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

[Ridgerunner]

Now a fun one. This is one that has gone through a lot of segregations and looks like it will continue. Again I got what I'm calling TTA from a segregation in 2019. You can see the bean I planted in the middle and the four segregations it gave me.

For fall I planted TTA-1, a white bean. What did I get? Another white bean. No further segregations.

I'm going to jump to TTA-3, a mottled tan and brown bean. I got these two segregations, TTA3-A looks a fair amount like the bean I planted. TTA3-B is a darker brown.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'll do a separate thread for TTA-2. First a reminder of the bean I planted. Sort of a boring red bean. But it gave me four segregations.

First is TTA2-A an interesting red and tan patterned bean.

Then TTA2-B an interesting light red patterned bean.

Then TTA2-C. I may wait until this one has aged a bit to decide how much I like the color and pattern.

And TTA2-D. This is another I may like more after it has been stored a while.

That's it for my fall bean show.

Other than a handful (Karachaganak oval, round, and bush, Aksai, Cock 'n Bull, and Tartan Tan) I'm not sure what I'm planting next year. Probably four bush beans and fifteen climbing beans. That's all the room I have.

See you next year.

 

[Zeedman]

First is TTA2-A an interesting red and tan patterned bean.

That is a very pretty bean. I hope it stabilizes, and turns out to have good eating qualities.

 

[Zeedman]

@Zeedman do you grow the soybeans to eat or just collect?

Both. We eat, freeze, and give away a lot of edamame every year. It has proven to be an effective dietary aid for lowering blood sugar.

The field soybeans began as just a preservation project, but have gradually - and IMO somewhat alarmingly - become more important. I was initially inspired by two seed savers, Robert Lobitz of Minnesota and George Stevens (of Synergy Seeds) both of whom had large soybean collections. Robert left us in 2006, and Synergy no longer offers soybeans. Victory Seeds briefly offered much of my collection (sent to them by someone who obtained them from me) but their selection is dwindling, and apparently is not being replaced. Soybeans offered by the retail seed trade are almost exclusively edamame varieties. Many SSE members who previously offered soybeans have either passed away, dropped out, or no longer list soybeans.

So to make a long story short, due to a chain of unfortunate events, I am presently one of the only public sources for non-GM soybeans for processing (other than SSE itself) who offers more than one or two. There was more interest in them while my list was posted on the old Gardenweb, because that list showed up on search engines - now, not so much. I get maybe 3-4 requests a year from SSE members, maybe another 1-2 from people who find me elsewhere. Those few tend to be seeking self-sufficiency though.. so for the sake of others who think likewise, I try to maintain as many as possible. Whatever dry seed I do not share, is stored in metal cabinets & becomes part of my emergency food supply. With DD#1 going vegan, and DD#2 being vegetarian, I anticipate a lot of experimentation with tofu & miso next year.

Aside from the pest issues - which require significant effort to control - soybeans are easy to grow. They have a very low cross pollination rate; I use 10-15' of separation between varieties, and out of approximately 200 grow outs, have had only two crosses since 2005. Where I had a choice between varieties with similar traits, I chose as many different colors as possible, so that crosses would be more easily detectable. In particular, I grow a lot of non-yellow types; they are my "canary in the coal mine", to help detect any GM contamination which might enter my grow outs from surrounding farm fields. None so far (knock knock).

 

[Pulsegleaner]

At some point (perhaps on another site) I seem to recall you saying you had heard that non-yellow soybeans were also easier to digest than yellow ones.

I, as you know get most of my soy by hunting around Chinatown for odd seeds. Haven't found much lately. (well I haven't found ANYTHING lately since it's been nearly a year since I could GO to Chinatown and will probably be some time more before the world is COVID free enough to risk it, but you know what I mean.) They seem to have all standardized on the same types, both for yellow and for black skinned yellow. The diversity of shapes of the smaller sized blacks, and the occasional mottled or ringed seed seem to have gone.

 

[Zeedman]

At some point (perhaps on another site) I seem to recall you saying you had heard that non-yellow soybeans were also easier to digest than yellow ones.

I, as you know get most of my soy by hunting around Chinatown for odd seeds. Haven't found much lately. (well I haven't found ANYTHING lately since it's been nearly a year since I could GO to Chinatown and will probably be some time more before the world is COVID free enough to risk it, but you know what I mean.) They seem to have all standardized on the same types, both for yellow and for black skinned yellow. The diversity of shapes of the smaller sized blacks, and the occasional mottled or ringed seed seem to have gone.

That quote wouldn't have been mine. There was another seed saver I knew (now departed) who made that claim for a small, black, semi-wild soybean that we both grew. He made the same claim for the Urd black mung bean, which we also both grew; my gastrointestinal experience was just the opposite.

But on a related topic...

There are two USDA soybeans that were reported some years back to be hypo-allergenic, or at least to be missing the protein that usually provokes soy allergies in people. That was a huge testing program by the USDA, thousands of accessions (!!!). Unfortunately, those soybeans are adapted to warmer climates than mine, so I never grew them. They are still buried deep somewhere in my archives, if there is any interest, I'll try to find their names.
...
Well, I'm surprised I found those soybean lines so easily. They were in an email from French seedsman Kokopelli - forwarded to me by George Stevens - in 2006. The relevant paragraph is quoted below:

"The two soybean lines (PI 567476 and PI 603570A) contain virtually identical
genetic mutations that do not contain the leading allergy-causing P34
protein, which consists of 379 amino acids, said Theodore Hymowitz, emeritus
professor of plant genetics in the crop science department at the U. of I."

I have more info on these accessions & the research study upon request. Both are yellow, and in Maturity Group IV... I hope someone out there with soy allergies will find this information useful.

 

[Zeedman]

How odd, that of all the beans & vegetables to choose from, my lasts posts of the year are about soybeans. As in my other soybean post, all varieties are from the estate of the late Robert Lobitz unless noted otherwise.

Ohozyu - Maturity Group II. Very large, nearly globular seed. I did not have any info on its intended usage, but this made a very firm, fat edamame with good pod fill... I had to talk DW into letting me save half for seed.


PI 603698 E - from the USDA/ARS, a high yielding, high protein grain type. Noteworthy because the two terms are usually mutually exclusive, and for its glossy "gray" seed coat.
Rouest 117 - a high yielding, glossy black soybean, in Maturity Group 0 (which will mature in most of the U.S.)


Ta Li Tsao Shen Wu Tou - from the USDA/ARS. very short DTM (will ripen even in much of Canada) and protein over 50% dry weight; but like most soybeans in Maturity Group 000, a low yield
Jaune de Desme - early (Maturity Group 00), with fairly high protein (47%) and a decent yield


Overall, although three soybeans were total losses, it wasn't a bad year. The lowest yield ranged from 6 ounces (for one of the varieties attacked by mice) to 24 ounces for Besarabka 724. The average was 14 ounces per variety... which although that trounced my common bean yield this year, lets me finish 2020 on a positive note. Until next year...

 

[flowerbug]

Happy New Year Bean Friends!

i hope all your beans flower, pod, get plump and then dry down without fuzzy intrusion.

 

[saritabee]

Sneaking in with the "first" bean show of 2021! lol

This was an interesting growing season with a number of experiments. My first bean season back in Washington, and I had forgotten how bad the slug pressure was. The location I was growing most of the plants was nice an sunny in the spring, but as the summer went on it ended up in shade for the majority of the day. I'd left my drip system behind in Oregon, so watered by hand all summer. Also I ended up with a number of varieties that I was hoping weren't day-length sensitive but definitely seem to be (none of the LEBN varieties).

[Sidebar -- Anyone want to adopt some really pretty day-length sensitive beans?)

I also knew I was going to be moving at some point during the growing season, so I only grew a minimum of varieties, and kept everything in large pots to hopefully be transportable. (Below, some of the amazing traveling beans at the Costco! hah) The pole varieties were strung up on 10' PVC pipe in the pots, which were then briefly dismantled for moving.

I was nervous because the overall quality of seed I harvested last year was quite poor. All-in-all though, while I'll have to grow most of these again next year to increase the quantities (which I'm sure was a combination of all the above factors), the quality of the harvested seed was mostly back to an acceptable level. So that was a relief!

LEBN varieties:

Schoko Flecken (B):

Davis (B):
Three whole beans this year, but I have some good seed left from last year and can combine them for next year. Davis was also very low-yielding for me last year, but we'll see. This was the slugs' very favorite variety.

Frost (P):
These seem to be a bit shrunken from not enough water, but enough good seed to make a good showing next year I think.

Lila Stuart (B):
Also very low quantity but the quality is vastly improved from last year. I have some seed left over from last year I can draw from for higher numbers in 2021. This was a strange one because it grew very strongly and was the first variety up by a couple days. But it suffered from a lot of blossom drop, and the beans that did grow refused to mature in time and most eventually just rotted.

Benishibori (B):
This wasn't technically a LEBN growout, but Russ (and I think someone else too?) had wanted some. The seed quality is still lacking but much better than last year, so we'll give 'er another go.

A selection of other varieties:

Big Mama (P):
Been working on this one for three years and so far it is just a weak producer. The first year I only got three beans, though, so... making progress? The skins really like to split.

Brown's Long John (B):
Crazy thick pods (each side of the pod is about as thick as one of the seeds). Makes shelling them a very strange process, as the pods turn to pith rather than actually drying down crispy. Will be interested to try some green beans off this next time I grow them.

Hashuli Brown and White (P):
This is one of my favorite beans, and the one that taught me not to put all my bean-eggs in one basket. They're nice big plump seeds and it turns out even when you think they're totally dry they may not be. Thus I found my entire large harvest from 2018 had been eaten up by mold. Luckily I had a couple (apparently drier) stashed away in a different bag and I got 'em in the ground post-haste. Crisis averted!

Monto de Virgen (B):

***

Russ, I'm going to send you my Galloway from last year and the Schoko Flecken from this year, so they don't get too far behind. I'll grow the others again for 2021. Yields should be better with permanent beds, drip water, and sunshine.

Happy 2021 all!

 

[Zeedman]

Brown's Long John (B):
Crazy thick pods (each side of the pod is about as thick as one of the seeds). Makes shelling them a very strange process, as the pods turn to pith rather than actually drying down crispy. Will be interested to try some green beans off this next time I grow them.

That description sounds like a "full bean", one whose hull remains tender & is meant to be eaten when the beans have filled out, pod & all. Maybe something to try, when you grow it again.