2021 Little Easy Bean Network - Bean Lovers Come Discover Something New !

[Blue-Jay]

2021 Germination Test Results


This is the 2014 Group. This seed year sat without any freezer storage for nearly 5 years. After the 2013 seed crop I was out of freezer space and did not purchase another freezer until early June 2019. Most of the 2014 seed crop then was put into freezer storage from June 20th to June 30, 2019. Like the 2013 seed crop some of the 2014 beans placed in inventory baby food jars in the autumn of 2014 and not requested a lot have sat since then.


..............................................................Germination %

1. African Premier Segregation 4...100 This bean has never been freezer stored and will be grown this season.
2. Algarrobo...........................................100
3. Anderson's Wonder........................100
4. Beka Brown........................................100
5. Best Of All Wax.................................100
6. Black Coco..........................................100
7. Black Hawk.........................................100
8. Blue Jay Outcross..............................70
9. Buckskin Girl .....................................93
10. Buffy....................................................100
11. Canadian Wild Goose.....................90
12. Cassie's Purple Pod..........................80
13. Cedar Lake........................................100
14. Charlie Tinker's Grey Ball............100
15. China yellow....................................100
16. Contender........................................100
17. Crow River Black...........................100
18. Dalmatian........................................100
19. Deb's Creek.......................................53
20. Early Yellow Six Weeks............... 100
21. Golden Valley..................................100
22. Greencrop........................................100
23. Great Lakes Special......................100
24. Haricot Crevette............................100
25. Heilings...............................................90
26. Honey Keygold................................95
27. Horsehead......................................100
28. Idaho Refugee..............................100
29. Illinois Snap...................................100
30. Illinois Wax.....................................100
31. John's Bean....................................100
32. Kifl Mucko.......................................100
33. Kishwaukee Yellow.......................100
34. Kleine Soldatenboon...................100
35. Koronis Three Islands..................100
36. Lina Sisco Bird Egg.......................100
37. Littlefield Special...........................100
38. Mona Lisa...........................................83
39. New Mexico Red Appaloosa.....100
40. Pandora.............................................100
41. Pandora Brown.................................60
42. Pale Face.............................................93
43. Paul Bunyon Giant..........................40
44. Pawnee.............................................100
45. Petit Griss........................................100
46. Pink......................................................85
47. Pink Fog...........................................100
48. Prinsesse Outcros.........................100
49. Purple Jester...................................100
50. Red Cattle........................................100
51. Red Marbles......................................60
52. Red Sport.........................................100
53. San Antonio......................................66
54. Seminole...........................................100
55. Seneca Bird Egg.............................100
56. Shoshone..........................................100
57. Snow On The Mt. - Lima.............100
58. Soldier................................................100
59. Splash Trout.....................................100
60. Staley's Surprise.............................100
61. Tarahumara Capirame..................100
62. Vermont Appaloosa......................100
63. Victoria Brown Eyes......................100
64. Wanamingo.......................................93
65. Weiner Trieb....................................100
66. White Lion........................................100
67. Zuni Shalako......................................86

This is the 2015 Group. I'm including it here because it is a very small group. My entire 2015 bush bean crop was destroyed by Deer. A 3360 sqaure foot plot was eaten to the ground. I had previously had two wonderful years in this location. 2013 and 2014 seeds were grown on this ground and the deer left this bean garden alone. After the 2015 season I never returned to rent this piece of ground again. The small group of seed below was grown on my small backyard plot.

This 2015 seed crop some most has not been freezer stored.

..............................................................Germination %

1. Fort Portal Jade....................................100
2. Greek Cypriot........................................100 No freezer storage
3. Idelight......................................................86 No freezer storage
4. Indian.........................................................60 No freezer storage
5. Irish Connors...........................................93 No freezer storage
6. Keeny's Stringless Green Refugee...93 No freezer storage
7. Khabarovsk...............................................90 No freezer storage
8. Unrivalled Wax......................................100 No freezer storage

 

[Blue-Jay]

2021 Germination Test Results


This is the 2016 Seed crop year. Like the 2013 seed crop. These beans have been in freezer storage since they were dry enough. Some beans were placed immediately in inventory jars on my basement shelves and some varieties have not been highly requested so some of the seeds have still been sitting at my basement temperatures since then. I have not tested any seed that is less than 5 growing seasons ago. The 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 seed crops have been in freezer storage ever since being dry enough. I now have 3 freezers dedicated to bean seed storage and one freezer that is partially bean seed.


..............................................................Germination %

1. African Cave.........................................93
2. Black And White Goose...................53
3. Black Good Mother Stallard.........100
4. Blue Shaxamaxon...............................33
5. Boston Favorite.................................100
6. Brockton Horticultural......................86
7. Brilliant...................................................93
8. Brown Kidney....................................100
9. Cannellino Nero...............................100
10. Cherry Trout.........................................93
11. Coach Dog..........................................100
12. Dana's Cross.......................................100
13. Deep Red Trout.................................100
14. Duane Baptiste....................................93
15. Ernie's Big Eye...................................100
16. Eye Of The Goat.................................60
17. Flash......................................................100
18. Florida Speckled - Lima...................66
19. Ga Ga Hut...........................................100
20. Ganymede - Lima............................100
21. Gila River...............................................40
22. Gill's Delicious Giant.........................33
23. Goldener Regen.................................86
24. Grandma's Shell................................100
25. Grape....................................................100
26. Kretser Soldier...................................100
27. Lambada................................................73
28. Leslie Tenderpod................................73
29. Nez Perce............................................100
30. Osborne And Clyde.........................100
31. Peruvian Goose...................................66
32. Pink Trout............................................100
33. Poletschka.............................................86
34. Prince......................................................93
35. Purple Eye - Lima.............................100
36. Lohrey's Special..................................33
37. Mammoth Trout.................................60
38. Mostoller Wild Goose......................66
39. Mrociumere........................................100
40. Natal Coffee.......................................100
41. Red Turtle..............................................86
42. Red Valentine.....................................100
43. Rode Soldatenboon........................100
44. Rose D' Eyragues................................90
45. Sailor.....................................................100
46. Selugia....................................................73
47. Seneca Cornbread...........................100
48. Snowcap................................................73
49. Tendergreen.........................................86
50. Tennessee Wonder............................80
51. Turkey Craw.........................................93
52. Tuvagliedda.........................................86
53. Vermont Mohawk.............................86
54. Volga German Siberian...................93

 

[Blue-Jay]

The fellow in Missouri who has a large lima collection and who sent me limas like Rosie Clare, Empress, Genesis and Pinwheel, and Ping-A-Ling. He also breeds limas and comes up with some interesting new color combinations. He recently sent me some more limas this winter. Some are daylenth sensitive that I would only trust someone way south who has enough season after September to mature the seed in their pods. He sent me limas that he got from the USDA seed bank in Pullman Washington that only carry the Pullman accessions number and no names. He sent me three tiny wild limas that are likely daylenth sensitive too.



Bandy Black. Pole Lima. Glossy Black


Abawi #6 Pole Lima from the USDA Pullman, Washington seed bank and
probably daylength sensitive.


Calico - Pole Lima with similar seed coat as many have.


Cliff Dweller - Pole. I had grown this in the early 1980's


Feijoa Guarani - Pole Obtained from Pullman. Likely South American
origin and daylength sensitive


Indian Red - Pole and not sensitive to length of the day

 

[heirloomgal]

But if it a food crop, I plant double rows 24" apart. That seems like wide spacing, and the double rows could probably be spaced 16-18" apart with little reduction in yield...

This means two rows of beans, 18 inches apart from each another, with 24 inches on either side, right? I'm working on a 4 ft wide raised bed row, trying to get three rows of beans running down the length. One row dead centre (on the 4 ft width) and two outside rows 18 inches each on either side, from that centre row. I wonder if three rows is too many.....if I should go with two rows on a 4ft width? That one row would be painful to lose, but if its necessary I'd do it...there is quite a bit of space between the separate beds and a slightly different elevation too.

 

[heirloomgal]

@Bluejay77 I'll keep my fingers crossed for my network Blue Shaxamaxan then! 33% of 12 is 3.96 so I should be able to get 3-4 to sprout! That should do it

 

[Zeedman]

This means two rows of beans, 18 inches apart from each another, with 24 inches on either side, right? I'm working on a 4 ft wide raised bed row, trying to get three rows of beans running down the length. One row dead centre (on the 4 ft width) and two outside rows 18 inches each on either side, from that centre row. I wonder if three rows is too many.....if I should go with two rows on a 4ft width? That one row would be painful to lose, but if its necessary I'd do it...there is quite a bit of space between the separate beds and a slightly different elevation too.

All of my spacing recommendations are based upon flat ground - which is my gardening style. Spacing in raised beds can be different, and I have little experience in that area. But you should have no trouble fitting 3 rows of bush beans in a 4' wide bed; two rows (one 6" from each side) and one row between them in the center. So measuring from one edge, rows at 6", 24", and 42". That would give you 18" between rows, which should not be excessively crowded unless the bean is one of the more sprawling bush varieties.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Bluejay77 I'll keep my fingers crossed for my network Blue Shaxamaxan then! 33% of 12 is 3.96 so I should be able to get 3-4 to sprout! That should do it

I was really surprised as that seed was grown in 2016. Most beans that age should still have good germination. Could be this seed was one that sat in my jar for the last five years without being replentished more often. This bean might be one where the rate goes down faster. I have it on my grow out this year so if your seeds don't come through I wouldn't be concerned. I'm going to presprout a bunch before I plant. I have gone to a different labeling system on my jars on my basement shelves. When the bean is first placed there it gets a white label with it's name and seed year. If I run that seed out and have to pull a sample to replentish it from the freezer. It gets a new colored label with the date that the seed was removed from the freezer. Some varieties have their colored label changed anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

After I posted this reply I decided to go to the basement and see what label the Blue Shaxamaxon had on it's jar. It's the white label with the year 2016 printed on it. I filled your Network seed requests probably over a week before I even started these germinations tests. When filling seed requests. When the seed in a jar is totally run out I don't replentish it until that seed is requested again. The keeps the seed in the freezer for as long as possible. If I had enough freezers I suppose I could prepackage all my seed and simply pull out seed packets and mail them. Maybe I should do another test on that same seed jar again and see if I get a different number. Some of my seed germination testing totally ran the seed out of a bunch of the jars. Some of the beans that still have a white label tested with a good germination rate. I definitely think there is a varietal difference when it comes to how long seed keeps a high germination rate.

@heirloomgal

Some of the seed I sent you came out of freezer storage. Some like the Blue Shaxamaxon came out of inventory in my jars sitting on my basement shelves.

 

[Blue-Jay]

More Limas from my Missouri contact. This fellow also breeds limas. I think he is always looking for interesting and new color combinations and patterns.


Larhs - Pole Lima. When former Seed Savers Exchange member
Tom Knoche passed away in 2013 this lima thought to be extinct
was found in Tom's freezer seed collection.


Mrs. Martin's Heir - Pole Lima I think this lima was one that came
out of this fellow from Missouri's breeding experiments.


Lois Archer - Pole Lima. Seems to be two different patterns with
the same red color. I may have seen this listed before in the SSE
yearbook.


Multi Colored - Pole Lima came out of the Pullman, Washington
seed bank. Doesn't seem multi colored at all. Might also be from
South America and daylength sensitive


Speckled - Pole Lima another lima that shares color and pattern
with many others.


PI 256422 - Pole Lima from the USDA collection in Pullman. I think
this is South American and daylength sensitive.


PI 257382 Pole Lima. Yet another from the USDA Pullman
Collection and South American in origin. Day length sensitive.

 

[Blue-Jay]

A few more limas from my Missouri lima breeder and collector.

PI 260416 - Pole Lima. Another from the Pullman collection and
from South America.



Sparrow's Chin - Pole lima. This is one of the wild limas my lima
guy sent. Seed is much smaller than Ping Zebra. You can probably
fit six on a penny before you cover the coin. Poisonous with lots of
arsenic. Daylength Sensitive. Probably to be grown only as a
curiosity.


Wild Latin Longhorn - Pole Lima wild and extremely small seeded.
Daylength Sensitive as well.


Wild Raindrop - Pole lima. Extremely small seeded. Day length
sensitive.


Willow Leaf - Pole Lima. This one is not day length sensitive. I had
grown a white Willow Leaf lima back in the early 1980's. I knew this
red one existed at the time but never acquired it. The leaves are
very slender and shaped just like a leaf from a Willow tree. They
are very productive. Seed is smaller than the average lima like
Florida Speckled.

 

[Blue-Jay]

There is a fellow from Maine that I know on Facebook. He took a trip in early January to Uganda. He was on a seed collecting trip in that country. He divided up the seeds he collected among some of the people he was familiar with on Facebook that does a lot with seeds I was one of the lucky recipients of six bean varieties from his trip.

Mulwanyi - This man said he believes that all the beans he collected
were either bush or semi runner types. This bean is about the size
of a kidney. I could take a guess that it might be a bush type.
Purchased in a market in Missindi, Uganda



Jowee - Very small seed. Collected in Gulu, Uganda. Because of
the smallness of this seed it's my guess that this one could be a
semi runner.



Ochui Ocuc - Very small beans. Then next photo is one from this
variety next to a penny. Collected in Gulu, Uganda


Ochui Ocuc and a Penny



Mufuba Chai - More very small seeds. Collected in Eastern Uganda


Yellow - About the size of a navy bean. From Jinja, Uganda


Nambale Omumpi - From Jinja, Uganda