2018 Little Easy Bean Network - Join Us In Saving Amazing Heirloom Beans
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Blue-Jay
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In the last few years I have been trying to collect as many of the beans of former SSE member the late Robert Lobitz. Several years ago I took a trip to the Chicago Botonical Gardens and discovered they had some older SSE yearbooks that I didn't have from the early 2000's. So I photo copied the membership list and the bean listing from about 3 yearbooks.
Recently looking through those old listing I found about 4 or 5 Lobitz beans that had been listed about 10 years ago or so. I thought I would write to those listers as I had luck in doing so before receiving beans from old listings.
On November 28, 2018 a woman from Maine who ran across my website emails me asking if I have any Succotash seed. In reading through her entire email I noticed the membership code of the very person I was going to inquire about two Lobitz beans that I found in those old yearbook listings. She mentioned that she had inherited the entire collection of this SSE member as he had passed away the previous year. I told her that the person she had inherited the bean collection from had listed two Lobitz varieties back in 2006. She wrote back and asked me how many beans Robert had in his collection. I gave her a count of varieties he had collected from various sources. I also sent her a copy of Robert's orignal named beans from the file "Saving The Bean Legacy Of Robert Lobitz". I asked her if she had those two beans from that old listing. She said the list I sent her was amazing and that she would check to see if she had those two requested beans available.
She wrote back to me two days later said she had a bunch of the beans on the Lobitz original bean list I had given her. As I read that email I wondered was I actually seeing this or was it a dream. She told me all the varieties she had available of Robert's. She seemed concerned that some of the seed was old that it dated back to 2013 and possibly 2012. I told her I had no conern how old the seed was could she send any size sample of them. She finally told me that I could have 12 of Roberts bean varieties that she had. She asked me what I would charge her for the Succotash seed. I said for what she was doing for me by sending those Lobitz beans. I said she can have the Succotash and I asked her what else she would like of mine. So we spent a few days hashing out a barter list of beans for each other and I mailed her wanted beans on December 4, 2018 and she mailed the Lobitz beans to me the next day.
Wow ! what a find to have all these Lobitz beans come along like this. It's almost like if you think hard enough about something it might materialize one day. These varieties will definitely be given priority in my 2019 bean grow outs. Today I've mailed away two more letters hoping for yet two more of Robert's original beans.
"BLACK HAWK" - Bush Dry. Released by Robert Lobitz through the 1999 SSE yearbook. Productive with shiny black seeds. 90 days. Sister variety to "White Hawk".
"Black Hawk" - Bush Dry
''BONANAZA LITTLE PINTO" - Bush Dry. Robert released this bean through the SSE yearbook in 2004. 4.5 to 5.5 inch pods, medium sized plants. 85 days.
"Bonanza Little Pinto" - Bush Dry.
"CYRUS GRAY'S - Bush Dry. Released through the SSE yearbook in 2004. 85 days, medium large plants, 5.25 inch pods. Very productive vigorous hardy variety.
"Cyrus Gray's" Bush dry.
"DWARF SHIELD" - Bush Dry. Released through the SSE yearbook in 1999. 90 days. 4.5 inch pods good yields.
"Dwarf Shield" - Bush Dry
''EARLY VERMILLION" - Bush Dry. Released through the SSE yearbook in 2004. 80 days, medium large plant, nice straight easy to shell 6 inch pods, fairly large seeds.
"Early Virmillion" - Bush Dry
"HAWICK" - Bush Dry. Listed in the 2001 SSE yearbook. Robert did not state in the listing what the release year was. 4.5 inch pods quite productive.
"Hawick" - Bush Dry
Recently looking through those old listing I found about 4 or 5 Lobitz beans that had been listed about 10 years ago or so. I thought I would write to those listers as I had luck in doing so before receiving beans from old listings.
On November 28, 2018 a woman from Maine who ran across my website emails me asking if I have any Succotash seed. In reading through her entire email I noticed the membership code of the very person I was going to inquire about two Lobitz beans that I found in those old yearbook listings. She mentioned that she had inherited the entire collection of this SSE member as he had passed away the previous year. I told her that the person she had inherited the bean collection from had listed two Lobitz varieties back in 2006. She wrote back and asked me how many beans Robert had in his collection. I gave her a count of varieties he had collected from various sources. I also sent her a copy of Robert's orignal named beans from the file "Saving The Bean Legacy Of Robert Lobitz". I asked her if she had those two beans from that old listing. She said the list I sent her was amazing and that she would check to see if she had those two requested beans available.
She wrote back to me two days later said she had a bunch of the beans on the Lobitz original bean list I had given her. As I read that email I wondered was I actually seeing this or was it a dream. She told me all the varieties she had available of Robert's. She seemed concerned that some of the seed was old that it dated back to 2013 and possibly 2012. I told her I had no conern how old the seed was could she send any size sample of them. She finally told me that I could have 12 of Roberts bean varieties that she had. She asked me what I would charge her for the Succotash seed. I said for what she was doing for me by sending those Lobitz beans. I said she can have the Succotash and I asked her what else she would like of mine. So we spent a few days hashing out a barter list of beans for each other and I mailed her wanted beans on December 4, 2018 and she mailed the Lobitz beans to me the next day.
Wow ! what a find to have all these Lobitz beans come along like this. It's almost like if you think hard enough about something it might materialize one day. These varieties will definitely be given priority in my 2019 bean grow outs. Today I've mailed away two more letters hoping for yet two more of Robert's original beans.
"BLACK HAWK" - Bush Dry. Released by Robert Lobitz through the 1999 SSE yearbook. Productive with shiny black seeds. 90 days. Sister variety to "White Hawk".
"Black Hawk" - Bush Dry
''BONANAZA LITTLE PINTO" - Bush Dry. Robert released this bean through the SSE yearbook in 2004. 4.5 to 5.5 inch pods, medium sized plants. 85 days.
"Bonanza Little Pinto" - Bush Dry.
"CYRUS GRAY'S - Bush Dry. Released through the SSE yearbook in 2004. 85 days, medium large plants, 5.25 inch pods. Very productive vigorous hardy variety.
"Cyrus Gray's" Bush dry.
"DWARF SHIELD" - Bush Dry. Released through the SSE yearbook in 1999. 90 days. 4.5 inch pods good yields.
"Dwarf Shield" - Bush Dry
''EARLY VERMILLION" - Bush Dry. Released through the SSE yearbook in 2004. 80 days, medium large plant, nice straight easy to shell 6 inch pods, fairly large seeds.
"Early Virmillion" - Bush Dry
"HAWICK" - Bush Dry. Listed in the 2001 SSE yearbook. Robert did not state in the listing what the release year was. 4.5 inch pods quite productive.
"Hawick" - Bush Dry
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- Thread starter
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Blue-Jay
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More Recent Robert Lobitz Bean Acquizitions
''KORONIS YELLOW EYE'' - Bush Dry. Released through the SSE yearbook in 1999. 90 days. 3.5 inch pods, productive.
"Koronis Yellow Eye" - Bush Dry
"MIDNIGHT BLUE" - Semi Runner dry. Listed in the 2001 SSE yearbook. Robert did not state if this was the year of it's first release. 85 days, 5 to 6 inch pods some of which are dark purple when dry, fairly productive.
"Midnight Blue" - Semi Runner dry
"NORTH TOWN PINTO" - The bean is in the SSE collection as SSE Bean 5352.
"North Town Pinto - Bush, Semi Runner ?
"RED EAGLE" - Bush Dry. Perhaps one day I will discover when Robert released this bean.
"Red Eagle" - Bush Dry
"RICE LAKE LITTLE WHITE" - Semi Runner dry. Listed in the SSE yearbook in 2001. Robert did not state the year the bean was released. 85 days, 5 inch pods, very productive.
"Rice Lake Little White" Semi Runner Dry
"SPRING VALLEY PURPLE" - Robert released this variety through the SSE yearbook in 2004. 85 days, large plant, plump purple seeds dusted with cream colored tiny specks and dark eye ring, very productive. These seeds have darkened enough to obscure how they actually look when harvested new.
"Spring Valley Purple" - Bush Dry
thejenx
Garden Addicted
Wow @Bluejay77 that is great to get so many of Robert's beans. How many of his beans have you managed to collect so far? Personally I can't wait to see how the fresh seeds will look next year!
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Blue-Jay
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Of all the varieties that Robert directly had anything to do with and named and released himself. I have 69 of his varieties that are actually live with viable seed out of a list of 103 original names of Robert's. What I wonder about sometimes. Do all those beans exist from the list, or were some of them still not quite ready to be released when he passed away? Have some of them on the list of Roberts named beans fallen out of existence for the lack of anyone taking care of them? I'm sure not all 103 of Robert's named beans will be found. Actually I have seeds of two more of Roberts varieties that will not germinate.
Yesterday I sent away two letters to former listers in the SSE yearbook who listed two of Robert's beans. I'm hoping I will get a positive reply back that even though they have not listed anything in the SSE yearbook recently. I'm hoping that they either are still growing these two beans or still have viable seed of them.
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Blue-Jay
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I don't know if I have ever posted a list of Robert Lobitz's named bean varieties. So below is that list. All the names in red are the ones that I have live viable seed of.
1.) Abundant Little Gem
2.) Alice Sunshine
3.) Amber Pearl
4.) Amber Queen
5.) Arnold
6.) Atwater
7.) Black Hawk
8.) Blooming Prairie
9.) Bonanza Little Pinto
10.) Bonanza Valley Navy
11.) Brazil Little Black (Robert picked this from a packet of beans he got from Brazil then named)
12.) Canoe
13.) Cedar Lake
14.) Crow River Black
15.) Clarisa - Have Seed But won't germinate.
16.) Cokato
17.) Crane Lake
18.) Crow River Pinto
19.) Crow River Speckles
20.) Cyrus Grays
21.) Delano Purple
22.) Dwarf Shield
23.) Eagle Island White
24.) Early Bird
25.) Early Dawn Pinto
26.) Early Stearns
27.) Early Vermillion
28.) Early Victor
29.) Eden Lake Pearls
30.) Eden Prairie
31.) Eagle Island White
32.) Gold Creek Beauty
33.) Golden Valley
34.) Great Lakes Special
35.) Hawick
36.) Keewatin
37.) Kelly Lake
38.) King's Knight
39.) Koronis Cream
40.) Koronis Giant Pinto
41.) Koronis Golden Navy
42.) Koronis Little Red Trout
43.) Koronis Little White
44.) Koronis Pinto Trout
45.) Koronis Purple
46.) Koronis Red Eye
47.) Koronis Tan Trout
48.) Koronis Three Islands
49.) Koronis White Oaks
50.) Koronis Yellow
51.) Koronis Yellow Eye
52.) Lake Avenue Beauty
53.) Little Baby Pinto
54.) Little Brown Cat
55.) Little Cloud Lepard
56.) Long Lake Giant
57.) Madelia - Have Seed But Won't Germinate.
58.) Maggies Cresent
59.) Mazeppa
60.) Midnight Blue
61.) North Star Bush Pinto
62.) North Star Yellow Eye
63.) North Town Brown Eye
64.) North Town Pinto
65.) Oak Tree Pinto
66.) Paula
67.) Paynesville Amber
68.) Prince Purple
69.) Princess Rose
70.) Purple Amazon
71.) Purple Diamond
72.) Purple Dove
73.) Purple Glory
74.) Purple Rain
75.) Purple Rose Creek
76.) Purple Stardust
77.) Purple Swan
78.) Purple Tiger
79.) Red Eagle
80.) Red Spotted Delight
81.) Red Swan
82.) Red Poded Red Swan
83.) Rice Lake Little White
85.) Robert's Green
85.) Robert's Royalty
86.) Rose Creek Beauty
87.) Salt Spring Gold
88.) Snowbird Pinto
89.) Spring Valley
90.) Spring Valley Pinto
91.) Spring Valley Purple
92.) Swan Island
93.) Swan River
94.) Viola
95.) Victoria Brown Eyes
96.) Queen Bee
97.) Wannamingo
98.) Wadena
99.) White Hawk
100.) White Robin
101.) White Sun
102.) Willmar Pinto
103.) Zumbro Falls
1.) Abundant Little Gem
2.) Alice Sunshine
3.) Amber Pearl
4.) Amber Queen
5.) Arnold
6.) Atwater
7.) Black Hawk
8.) Blooming Prairie
9.) Bonanza Little Pinto
10.) Bonanza Valley Navy
11.) Brazil Little Black (Robert picked this from a packet of beans he got from Brazil then named)
12.) Canoe
13.) Cedar Lake
14.) Crow River Black
15.) Clarisa - Have Seed But won't germinate.
16.) Cokato
17.) Crane Lake
18.) Crow River Pinto
19.) Crow River Speckles
20.) Cyrus Grays
21.) Delano Purple
22.) Dwarf Shield
23.) Eagle Island White
24.) Early Bird
25.) Early Dawn Pinto
26.) Early Stearns
27.) Early Vermillion
28.) Early Victor
29.) Eden Lake Pearls
30.) Eden Prairie
31.) Eagle Island White
32.) Gold Creek Beauty
33.) Golden Valley
34.) Great Lakes Special
35.) Hawick
36.) Keewatin
37.) Kelly Lake
38.) King's Knight
39.) Koronis Cream
40.) Koronis Giant Pinto
41.) Koronis Golden Navy
42.) Koronis Little Red Trout
43.) Koronis Little White
44.) Koronis Pinto Trout
45.) Koronis Purple
46.) Koronis Red Eye
47.) Koronis Tan Trout
48.) Koronis Three Islands
49.) Koronis White Oaks
50.) Koronis Yellow
51.) Koronis Yellow Eye
52.) Lake Avenue Beauty
53.) Little Baby Pinto
54.) Little Brown Cat
55.) Little Cloud Lepard
56.) Long Lake Giant
57.) Madelia - Have Seed But Won't Germinate.
58.) Maggies Cresent
59.) Mazeppa
60.) Midnight Blue
61.) North Star Bush Pinto
62.) North Star Yellow Eye
63.) North Town Brown Eye
64.) North Town Pinto
65.) Oak Tree Pinto
66.) Paula
67.) Paynesville Amber
68.) Prince Purple
69.) Princess Rose
70.) Purple Amazon
71.) Purple Diamond
72.) Purple Dove
73.) Purple Glory
74.) Purple Rain
75.) Purple Rose Creek
76.) Purple Stardust
77.) Purple Swan
78.) Purple Tiger
79.) Red Eagle
80.) Red Spotted Delight
81.) Red Swan
82.) Red Poded Red Swan
83.) Rice Lake Little White
85.) Robert's Green
85.) Robert's Royalty
86.) Rose Creek Beauty
87.) Salt Spring Gold
88.) Snowbird Pinto
89.) Spring Valley
90.) Spring Valley Pinto
91.) Spring Valley Purple
92.) Swan Island
93.) Swan River
94.) Viola
95.) Victoria Brown Eyes
96.) Queen Bee
97.) Wannamingo
98.) Wadena
99.) White Hawk
100.) White Robin
101.) White Sun
102.) Willmar Pinto
103.) Zumbro Falls
flowerbug
Garden Master
i see this one on bottom of page:
http://heirloomagscientist.wixsite.com/landrace-seed-eden/robert-lobitz-beans
in nosing around more i see and i can't say if the linked site has it or not...
I DO NOT SELL SEED FROM THIS SITE. THIS IS ONLY FOR CATALOGING ONLY AND IS OUT OF DATE. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR MY SEED LIBRARY : https://sacredeagleseeds.wixsite.com/sopi
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Zeedman
Garden Master
Wow, that is a good site! The photos are helpful to determine scale. I'm really curious who this is, given their apparent success in getting info from Robert's brother... and that they may have obtained some of his other field crops. Robert was also working with grains. I will be closely watching for the associated commercial operation to become active, and may become an affiliate:
https://sacredeagleseeds.wixsite.com/sopi
https://sacredeagleseeds.wixsite.com/sopi
- Thread starter
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Blue-Jay
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I know this fellow. We have traded seeds before. I have met him and his parents. His father and mother were plant breeders for Cargil Corp. Stephen has gone to Austin Peay college and studied plant breeding. He has gotten the 96 bean names figure for Robert's original named beans from the printed list that we got from James Lobitz. I had sent Stephen a copy several years ago. Stephen Smith's website is out of date. I have found 7 more originally named varieties of Robert's listed in yearbooks that were not on this list of 96 bean names that we got from James Lobitz. Stephen is from Guthrie, Kentucky. Stephen is now living with William Woys Weaver in Devon, Pennsylvania and his title is Manager of the Roughwood Seed Collection. I just sent him another package of beans two days ago. He sends me stuff he gets from foreign sources to grow. I grew Verde Temuco from Chile this summer. Kitoba which I don't remember where that is from. He sent me a daylength sensitive lima called Spotted Dog. I think he's also got some beans out of the huge seed bank in Columbia.
I think that a few of the Lobitz seeds that are pictured on Stephen's site came from the one's I sent him.
SOPI is another site of Stephen Smith's.
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flowerbug
Garden Master
i figured you may have known him, but wasn't sure. since i was nosing around i thought i'd post it anyways. 
