver Campout/Conferences, I think it was 2012. I had asked Ron if I could grow some of the unnamed Lobitz beans too. Ron did not want turn them over to anyone else, and I can understand that as Ron may have felt that it was his project, and it really was. Two years later in 2014 out of curiosity I tried asking Ron about those unnamed Lobitz beans again and at that time he said he had become frustrated with them and just had them in the freezer. He said he would send them to me the next spring of 2015. Ron was willing to let someone else have a try at them. So I planted most of them in 2015. I had deer eating problems but wound up getting a small amount of seed from all the ones I had planted. This season in 2017 I made 13 plantings of those Lobitz beans and for the most part grew very well. The following postings are the new seeds I harvest from this pretty much the Last of The Robert Lobitz bean legacy. Ron had all the packets he sent to me numbered starting with about #10 up to #34 with a number of skips in the number sequence.

Sometime after receiving these unnamed Robert Lobitz beans. I shared half the seed with Stephen Smith. I thought just in case disaster in my plantings there would be a duplicate set of them somewhere. It was my thought that Stephen might grow some of this seed out as well.

I had also written to James Lobitz earlier in this year 2017, and one of the things he stated in his response to me was if I named any of Robert's unnamed beans to please be cognizant of how Robert named his beans which was to name them after places, towns, creeks,rivers, valleys, lakes etc in the county and state where he lived his life.

Robert had code numbers on his unnamed beans. What they meant I have no idea. Only Robert Lobitz would know the meaning of those codes. After looking at the seed if there were different seeds in a packet I would break them out into their own seperate packets. Numbering the new packet for instance if there was a packet #34 97-97A-02 there might then be a packet 34b 97-97A-02 or 34c 97-97A-02. These packet numbers then would go along with Roberts code numbers.

This first bean and code I grew this year was #26 - 00A code none. Semi-runner in growth. The new seed wound up looking like the original, and seed I had grown in 2015. The new seed also grew with the addition of a reddish counterpart the same size and with the same markings. I have also decided to attach names to some of these beans in the tradition that Robert would have used. I think Robert Lobitz would be approving of these names. These two beans I have attached the name "Skunk River" and "Red Skunk River", for the Skunk River that flows through Stearns county where Robert lived.

View attachment 22812
#108 - "Skunk River"

View attachment 22813
#109 - "Red Skunk River"

 

[Blue-Jay]

Hi Ridge,

I have not thought of asking James if there were any places that were special to Robert. With over a hundred Lobitz bean names I have on a list. I wouln't be surprise if Robert used the names of those special places.