2018 Little Easy Bean Network - Join Us In Saving Amazing Heirloom Beans

[Blue-Jay]

Russ's Bean Show Day #12​

"HASHULI BROWN & WHITE" - Pole Dry. This years grow out of this bean was not like the first time I grew it three years ago. Not a lot of seed of this bean's seeds filled out well. Much of the seed crop was shriveled and sunken in places. Was it the weather? Did it not get enough water often enough? Purchased this bean from Baker Creek Seeds in 2015. I believe Joseph Simcox originally purchased seed of this bean in a market in Hashuli, Georgia (the country of Georgia).

"Hashuli Brown & White - Pole Dry

"#25 - 97A - 00B" - Bush dry. Another Robert Lobitz Legacy bean which I grew out for the first time this year. That is why the bean still has Robert's code. The first number is mine the rest of the number is Robert's code. The seed I had gotten from a Kansas Seed Saver Exchange was dark and shriveled. Grown in hot Kansas summers. I had left this seed sitting in it's ziploc packet for 3 years in my basement. It had been grown previously around 2011. I didn't know what was going to come out of this seed. It didn't look like much when I planted it and I wasn't even sure it would grow, but I got two plants to produce seed and what a pleasant surprise. Both plants produced this same bean. Really nice color and pattern that reminds me of another bean called "Squaw". This seed seems shorter and heavier than that of "Squaw". To be grown again in 2019.

"#25 97A - 00B" - Bush dry.

"HAVEN'S" - Bush Geen Pods perhaps a snap bean. After harvesting my 2014 bean garden. I found one seed of this bean amongst all the seeds I harvested out of the fourth row. Back then I was in the habit of harvesting all the seed from and entire row which could have been comprised of about 8 varieties. These days I have marker stakes between varieties and harvest seed of each variety seperately. All I know is that I didn't plant any seed that had this color that year, but one that looked similar in it's thinness. A bush wax bean I got from a fellow in Australia called "Honey Keygold". That had solid black thin seeds shaped similar to this one. So I planted my one single seed that sat in a baby food jar in my basement for four years in a flower pot on my back step on the west side of the house. Those pots got full direct sunlight from about 1:30 in the afternoon until about 6:30 PM. This photo is of the entire seed crop I got from my one plant. Named after a street where I live one block west of the street I live on.

"Havens" - Bush Snap

"HEAVENLY GOLD" - Pole Wax. This bean was acquired from the same fellow from Australia in 2016 that I got Honey Keygold from. This year was my first try at growing it and many of it's seeds also did not fill out well.

"Heavenly Gold - Pole Wax

"HIAWATHA" - Pole Dry. This bean is also one of the outcrosses that came to me in 2015 from Will Bonsall (Scattered Seed Project), of Industry, Maine. My original working title was
WB-PKT #4. The bean's seed mother is another pole bean called "Norridgewock". This bean came to me from Will already with this appearance. He sent me a large number of them and it seemed as if he had grown it before. His comment on the packet was "this one has real potential". It was very productive in 2015 and it didn't produce any off type seed coats. So I grew it again this year with the same good results. Growing in the same soil and sunlight conditions as Hashuli Brown And White. The entire seed crop of Hiawatha filled out normally.

"Hiawatha" - Pole Dry.

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug, I can't seem to get "Money" to look right. I grew it two years ago in 2016 and there was no white on the seed and no spotting. The entire seed look like a red cranberry bean. I put seed in the ground that looks correct, but when it's time for harvesting the new seed it doesn't look like what I have planted.

i've been selecting for more white from my grow outs so i know it's possible to influence them somewhat. i'll send you some if i can find them. then you can see if it repeats itself or not in your conditions. it has never been a prolific grower for me in our soils.

i'm continuing to learn here so i'm glad to have each season come around and show me what is possible and where i need to improve.

p.s. "#25 - 97A - 00B" looks a lot like some of the Money bean selections i've planted...

 

[Blue-Jay]

Russ's Bean Show Day #13​

''HODSON WAX" - Bush Wax yellow pods. First offered to the public by the Harvey Seed Company of Buffalo, New York in 1902. The variety had resembled Hodson a green podded bean, and may have been a sport of that variety. Listed by the Henderson Seed Company in 1906, and by 1921 was being sold by over 100 seed companies. I acquired seed of this bean from a Mohawk fellow in Quebec in 2017. Last years grow out gave me only one plant that was a true bush and I collected a few new seeds from it. This year in 2018 I planted the bean in two different places. One place the bean was a true bush but I again only had two bush plants grow. The other place I planted the bean I got one yellow podded plant and one green podded and both plants were massive semi runners. I saved seed from both the true bush plants and semi runners. Future grow outs should prove to be very interesting.

"Hodson Wax" - Bush yellow pods.

"HOLSTEIN" - Semi runner dry. So you have seen my brown and white Gurnsey bean. This is the black and white bean that gave birth to Gurnsey. Holstein also threw off two segregations or off type seed coats this year too. Both came out of semi runner plants. In 2016 Holstein threw off a true bush plant that was patterened like Jacob's Cattle but in true jet black color. Holstein's colored area is also true jet black. No dark purple highlights like Black Trout. The second and third photos are the 2018 off types from Holstein.

"Holstein" - Semi Runner Dry.

2018 Holstein Segregation

2018 Holstein Segregation

"HOLSTEIN SEGREGATION 2017" Semi Runner. In 2017 Holstein threw off an off type seed coat and I decided to grow it this year. It's nearly identical to one of this years off type seed coats. This bean grew true to type this year.

Holstein 2017 Segregation Grown in 2018.

"RED SKUNK RIVER" - Semi Runner Dry. Robert Lobitz Legacy bean and Robert's code (00-A). I had been holding this seed since 2015. I don't remember if this bean segregated from something I grew of those legacy seeds in 2015. Certainly I didn't write anything in 2015 in my spreadsheet as I usually do. So I planted it in 2017 and it grew true to type with very small leaves in an abundant amount. I grew it again this year and again it grew true to type, seeds and plants both. It also produces 4 inch pods with thin pod walls when dry that are easy to hand shell.

"Red Skunk River" Semi Runner dry.

"INDIAN" - Bush Dry. I got this bean from a bean trading friend in Liebenfels, Austria in 2013. The beans were very dark when they arrived and I let the beans sit in a baby food jar on a shelf in my basement for two years before I planted them and got almost a 6 Oz baby jar of seed from them. I had expected a pole bean so I planted them in my backyard around two poles and I wound up with about 8 bush plants crowded around these two poles. Planted them again last year in an area that stayed wet for a long time but I got one or two plants to give me a few more beans. Planted them again this year in an area I knew was well drained but only a couple of seeds grew and I got perhaps two handfuls of beans. I'll probably let this bean sit for another two years before trying it again.

"Indian" - Bush Dry.

 

[Blue-Jay]

i've been selecting for more white from my grow outs so i know it's possible to influence them somewhat. i'll send you some if i can find them. then you can see if it repeats itself or not in your conditions. it has never been a prolific grower for me in our soils.

i'm continuing to learn here so i'm glad to have each season come around and show me what is possible and where i need to improve.

p.s. "#25 - 97A - 00B" looks a lot like some of the Money bean selections i've planted...

Money bean should look a lot like #25 - 97A - 00B, but probably different shade of red. Perhaps the strain of Money that I have is more easily influenced by soil. I used to grow a great looking Money back in the early 80's in a heavy clay type topsoil. The loamy black soils that I'm working with now I would think should give me a good looking money but so far not.

@flowerbug, If you want to send some of your good looking Money I will definitely try growing them.

 

[flowerbug]

Money bean should look a lot like #25 - 97A - 00B, but probably different shade of red. Perhaps the strain of Money that I have is more easily influenced by soil. I used to grow a great looking Money back in the early 80's in a heavy clay type topsoil. The loamy black soils that I'm working with now I would think should give me a good looking money but so far not.

@flowerbug, If you want to send some of your good looking Money I will definitely try growing them.

ok, i found them this morning easily enough and they're already packaged. i grew them around '15-'16 so they should be ok. they have a lot of white in them. will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[flowerbug]

...
''HODSON WAX" - Bush Wax yellow pods. First offered to the public by the Harvey Seed Company of Buffalo, New York in 1902. The variety had resembled Hodson a green podded bean, and may have been a sport of that variety. Listed by the Henderson Seed Company in 1906, and by 1921 was being sold by over 100 seed companies. I acquired seed of this bean from a Mohawk fellow in Quebec in 2017. Last years grow out gave me only one plant that was a true bush and I collected a few new seeds from it. This year in 2018 I planted the bean in two different places. One place the bean was a true bush but I again only had two bush plants grow. The other place I planted the bean I got one yellow podded plant and one green podded and both plants were massive semi runners. I saved seed from both the true bush plants and semi runners. Future grow outs should prove to be very interesting.
View attachment 29338
"Hodson Wax" - Bush yellow pods.
...

interesting on that kind of seed coat pattern on a wax bean, i've not seen anything like that before for a wax bean. usually it is either the soldier type bean like the Top Notch with a mostly white seed or the all black seed like the Cherokee that i've seen before.

 

[Blue-Jay]

interesting on that kind of seed coat pattern on a wax bean, i've not seen anything like that before for a wax bean. usually it is either the soldier type bean like the Top Notch with a mostly white seed or the all black seed like the Cherokee that i've seen before.

It's and old variety over a hundred years. Similar seed coat as Red Valentine. Supposedly originated near Buffalo, New York according to the Harvey Seed Company who originally listed it. There have been other seed coats for wax beans. The beans of New York published in 1931 lists wax beans with black seed coats, white seed coats. One old wax bean is German Black Wax. The wax beans like Topnotch with the brown eye have been very common.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Russ's Bean Show Day #14​

"RED SKUNK RIVER" - Reverse color seed coat. Yesterday when I posted Red Skunk River. I forgot to post the neat looking reverse color that some of the seeds do of this bean.

"Red Skunk River - Reverse Seed Coat Colors.

"JACOB'S CATTLE AMISH" - Bush Dry. I got this bean in December 2013 from a fellow in the Netherlands. It has a little longer and narrow more rounded pods than Jacob's Cattle. It also retains it's color pattern when grown here where JC for me turns nearly all red. This year was the second time since 2014 that I've grown this bean and it performed as well as the first time. Really a nice bean to grow.

"Jacob's Cattle Amish - Bush Dry.

"#28 B-01-03A" And "#30B-97D-00M-03A" - ''SKUNK RIVER TROUT'' - Bush Dry. Working with more of Robert Lobitz's Legacy Beans as I call them. Original beans of Robert's that he may have never had the chance to grow to stabalize or name them. These two beans as far as my observations go appear to me to be the same bean. I still have kept the seed seperated although I think they are the same. Very productive with long pods 6 and 7 inches long. I also think the beans under both of these codes of Robert's might already be stable.

#28 B-01-03A - "Skunk River Trout" - Bush Dry

#30B-97D-00M-03A - "Skunk River Trout" - Bush Dry.

"JOHN'S BEAN" - Bush Dry. Acquired from Heritage Harvest Seeds in 2012 when they were still shipping seed over the U.S. border.
They describe the bean as Early, productive bean from the Maritimes. I take it that it's probably a Canadian variety. This summer was my third grow out of the bean.

"John's Bean" - Bush Dry.

"JOHNSBURG" - Pole Snap. Another of the many beans (52 packets) I got from Will Bonsall (Scattered Seed Project). I was keeping the bean under the working title WB-PKT #5.3. Six to Seven inch long flattened pods. The beans seed mother is Bobolink, but doesn't have an resemblance. This summer was the second grow out of the bean without any off types. Named after the town of Johnsburg, Illinois here in the county where I live. Late this summer the bean actually produced a second flush of green pods that grew to full length green, put never had enough time for them to dry and produce another flush of dry seed. I got a very plentiful crop of seed from the first flush.

"Johnsburg"- Pole Snap

"KARACHAGANAK" - Semi Runner dry. Another of the 52 packets of outcrosses sent to me by Will Bonsall of Industry, Maine. Previously my working title of this grow out that produced this bean and 6 other segregations was WB-PKT #39. During 2016 I sent out a number of these Bonsall outcrosses to other people to grow out and name themselves. I had nothing to do with the naming of this bean. It was grown and named by a fellow from Prairie Grove, Arkansas. This man had taken four of these Bonsall beans and returned 26 segregations from them. This bean was one of them. I have since grown it twice and it produces the same seed coat colors and pattern. It does seem to produce a more rounded seed and one that is longer. It is in my opinion strikingly attractive.

"Karachaganack" - Semi Runner Dry.

​

 

[Blue-Jay]

Russ's Bean Show Day #15​

''KELLY LAKE" - Bush Dry. A Robert Lobitz variety that Robert released through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook sometime in the early 2000's. I acquired the bean from Inspirations Garden Centre in Exeter, Tasmania, Australia. After growing it out this year I found the grow out results very interesting. The first photo is the original seed I obtained from the Australian company. The remaining photos are the seeds I harveste from the Kelly Lake grow out.

"Kelly Lake" - Bush Dry.

"Kelly Lake" - ?????

"Kelly Lake" - ????

"Kelly Lake" - ????

"Kelly Lake" - ????

"KITOBA" - Pole Dry. Obtained this bean from a fellow in Kentucky in July 2017. It was a bit on the late side and produced it's dry pods very slowly over a long period of time. I thought this one was really pushing the season here. Country of origin is Kenya. I'll have some pretty seeds to send back to my Kentucky bean friend.

"Kitoba" - Pole Dry.

"KINGS KNIGHT- Bush Snap. Another Robert Lobitz original bean. He released this one through the Seed Savers yearbook in 1999. I found it listed in the 2006 yearbook looking for a description of the bean that he wrote so I could get an idea of what the original beans seed coat was like. I grew this bean this year and got two different seeds from it. His description reads. 85 days, black purple lightly mottled gray seeds. I did get seeds that looked like they could be the lightly mottled ones. I also got a solid jet black one that is shaped similarly to the lightly mottled ones which to me looked kind of bluish. First photo are the beans that I think more closely fits Robert Lobitz's description. The second photo is the black beans. There were probably triple the amount black beans in the grow out than the mottled ones.

"King's Knight" - Bush Snap.

From my 2018 King's Knight grow out.

''KISHWAUKEE GREEN'' - Bush snap. Green podded counterpart of Kishwaukee Yellow discovered one season later after I found the black mottled Kishwaukee seeds in September of 1977 in Cherokee Wax. The 1978 grow out realized a yellow podded and a green podded snap bean. I had listed both beans in the SSE yearbook in the early 1980's. After returning to SSE in 2011 after a 22 year absence I began recovering some of my original bean varieties and found Kishwaukee Yellow grown by a former SSE member in Colorado. After a couple of years I figured Kishwaukee Green was gone for the lack of anyone growing it. Upon opening an email one morning in 2015 from a David Gillaspie of Corrina, Maine with the subject line..."Bean Seeds You Might Like". David had worked for a garden farmer and was gifted a jar of seeds by him. David had no idea what they were called but had grown these beans for the previous 12 years. Often wondering what they were he happened upon my website and in seeing the description and photo of Kishwaukee Yellow and reading the bean threw off other seed coats and had at one time a green podded counterpart. He was convinced that the bean was indeed Kishwaukee Green. He sent some to me and after one grow out. The bean was exactly what I had expected. This time Kishwaukee Green found me.

"Kishwaukee Green - Bush Green Poddes Snap.

"KNEPLEY'S 40 BUSHEL" - Bush Dry. A nice looking yellow eye type bean. I acquired this bean from a SSE member in Kansas in December of 2011. The variety has been traded around through SSE since back in the early 1980's. A family heirloom of a man who was also a SSE member named Clarence Knepley.

"Knepley's 40 Bushel" - Bush Dry.

 

[saritabee]

@Michael Lusk, Thank you so much for all your work this summer. Hope you will return with us next year. 5 returns so far out of 28 growers. 23 left to go.

Hopefully mine will be in the mail soon -- all of my seed is dry, except for the Harriet's Black Hook, which seem to have gotten to the stage where they're semi-hard but you can still easily mark them with your fingernail... and then stopped. They've been like that for over a month. I have a bunch of dessicant packets in with the seed now; I hope that will help. Or if anyone has a better idea...?