2023 Little Easy Bean Network - Beans Beyond The Colors Of A Rainbow

[Decoy1]

Received a new bean in the mail, never heard of it before, 'Coco de Paimpol'. https://www.tastefrance.com/magazine/article/coco-de-paimpol-bean-refined-rustic-treat

However, the beans unfortunately are not in very good shape. They seem old to me, but that's a guess. Or maybe the beans are a mix of old ones and new ones. I'm happy to have them and beans are generally good germinators, but golly I would never sell seeds that look like this! I hope they sprout when I plant them.

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Yes, this variety has a protected status. I don’t quite know how this works but I think the seeds shouldn’t be sold under that name outside the designated area.
I grow a variety called Coco Nain Blanc which was offered by a French company as the same bean under a different but legal name. Oddly enough, my seeds arrived quite mashed up, in an even worse state than yours, but I rescued a couple and, as they’re very productive for a bush bean, I now have plenty of seeds.
I notice an English company, Beans and Herbs, is now selling this as Coco de Paimpol. I have been meaning to contact them to ask how they feel they can do this or whether my understanding is misplaced.
The variety is known for being harvested demi-sec as the article says. It’s traditionally a question of catching them at just the right stage. I guess ‘demi-sec’ is equivalent to ‘shellies’ a term never heard in UK, although with shellies perhaps the timing isn’t considered quite as crucial?

 

[Zeedman]

The variety is known for being harvested demi-sec as the article says. It’s traditionally a question of catching them at just the right stage. I guess ‘demi-sec’ is equivalent to ‘shellies’ a term never heard in UK, although with shellies perhaps the timing isn’t considered quite as crucial?

Both terms are probably synonymous, although I've never thought of shellies as 'sweet'. Maybe demi-sec is an earlier stage of maturity, like edamame soybeans? Shellies are generally harvested fully mature, just before dry down... a stage which only lasts a day or two.

 

[Decoy1]

Both terms are probably synonymous, although I've never thought of shellies as 'sweet'. Maybe demi-sec is an earlier stage of maturity, like edamame soybeans? Shellies are generally harvested fully mature, just before dry down... a stage which only lasts a day or two.

Yes, that might be the case - that they are picked at a slightly earlier stage, apparently when the leaves are just showing the first signs of yellowing.
But it sounds as though timing is crucial for shellies too. I do like these days to pick some beans for shelling and mix them in with green beans but I think of the stage as lasting quite a time, at least a week or so. Am I missing something?

 

[flowerbug]

...
But it sounds as though timing is crucial for shellies too. I do like these days to pick some beans for shelling and mix them in with green beans but I think of the stage as lasting quite a time, at least a week or so. Am I missing something?

varies by variety IMO. a greasy bean could also be eaten as a shelly and have quite a large number of days that the bean would be edible as a shelly - other beans just a few days. larger seeded varieties probably have a larger window too but i've not really grown a lot of those for shellies to really have a good feel for those yet.

it's not something i really key on these days and my own preferences are for smaller beans that are either eaten as snaps or left to grow for dry beans. the shelly stage i do eat some but it isn't a goal. it can happen but it is usually a byproduct of harvesting beans that have gone late and are at risk of frost damage so i've harvested them and then shelled them because i don't want to deal with trays of drying pods and i don't have room to hang them.

 

[Triffid]

The sweetness probably varies due to maturity of the seed at about the same rate as a round-seeded shelling pea i.e. they have to be really quite young in the pod to be sweet. But this is all just supposition! It's worth a test, and probably good to start with the so-called 'Pea Beans'.

 

[Zeedman]

2023 beans cont...


"Dolloff", pole dry, from an SSE member in Maine 2010. Normally one of my most productive dry beans (nearly 4 pounds last time) but really languished this year. Not sure if it was due to weather or soil fertility, since nothing in that plot did well this year. Like most of my 2023 beans, poor seed quality was much more prevalent than normal, with a lot of culls. I count my blessings that I was able to get 13 ounces of dry seed though, given that the other bean in that plot failed completely.


"Kentucky Wonder White 191", pole snap. There seem to be several corruptions/variations of the original name, I believe this is the same as the "Ferry Morse Pole 191" whose departure from the seed trade led me to begin seed saving. Vigorous heavily-branched runners, with a very high yield of slightly flattened 7-8" pods. These need to be picked young to be stringless, but have a rich 'beany' flavor lacking in many modern varieties. Dry seed production can be phenomenal (I once had nearly a pound from a single plant) but was much less this year (19 ounces) chiefly due to a weed burner accident which cost half of the row (still learning how to properly use that great tool ).


"Toby Poe's Purple", purple-podded pole snap. Obtained from SSE's Heritage Farm 2016, originally from Ohatchee, AL. Round, purple, 5-6" pods with rich flavor. Does OK here, but given its origin & reports from those I've sent seed to, seems to do better under warmer weather than mine. It was grown in pots this year, which really suffered during the hot spells; I think I need to provide shade for the pots, to prevent the soil from overheating. 9 ounces of seed, and the runners produced a very welcome second flush of snaps just before frost. My Grandson loved snacking on them raw whenever he came over.

 

[heirloomgal]

Yes, this variety has a protected status. I don’t quite know how this works but I think the seeds shouldn’t be sold under that name outside the designated area.
I grow a variety called Coco Nain Blanc which was offered by a French company as the same bean under a different but legal name. Oddly enough, my seeds arrived quite mashed up, in an even worse state than yours, but I rescued a couple and, as they’re very productive for a bush bean, I now have plenty of seeds.
I notice an English company, Beans and Herbs, is now selling this as Coco de Paimpol. I have been meaning to contact them to ask how they feel they can do this or whether my understanding is misplaced.
The variety is known for being harvested demi-sec as the article says. It’s traditionally a question of catching them at just the right stage. I guess ‘demi-sec’ is equivalent to ‘shellies’ a term never heard in UK, although with shellies perhaps the timing isn’t considered quite as crucial?

Very interesting @Decoy1 , thank you for the information. I received the seed from a company here in Canada under that name. I've never really heard of this status issue, as we don't have such designations here. I think if it were to be re-named to avoid a patent issue it would likely be assumed to be a different bean. When I search the name 'Coco Nain Blanc' it looks like a slightly different bean, more pure white perhaps? A commonly sold bean here is 'Coco Bianco' which looks very much like Coco Nain Blanc, but hard to say from the company pictures online. I have seeds for Coco Bianco and they are like large, pure white navy beans. These Coco de Paimpol beans look a little like Mrs. Kahl or Pois Feves Laliberte. Sort of a pale buttery color.

eta: I looked on Bohnen Atlas and now I wonder if these new beans really are Paimpol beans - they don't look nearly as white as those in the photo there.

 

[Blue-Jay]

White Robin - Semi Runner Dry. A Robert Lobitz original named bean from about 23 years ago. My best year with this bean was 2014. I must have grown nearly a pound of the seed back then. This years story of struggling beans was a common thing among a lot of growers this year. I harvested .85 of an ounce, 27 grams.

 

[Blue-Jay]

About 5 years ago Curt Burrough of Leota, Iowa sent me a number of his limas. He's bred some nice orignals. Among them was this rich brown looking lima a cross he made with Ping Zebra. He didn't have name for it and told me I could come up with a name and since it colors darken slowly I named it after the slow paced music piece. I named the bean Andante. The bean is still not stable and I wonder how he got this rich dark brown coloring (photo #1). Looks like a brown Ping Zebra. I grew it two years ago and the second photo #2 is what I harvested in 2021. I've let a bunch of sit for two years and photo #3 is how much the bean has darkened since I first grew it. I'm thinking this bean will never attain the rich brown of the original seed.


Andante - Pole Lima. Photo #1


Andante - Pole Lima. Photo #2


Andante - 2023 - Pole Lima. Photo #3

 

[flowerbug]

About 5 years ago Curt Burrough of Leota, Iowa sent me a number of his limas. He's bred some nice orignals. Among them was this rich brown looking lima a cross he made with Ping Zebra. He didn't have name for it and told me I could come up with a name and since it colors darken slowly I named it after the slow paced music piece. I named the bean Andante. The bean is still not stable and I wonder how he got this rich dark brown coloring (photo #1). Looks like a brown Ping Zebra. I grew it two years ago and the second photo #2 is what I harvested in 2021. I've let a bunch of sit for two years and photo #3 is how much the bean has darkened since I first grew it. I'm thinking this bean will never attain the rich brown of the original seed.

is that frozen seed?