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

[Decoy1]

@Bluejay72
Wow. Thank you very much for the long, detailed and helpful description of your storing and recording. Very interesting and quite an epic. I’m still chewing it over and will keep returning to it. Thanks so much for taking the time to reveal your trade secrets!

 

[Zeedman]

Like @aftermidnight and @Bluejay77 , I take advantage of dry winter air to dry my beans naturally to a proper moisture level for storage. Small index cards follow all lots of seed from harvest, to processing, to storage. After shelling, the beans (along with all my other saved seeds) remain on cross-stacked cafeteria trays until I start getting "sweater lightning", which has proven to be a pretty good non-scientific indicator of low humidity. At that point the beans get cleaned, sorted for culls, and weighed. The final tallies are written on large index cards for each variety, which record all grow outs... that is my master inventory. A separate descriptor form records all source information & observations taken throughout the year, such as dates to flower/snap/seed; flower color; descriptions of seed, pod, and plant; and response to insects, weather, and disease. What can I say, I'm a dinosaur that still loves paper. I'm still in the process of adding digital photos for each variety, as I get around to growing them again.

When ready for storage, I place the beans in freezer bags, along with an index card which records the variety, source, year grown, weight, and location grown. I have 11 separate plots, and record the location so that if a cross appears, I can identify the other beans grown nearby. As a rule, my Phaseolus bean grow outs are usually a pound or more of seed; 8 ounces or so for soybeans or cowpeas. Most of those are stored in pint freezer bags... and don't use the cheap ones. Heavier mil weight bags, and heavy-duty zippers, are worth the cost. I've had the zipper seal fail more than once on one particular national brand, spilling beans everywhere... not sure if it is permissible here to warn others of the brand name?

I squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing, roll the bags up tightly, and pack them tightly into strong boxes to keep them from re-inflating. As @Bluejay77 mentioned, oxidation is the enemy of long-term seed storage. Squeezing out as much air as possible (and quickly squeezing & resealing when removing seed) will reduce the amount of oxygen available, and extend storage life - even at room temperature. Most of my beans are stored in a climate-controlled room, with very steady temperature throughout the year, and I still have good germination even after 6-7 years or longer. The seed I planted for Emerite this year was last grown in 2009, and still had about 90% germination.

With few exceptions, I don't freeze seed... unless it is endangered, or irreplaceable. I'd like to freeze more, but don't yet have the electrical capacity to add a 3rd freezer just for seed. When I do freeze seed, I try to divide the seed into several portions, each in a small sealed plastic bag, within a larger sealed container. That way I can reach into the freezer to pull out a bag for planting, without warming all of the seed in the container.

Most of my seed grow outs (with the exception of breeding projects) are documented via SSE, of which I am also a member. For a long time I also kept a copy of my seed list on Gardenweb; but it appears that the functionality which allowed that (and which promoted a vibrant exchange community) is being eliminated under new management. I'll try to post my seed list as part of my profile, if that is possible.

 

[aftermidnight]

I use a straw to suck the air out of zip locks, stick straw in one end zip shut and suck the air out, pull out straw and close quickly.

 

[flowerbug]

I’d appreciate some feedback about seed storing. As a fairly new bean addict I’ve collected about 30 varieties over the last couple of years. I’m aware that I don’t need - and physically can’t! - grow them all on every year.
I wonder how many years on average experienced growers feel it’s a good idea to generate new stock by growing a particular variety again. Also I’d be interested to know how you’ve found this is affected by keeping at room temperature, in fridge or in freezer. And do most bean-seed-savers freeze for a few days to eliminate any would-be pests?
Jan
PS. I’m hoping to take part in Russ’s growing network next season - in England.

hi and welcome to this year's bean thread.

i've been trying to get seeds refreshed by their 5th year, but so far i've had ok luck even beyond that. i just plan for some of the seeds to not germinate and keep extras ready to poke in empty spots.

i store everything at room temperature and once dried they are in plastic cups in other containers (to keep any random flying bugs out) or stacked in their cups inside 1quart yogurt containers (with clear plastic tops i can see through to know what's in them at a glance).

we have the AC on when it gets too hot so the temperature in the house rarely gets above 80F and it doesn't ever get below freezing (so far ).

i haven't kept count of how many selections or varieties for a long time now. a few hundred for sure.

i hope you have fun and do grow outs next season. i always like seeing how people are doing and what they're doing/planting and experiences. being in England i think you'll have an easier time with certain varieties that are a challenge for me... it seems to be too hot here at times for a lot of them.

 

[flowerbug]

Hi Ridgerunner and PhilaGardener
Thank you very much for your welcome and for the useful sharing. I’ve also been welcomed by aftermidnight elsewhere so it’s great to look forward to being part of a lively, experienced and friendly group.
You both warn against self-defrosting freezers, which are the kind I have! Is that because the temperature goes up and down too much? This is interesting and something I hadn’t considered. What is the danger from a bit of fluctuation?

if you are going to use that type of freezer i would recommend making sure your seeds are a bit away from the walls of the freezer which would help minimize the changes. i haven't frozen any seeds before and don't have the space for another freezer so room temperature is it for now.

 

[flowerbug]

...
I have found this forum amazingly interesting and informative and have dipped into previous years too. I’m really pleased to have found it. I’ll have lots of questions I think.
I’ll certainly reckon to post some pictures.

pictures are always appreciated and drooled over (politely ). it took me some time to read through all the previous year's threads, but i did enjoy them and do still miss Marshall's enthusiasm and experiences...

 

[flowerbug]

...
I have no idea how much refrigerating or freezing bean seeds extend viability. Most charts I see say that beans seeds last about 3 years stored in relatively cool places. Maybe @Bluejay77 can tell us what criteria he uses to determine a seed needs to be renewed.

i'm not having too much trouble with older seeds than 3yrs but i'm also wondering what kind of conditions people are having that make them last only a that few years in storage?

most of my older stock seeds are 7+yrs old and i am renewing those in rotation now and it's been going mostly ok.

 

[Ridgerunner]

i'm not having too much trouble with older seeds than 3yrs but i'm also wondering what kind of conditions people are having that make them last only a that few years in storage?

most of my older stock seeds are 7+yrs old and i am renewing those in rotation now and it's been going mostly ok.

As with many things the devil is in the details. Are they storing them in light or in the dark. Does humidity fluctuate? How much does temperature vary and in the cold or hot ranges? Are they kept airtight?

I find a lot of the generic guidelines like that are really conservative. They are intended to keep most people safe even if they don't follow best practices. I find that over on the chicken forum a lot. Even if you do several things "wrong" most general guidelines will usually still keep you out of serious trouble. If you follow best practices you can usually do a lot better.

 

[Decoy1]

Thank you to everyone who shared their seed-saving experiences and thoughts. It’s interesting that several regimes can work, and to different extents. My collection is in its infancy and for the next year or so I hope to grow on about half of my stock so longer-term ideal storage can develop as my stock becomes larger.
On a different topic, I’m wondering whether there are many beans in circulation which have different names but are actually the same variety. I have two which look very similar - Major Cook and Mrs Fortune’s. I haven’t closely observed the growth habit and realise the similarities could be superficial but it raised the general point for me of how far there are duplicate varieties in circulation.
I took a photo with the original seeds of the two varieties. Helpfully informed by the last few contributions - many thanks - I now realise that oxidation has been at work on the original seeds which have simply been stored in paper packets.

 

[flowerbug]

@Decoy1 at present i have many beans that look identical (a small tan goat's eye type bean), but they have different habits (pole - Kermit's Smokey Mountain, semi-runner or bush - a Peregion blend selection, bush - Mattie Greene) so to keep them apart i have to plant them in separate gardens. i'll select seeds from all of them for the future but i'll stick with the Peregion selection for my bulk beans because it is a good producer for me and it is fairly compact and finishes early enough. i've found a yellow striped version this season so far so i may switch to that eventually so there is more distinction in my seeds. i like to grow things that i can tell apart without having to keep separate harvest boxes/bags/box tops for drying and such.

i'm not sure i'll keep growing the pole version (KSM) because they finish up later than i'd like (they've finally turned yellow the past few weeks) our season is shorter i like for the beans to be mostly finished by the middle of September or at least finishing up... the big advantage so far of KSM is that it seems to be very productive, the fence is struggling to stay up, the vines probably could have gone 12 ft or more if i had fence that high...

we got into the 30sF last night. i hope that signals the last green leaved plants to hurry up and get seeds done. Munachedda Pale, i'm not even sure there's beans in the pods done enough (i haven't had a chance to look this week - been too busy with some different projects, rains, etc. today i'll have a chance to look for beans that are ready and get them picked if they're in good enough shape (not rotting in the pods).