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

[Zeedman]

i've only grown it once so far, but it did very well here and i'll grow it again sometime. i'm not sure if you noticed that the OP by @Bluejay77 there was a a grow out from an out-cross and not the VBE itself?

You're right, I didn't notice that the first photo was a cross. Ooops.

 

[flowerbug]

Thank You Santa Bean aka @Bluejay77 the Mrociumere out-cross package arrived and was picked up from the PO Box today. best Christmas present i've had.

it was a complete surprise too. haha!

 

[Zeedman]

2021 soybeans, continued:


Krasnoarmejscaja, from the estate of the late Robert Lobitz in 2006, originally collected by the USDA in Russia. Main season, Maturity Group I. Short, very stout 12-16" plants, with long branches which bear over 50% of the pods. This is a large-seeded "gray" that I am investigating for use as soy nuts... its dry weight protein content can be over 47%. 2012 seed had zero germination in 2020, so it was started as transplants this year. Those transplants were so successful that I felt comfortable cutting one plant (above) for edamame, and harvested 16 ounces of seed.


Musan-1, from the USDA/ARS 2006, originally from North Korea. Main season, Maturity Group I. Very tall 36-40" plants that required some support. 2012 seed failed in 2020, so it was started as 'rescue' transplants this year, and did very well. The USDA considers it to be only moderately productive; but in garden culture, it produced 2 pounds of seed from a 10' row. That is especially significant given its extraordinarily high protein content - 53% dry weight. The eye-catching seed coloration very closely resembles An,dunscaja, so the two were grown in different sites.


PI 427088 I, from the USDA/ARS 2006, originally from Jilin Sheng, China. Nearly spherical reddish-brown seeds. Tall, heavily-branched 33-36" plants benefit from support. This is a late variety that always pushes up against the frost, but has a very heavy yield. Nearly all pods are 3- or 4-seeded, and borne well off the ground. Another 2012 "rescue", started in pots due to failure in 2020. I was surprised that this was delicious harvested green as edamame, with fat seeds & the large number of seeds per pod offsetting the small seed size (150/ounce). I nearly dropped this variety from my collection (!!!) but it is outstanding as a late-season edamame, and I will be keeping it in rotation for that purpose. The biggest drawback of this variety (aside from the long DTM) is its vulnerability to moisture during ripening, and the high number of defective seed coats. I've had to cull the seeds heavily every time it was grown, but still ended up with 10 ounces of seed from an 8' row.

All three of these were successful rescues of 2012 seed that appeared to be dead when direct seeded, and proved the value of soybean transplants. I will be repeating the process for the varieties which failed this year, and as backups for any seed which tests as low germination.

 

[flowerbug]

All three of these were successful rescues of 2012 seed that appeared to be dead when direct seeded, and proved the value of soybean transplants. I will be repeating the process for the varieties which failed this year, and as backups for any seed which tests as low germination.

love 'em all!

 

[jbosmith]

2021 soybeans, continued:

View attachment 46064 View attachment 46065 View attachment 46066
Krasnoarmejscaja, from the estate of the late Robert Lobitz in 2006, originally collected by the USDA in Russia. Main season, Maturity Group I. Short, very stout 12-16" plants, with long branches which bear over 50% of the pods. This is a large-seeded "gray" that I am investigating for use as soy nuts... its dry weight protein content can be over 47%. 2012 seed had zero germination in 2020, so it was started as transplants this year. Those transplants were so successful that I felt comfortable cutting one plant (above) for edamame, and harvested 16 ounces of seed.

View attachment 46067 View attachment 46068 View attachment 46069
Musan-1, from the USDA/ARS 2006, originally from North Korea. Main season, Maturity Group I. Very tall 36-40" plants that required some support. 2012 seed failed in 2020, so it was started as 'rescue' transplants this year, and did very well. The USDA considers it to be only moderately productive; but in garden culture, it produced 2 pounds of seed from a 10' row. That is especially significant given its extraordinarily high protein content - 53% dry weight. The eye-catching seed coloration very closely resembles An,dunscaja, so the two were grown in different sites.

View attachment 46071 View attachment 46072 View attachment 46073
PI 427088 I, from the USDA/ARS 2006, originally from Jilin Sheng, China. Nearly spherical reddish-brown seeds. Tall, heavily-branched 33-36" plants benefit from support. This is a late variety that always pushes up against the frost, but has a very heavy yield. Nearly all pods are 3- or 4-seeded, and borne well off the ground. Another 2012 "rescue", started in pots due to failure in 2020. I was surprised that this was delicious harvested green as edamame, with fat seeds & the large number of seeds per pod offsetting the small seed size (150/ounce). I nearly dropped this variety from my collection (!!!) but it is outstanding as a late-season edamame, and I will be keeping it in rotation for that purpose. The biggest drawback of this variety (aside from the long DTM) is its vulnerability to moisture during ripening, and the high number of defective seed coats. I've had to cull the seeds heavily every time it was grown, but still ended up with 10 ounces of seed from an 8' row.

All three of these were successful rescues of 2012 seed that appeared to be dead when direct seeded, and proved the value of soybean transplants. I will be repeating the process for the varieties which failed this year, and as backups for any seed which tests as low germination.

Ohhh Musan-1 is beeeaaauuutttifful! :-o

I can't remember if I've already asked you this, but how do you eat your soybeans?

 

[Zeedman]

I can't remember if I've already asked you this, but how do you eat your soybeans?

Thus far, we've only eaten soybeans as edamame, or soaked & cooked as dry beans. I've been experimenting with soy nuts, but haven't yet obtained the quality I'm looking for. Many of the soybeans I grow are processing types chosen for their earliness, yield, and/or high protein content. I offer those to others as non-GM alternatives, since there are so very few sources of non-edamame soybeans out there. The colors, while interesting, are part of my isolation strategy, a way for me to easily detect any crosses which might occur between varieties. I won't deny that I grow a few because of their appearance, as long as that's not the only reason.

For the most part, older soybeans rotate into my SHTF stock, along with other dry legumes. To my shame, as a soybean advocate, I have not yet attempted to make tofu, miso, or other processed soybean products myself. A situation I intend to address this winter, when I will be buying equipment to start testing some of my soybeans as tofu, and as roasted & ground soy grits. The latter were used as part of a multi-grain hot cereal that we make & added to bread recipes, until the local health food center stopped carrying it.

 

[Zeedman]

2021 soybeans, Part 4/5:


PI 291281, from the estate of Robert Lobitz 2006, originally collected from Heilongjiang Sheng, China. 26-30" plants, with pods that turn black when dry & offer good protection from moisture. Maturity Group I, which is a DTM of 105-110 days here. Yellow seeds with a brown saddle which sometimes completely encircles the seed, and very few culls. This variety has both a very high yield, and a protein content up to 48%. Harvested 23 ounces of seed from a 10' row.


Sakamotowase, from Robert Lobitz 2005, originally collected by the USDA in Hokkaidô, Japan. Short, stout 12" plants, with a very short DTM (about 80 days here). Due to lighting, the photo does not accurately reflect the true seed color, which is green with a black saddle (very similar to Gaia). It can be used as a small-seeded but very early edamame, or dry with a protein content of 48%. While its yield is relatively low, the plants can be more closely spaced (due to their small size) to partially compensate. I very nearly lost this one; had to plant the last of my seed, only to have a deer jump the fence & mow half of the row. Fortunately most of the plants recovered, and produced 14 ounces of seed.


T239, from the estate of Robert Lobitz 2006, found as a mutation in Harosoy. VERY tall heavily-branched plants (40-44") that need some support. A very late variety (Maturity Group II) which at 115-120 days is normally a tight fit for my growing season - but fully matured this year. Yellow seeds with an unusual tan saddle, and a very high yield. While the USDA has no nutritional data for T239, presumably it has the same high 21%+ oil content as Harosoy. There were heavy attacks by Japanese beetles (which were really attracted to this one) and the plants basically overwhelmed both beetles & rodents to produce 24 ounces of seed from a 10' row.

 

[jbosmith]

Thus far, we've only eaten soybeans as edamame, or soaked & cooked as dry beans. I've been experimenting with soy nuts, but haven't yet obtained the quality I'm looking for. Many of the soybeans I grow are processing types chosen for their earliness, yield, and/or high protein content. I offer those to others as non-GM alternatives, since there are so very few sources of non-edamame soybeans out there. The colors, while interesting, are part of my isolation strategy, a way for me to easily detect any crosses which might occur between varieties. I won't deny that I grow a few because of their appearance, as long as that's not the only reason.

For the most part, older soybeans rotate into my SHTF stock, along with other dry legumes. To my shame, as a soybean advocate, I have not yet attempted to make tofu, miso, or other processed soybean products myself. A situation I intend to address this winter, when I will be buying equipment to start testing some of my soybeans as tofu, and as roasted & ground soy grits. The latter were used as part of a multi-grain hot cereal that we make & added to bread recipes, until the local health food center stopped carrying it.

I've been eating vegan for several years now and have only recently started eating soy regularly. Soy was scoffed at in my former beef raising circles and that took a while to let go of for some reason. I also thought it gave me migraines the way MSG does, but it turns out that doesn't seem to be a thing. (side note: Same with seaweed.)

It turns out I kinda love soy and I'm kicking myself for avoiding it for so long. I buy extra firm tofu in 4 lb blocks and they don't last long. I've also been experimenting with miso. I like tempeh a lot in concept, especially as a more intact whole food, but use more tofu in practice because it just goes in everything. I'd theoretically like to make tofu and then find a way to also eat the leftover okara but I haven't made it that far. Maybe you could toast that and use it like the grits? Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes for you!

The problem with all of this, of course, is that it affects how fast I go through all the other beans I grow and I'm already nearly a full year behind on using those with no real plan to catch up. I can think of worse problems to have though.

 

[BeanWonderin]

I took some time this afternoon to measure and tabulate yields for several varieties we grew out this summer. All beans were seed from @Bluejay77 and were good quality. As I mentioned previously, everyone in the family picked out a different variety to try and they were all planted in two adjacent rows in the same garden plot. About half were grown on poles and the other half unsupported. We really enjoyed this experience!

We only planted 12 seeds of each variety in order to save some in the event of germination or crop failure. For the pole beans, we planted 4 to a pole. We did plant two other varieties in bulk - Hutterite and Tongues of Fire - but since we haven't shelled those out yet, I am not including them here. We did not need to replant any of the beans and each bean matured enough to provide a substantial increase. There were a couple of outstanding harvests from the group.

I did not keep records of how many plants survived to produce, so all yields are calculated based on an assumption of 12 plants. Most of the pole beans may have only ended up with 8 or 9 plants total. The bush beans seemed to germinate better, but we did have some deer browse. There was no observable damage due to rodents, disease, or insects. We did loose some beans to mold prior to harvest and those are not counted here. Bean mass was calculated after full dry-down (air dry).

The clear high performers were Viola and Dapple Grey. They performed similarly in total mass, but Viola outpaced Dapple Grey in the number of beans due to its smaller seed size. We loved the unique appearance of each of these beans but I would say Dapple Grey may be the most striking in appearance. Viola easily wins the best plant appearance due to it's beautiful purple flowers, stems, and pods. It was also the first to flower.

My personal selection, Succotash, was the lowest producing of the group but I did really love growing it and will do so again. As a consolation, it did generate the second highest bean mass after Giele Waldbeantsje.

 

[heirloomgal]

I took some time this afternoon to measure and tabulate yields for several varieties we grew out this summer. All beans were seed from @Bluejay77 and were good quality. As I mentioned previously, everyone in the family picked out a different variety to try and they were all planted in two adjacent rows in the same garden plot. About half were grown on poles and the other half unsupported. We really enjoyed this experience!

View attachment 46134​

We only planted 12 seeds of each variety in order to save some in the event of germination or crop failure. For the pole beans, we planted 4 to a pole. We did plant two other varieties in bulk - Hutterite and Tongues of Fire - but since we haven't shelled those out yet, I am not including them here. We did not need to replant any of the beans and each bean matured enough to provide a substantial increase. There were a couple of outstanding harvests from the group.

I did not keep records of how many plants survived to produce, so all yields are calculated based on an assumption of 12 plants. Most of the pole beans may have only ended up with 8 or 9 plants total. The bush beans seemed to germinate better, but we did have some deer browse. There was no observable damage due to rodents, disease, or insects. We did loose some beans to mold prior to harvest and those are not counted here. Bean mass was calculated after full dry-down (air dry).

View attachment 46131​

The clear high performers were Viola and Dapple Grey. They performed similarly in total mass, but Viola outpaced Dapple Grey in the number of beans due to its smaller seed size. We loved the unique appearance of each of these beans but I would say Dapple Grey may be the most striking in appearance. Viola easily wins the best plant appearance due to it's beautiful purple flowers, stems, and pods. It was also the first to flower.

View attachment 46132​

My personal selection, Succotash, was the lowest producing of the group but I did really love growing it and will do so again. As a consolation, it did generate the second highest bean mass after Giele Waldbeantsje.

What a great harvest of Dapple Grey @BeanWonderin . I planted that one too this year, and had a pretty dismal yield from 12 plants. I think I may have had such a poor result because I planted in ridges (was an experiment) and the seeds wound up not being planted deep enough as the ridges washed away. Not doing that again. I hope if I try them again next year I am able to get a great yield like you did.

Your bean photo with the cursive writing is beautiful. Such an attractive way to display your beans!