2020 Little Easy Bean Network - An Exciting Adventure In Heirloom Beans !

[flowerbug]

Russ's 2020 Bean Show - Day 16
...
Mostoller Wild Goose - Pole Dry. A bean that has been in the Pennsyvania Family the Mostollers for 5 generations. Originally obtained from the crop of goose that two young Mostoller boys shot shortly after returning from the Civil War. A true American Heirloom.

View attachment 37812
Mostoller Wild Goosea

looks like Hidatsa Shield Figure.

 

[Zeedman]

Mostoller Wild Goose - Pole Dry. A bean that has been in the Pennsyvania Family the Mostollers for 5 generations. Originally obtained from the crop of goose that two young Mostoller boys shot shortly after returning from the Civil War. A true American Heirloom.


Mostoller Wild Goosea

Whenever I read those "found in the bird's crop" origin stories, what I infer is that if true, the identical bean already existed elsewhere under a different name... and somewhere close by, for the seed to still be viable. It also makes me wonder if the bean was really stolen from another grower, and "found in a goose" is just a good cover story.

They are beautiful & productive beans though. I've seen them growing on SSE's Heritage Farm, and wanted to grow them for years... but other beans always got in the way.

 

[flowerbug]

when you have oral traditions and several generations have passed it can be broken due to circumstances. a family moves and an older person passes away who knew what came from where. new stories come about. doesn't have to be a mean-spirited thing or intentionally misled, but just how it can go.

in the future there will likely be a lot of simplification as more genetic sampling is more easily done.

 

[Artorius]

Odawa is also a similar variety.

 

[flowerbug]

Odawa is also a similar variety.

yes, that looks similar. they are a beautiful bean. i need to get a different area enclosed by fencing and have more support to do them justice - i'm not sure if/when that will happen.

 

[Artorius]

Maybe they are the same beans. People most often trade with each other when they take a break from killing each other. Native Americans were no exception. In this way, this bean could spread from the Great Lakes to the Hidatsa's prairie.

 

[Blue-Jay]

There are many beans with this similar coloration and pattern as the Mostoller bean. Like I often say. Colors and patterns in beans are very repeatable. Look at mottled beans how many varieties have that pattern and roughly a short range of colors with that pattern.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Russ's 2020 Bean Show - Day 17​

New Mexico Red Appaloosa - Pole Dry and maybe snap. Acquired this bean from Seed Savers Exchange in 2012. many southwestern U.S. beans with this same pattern and variations of color.

Nigel - Bush Dry. Medium size seed and very productive. Acquired from Tricia77 from Pennsylvania. Bean originates with someone named Nigel in California.




New Mexico Red Appaloosa.......................................Nigel

Nigel Off Type - Bush Dry. Found these in Nigel this year. A very large amount of the Nigel crop turned out to be these dark bluish beans with about the same pattern.

Night Sky Off Type - Pole Dry. Got a bean from a grower in Canada that lives on a farm who got a bean from her friend called Night Sky and this off type from it. I didn't grow the Night Sky bean this year, but grew the off type. Very pretty bean marked like Eye Of The Goat and about the same size seed. Except with brown markings this bean is marked in black with a lighter base color. This off type did not produce any segregations but grew true to type. I'm going to do a grow out of it again in 2021.



Nigel Off Type..............................................................Night Sky Off Type

Nippersink - Bush Dry. I found this bean with sort of a yellow orange look to it in Molasses Face in 2013. Everytime I grow it, it produces probably about three or 4 other off types. I don't think it's every going to stablize. I have considered not growing this bean anymore and use the name for another bean I found in Weiner Trieb last year in 2019 that looks like the original Nippersink and see where that bean leads me.


Nippersink

 

[flowerbug]

There are many beans with this similar coloration and pattern as the Mostoller bean. Like I often say. Colors and patterns in beans are very repeatable. Look at mottled beans how many varieties have that pattern and roughly a short range of colors with that pattern.

until we can fully sequence each bean variety i don't know how else you could keep them apart other than trying to trace them down each name at a time and working back if you can find people who have kept records of where they got things.

i've kept records of each bean variety i've ever purchased or planted, but that doesn' mean they haven't contained crosses or that the people who sold or gave them to me kept track of everything.

i really wish i could afford to sequence every bean i have here. i want to know and i want that bean tree sorted out too, pronto.

 

[flowerbug]

@Bluejay77 that pattern for Nippersink is also very similar to the same pattern for Money which i grew a few seasons and then stopped growing because it just wasn't reliably productive enough. i still grow it once in a while to keep the seeds refreshed but otherwise it isn't a major bulk bean candidate here.