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

[Blue-Jay]

Russ's 2020 Bean Show - Day 29​

Wanamingo - Bush Snap. Another of the Robert Lobitz original named beans that he introduced through the Seed Savers yearbook close to 20 years ago. He named the bean for the little town of Wanamingo, Minnesota which is southeast of Minneapolis about halfway to Rochester.

Weiner Trieb Outcross and Segrgations. - Bush Dry. The first photo is the bean I found in 2019 among my seed harvest of Weiner Trieb. The coloring appears about what I found to be the coloring of Nippersink when I first discovered that bean. Sort of reminds me of an orange Money bean. This outcross seems to be a much fuller filled out bean over the more flattened seed of Nippersink. I might pass on the name Nippersink to this bean instead. Will see what happens with future grow outs of the bean. This bean developed 3 other segregations show in the following three photos.


Wanamingo.................................................................Weiner Trieb Outcross


Weiner Trieb Outcross Segregation 1......................Weiner Trieb Outcross Segregation 2


Weiner Trieb Outcross Segregation 3

Witzenhausen Red - Pole Dry. A different looking Witzenhausen that I have found online also being called Witzenhausen Red. Obtained this bean from Susanne Alex of Willich, Germany in December 2019. Will do another grow out of this bean in 2021.

Woodstock Red Eye - Bush Dry. I found this bean in a 2017 grow out of one of my early 1980's beans that I named Red Eyed Ranger which still is not totally stable. It throws off one or two off types each time grow it. However upon growing out Woodstock Red Eye in 2018, 2019, 2020 using the new seed of each successive generation this bean has grown true to type each time from the beginning.


Witzenhausen Red.......................................................Woodstock Red Eye

 

[Artorius]

This year my limas had a hard time. Two hailstorms, low summer temperatures, lots of rain. Luckily I didn't lose any of them. I sowed them in pots at the end of April and transplanted when it was possible. I don't have many seeds and they are smaller than they should be, but they are.

Potawatomi Lima


Dr. Martin


Snow on the Mountain


Sometimes I have problems with limas, but I will not give them up. They are too pretty

 

[Zeedman]

The Potawatomi lima is beautiful; and since it may be from my area (since the Potawatomi people are in Wisconsin) I may have to try that one. And given my interest in Dr. Martin lima, it was good to see a real-world photo from someone who actually grows it.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Russ's 2020 Bean Show - Day 30

Zebra Aus Teneriffa - Pole Dry. Small but pretty and very productive bean obtained a year ago from Susanne Alex in Willich, Germany.

Zebra - Pole Dry - This Zebra bean is even more productive. From Alan Reynolds in Hercules, South Africa. Obtained in 2013.


Zebra Aus Teneriffa..................................................Zebra


Zumbro Valley - Bush Dry - Another of the Robert Lobitz legacy beans that I've worked with since 2015. This bean was in the same coded packet that has produced , Eden Valley (stable), Black Oak Lake (stable), Purple Oak, Pearl Lake (stable), Brooten (stable), Drayer Creek (stable). All having the same looking pods and rounded seed although Zumbro Valley is not yet stable. The bean produced three other off types this year for three years in a row. Another seed that is probably Brooten again and a gold colored seed and a light tan seed which are the following three photos.


Zumbro Valley...........................................................Zumbro Valley Off Type 1



Zumbro Valley Off Type 2.......................................Zumbro Valley Off Type 3

Zumbro Falls - Bush Snap. A Robert Lobitz original named bean and introduced through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook. As I looked at this seed this year. I can't help but think that this bean is related to another of Robert's beans called Maggie's Cresent. Zumbro Falls lacks the white at the end of the seed. The seed shape of these two beans differs only slightly. The color tone and markings and base color are to me are a perfect match. Maggies Cresent shown for comparison.


Zumbro Falls..............................................................Maggie's Cresent

 

[Artorius]

The Potawatomi lima is beautiful; and since it may be from my area (since the Potawatomi people are in Wisconsin) I may have to try that one. And given my interest in Dr. Martin lima, it was good to see a real-world photo from someone who actually grows it.

Dr. Martin has the thickest seeds among the lima beans that I have seen. Although, in fact, I haven't seen much of them. They are not grown in Poland.

Also, this type of bean is not grown in Poland.

Santa Rosa Brown tepary bean

 

[Zeedman]

Tepary beans are difficult, unless you have the right climate. In their native environment, the beans mature during a dry period. In my climate - and probably in yours - the ripening pods are often exposed to rainfall. The dry & near-dry seeds are extremely susceptible to spoilage caused by moisture... the dense growth & ground-hugging habit of the vines doesn't help. I would estimate that over half of the tepary beans that I grew had to be discarded, and sorting the tiny beans out of the pile took a long time.

Furthermore, many of the cultivated Indigenous strains can carry the Bean Mosaic virus, which can spread to other beans. So for those of us who love beans, tepary beans should be grown with caution, and isolated from other beans as much as possible. I've grown a white-seeded strain which has been certified virus-free, the only one I still save seed for... perhaps there are others.

Garbanzo beans are also extremely sensitive to moisture as they are drying, and are equally difficult to grow successfully in my climate.

 

[flowerbug]

...
Garbanzo beans are also extremely sensitive to moisture as they are drying, and are equally difficult to grow successfully in my climate.

lentils too.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Garbanzo beans are also extremely sensitive to moisture as they are drying, and are equally difficult to grow successfully in my climate.

In my experience, that depends a lot on the TYPE of chickpeas you are growing. I agree that Kabouli types (the large thin skinned type common in Italy and the Middle East) are finicky about it being dry when they finish up and can present problems.

But desi types (the smaller, harder, thicker skinned brown and black chickpeas found in India and used to make chickpea flour) are much tougher little plants, and have a much easier time of it. (In fact, desi type chickpeas are one of the few things I can count on, bar pests eating them all, for working in years when there is a long delay in the spring warmth)

Lentils too, depend on which kind. The super flat European type tends to like to be pampered. While the fatter speckled Masoor that comes in at the right time from India behaves more or less like a vetch for me.

 

[aftermidnight]

Uzice Speckled Wax isn't a strong climber for me either, bearing most pods within the first 2-3 feet - but bearing heavily in that zone. Richard stated that it was a strong climber for him though. I like the fact that it is dual-use, the large seeds make good shellies & are easy to shell. The bean originated in 2007 from a Gardenweb member in B.C. named Alex. I tried looking up our old conversation, but it appears GW has deleted everything more than 5 years old... including the entire "exchange" sub-forum. Fortunately, we also exchanged some emails that are still in my Mail archive. Two of his beans had no name that he knew of, so we named them after the Uzice region of Serbia, where they were found. I believe @aftermidnight traded with him as well. We did two really great trades, I still grow several of his beans & peppers.

Edit: I found a photo of Uzice Speckled Wax pods in my archive, from the initial trial. This was before Alex & I agreed to a name, I had tentatively identified it as "Serbian Yellow Pole" in the photo. The other wax bean, Tisa, is a named variety also from Alex.

View attachment 38060

Veitch Wonder is very interesting, if it is in fact a runner bean X common bean cross. The seed coat pattern seems to support that conclusion. Were there any other supporting traits, such as the appearance of the immature pods or flowers?

uzice was a fairly strong climber for me, i grew it in 2012

grew at least 6'

annette

 

[Zeedman]

uzice was a fairly strong climber for me, i grew it in 2012
View attachment 38124View attachment 38124
grew at least 6'

annette

Interesting. You get a lot more purple on your pods than I do, @aftermidnight . Given Richard's observations & @Bluejay77 's, it seems that this variety behaves much differently in the Pacific Maritime climate than it does in the U.S. Midwest. The other Serbian pole wax bean sent by Alex (Tisa) is a vigorous pole bean here.