2024 Little Easy Bean Network - Growing Heirloom Beans Of Today And Tomorrow

[flowerbug]

if the attic gets hot you do not want to store beans up there.

if you keep the beans dry and out of direct sun and stored in moderate temperatures they will last longer.

i don't have freezer space either, i try to renew my beans every three to five years. most seem ok with that. i do notice that some varieties do not store as well as others so they will self-select themselves out as some beans i can't regrow that often.

if you keep organised and can store samples in smaller containers or those plastic envelopes i think you can keep those pretty long times and if you don't open them they may store longer, but i really am not sure as i've only kept most of my samples in small 2oz plastic sample cups and those probably leak a bit of air. i also sometimes do open them up again to get samples out or for planting.

what really helps is making sure to write the date the seeds were grown. i write the date on a bit of paper and put it right in the container since i don't like writing on the containers. i also write down the name since some of the beans i have may look like other varieties.

 

[Neen5MI]

if the attic gets hot you do not want to store beans up there.

Yes, the attic gets very hot, but my beans are only there during the fall harvest and drying season when temperatures have moderated, and as much of winter as needed to experience a freeze. Then I move them to a conditioned part of the house.

So, those small samples, for replanting or sharing, does anyone have a system to keep them organized? I currently rummage through a box or bag. This year, including runner beans, edamame, and pole beans, I planted 32 varieties of annual legumes. And I have a similar number that I didn't grow this year. It's becoming unwieldy.

For the foodies out there, once a portion of the harvest has been set aside for replanting, do all the remaining dry beans go in a mixed bag, or do you have categories for different uses? Soup vs chili vs curry vs bean dips, etc. Or are they stored separately by variety indefinitely?

 

[heirloomgal]

Ok, there's no such thing as a dumb question. Right? So, can we talk about storage and organization of so many bean varieties? I'm finding my self challenged on several fronts:

-I don't have freezer space for long term storage of everything. I keep the current year's harvest (shelled and not-yet-shelled) in my unfinished attic until we've had a nice long freeze, to get rid of any bugs. (My confidence that such a freeze will occur is dwindling with each year.)

-Then I have to decide whether to maintain varieties separately or toss the majority into mixed containers for my own eating, holding back a sample for planting and sharing as named beans. But how large a sample should that be? I've been a little surprised by how few requests I get for seeds through Seed Savers Exchange, but would HATE to get a request and be unable to fill it. And how to store for easy retrieval..?

-And, let's face it, I grow way too many beans for my own consumption. My garden is currently groaning under the masses of vines and pods, promising the largest harvest of my career (almost exclusively dry), and my bean cupboard is already full to overflowing.

I would welcome advice, solutions, reflections, words of solidarity, descriptions of others' systems, etc.

I keep all my beans stored in glass jars @Neen5MI, which I've found to be an excellent method for keeping the germination rates high. I store all the jars in my basement, on the floor, mostly stacked inside heavy carboard flats. I have a few hundred jars now, so for quick retrieval I put a sticker on each lid with a number to represent the bean variety. I keep a google spreadsheet for that numbered list, with the corresponding name and year grown. I re-format the list on another google spreadsheet in alphabetical order by bean name first, then jar number, because I always search for beans by name not jar number - but I can search for them either way because I have both options.

Every season I continue from the last jar number with the lid stickers (so I don't need to hold jars up to read the number, I can scan a whole box at once), and add the new entries onto the google spreadsheet. The only dilemma I've encountered with this system is that if your going to stack you bean boxes, the jars all have to be the same basic height. All year I collect my salsa, pizza sauce jars etc. jars and save them for storage for the bean harvest that year, so there can be some variation in the jar heights - which is a problem. Sometimes I have to buy a few extra jars at the store even though I already have other jars which are too tall.

I find that beans, if kept relatively well, have super excellent germ rates. I think seeds on the whole are not given enough credit for how well they can hold viability. I have even had poorly stored beans sprout with nearly 100% germination after more than 7 years.

 

[flowerbug]

as i am shelling out beans i am noting as i'm shelling certain traits of the bulk beans (and the other beans too) that i grow so i'm selecting seeds to put aside into a larger container for the variety and i put a slip of paper in the container with the name and year grown plus i mark it as SS which means Seed Selecton for coming year's replantings. normally i will run out of those seeds eventually as i'm replanting. as examples of why i'm selecting certain seeds it may be because they shell out slightly easier or the pods are shaped differently or the seeds are coming out of the pods easier.

i keep a collection of what i've planted each year (in a dated box for that year) and in my mind i think of it as a campaign which i may go back and revisit and pull out future samples for futher plantings. i also have theme boxes where i keep samples in clear containers so i can see through the tops and sides and not have to open it if i don't need to take anything out. it wastes a lot of space and keeping samples in smaller clear plastic envelopes (instead of 2oz sample cups with lids) would probably cut down the space i'm using by 2/3rds at least. right now many of them are rather jumbled together since i was pulling samples for replanting and also for the seed swap and i just didn't have room to spread them all out agaiin to resort them back into their proper boxes.

i tend to weed out the collection once every few years of things that aren't going to get replanted and noting which ones i should put aside to try to replant soon before they expire. so far it's working out ok, i'm keeping my project beans moving along through the years and the bulk beans end up being replanted often enough that they are represented in multiple years and older samples too if i want to keep a reference sample. some i've planted often enough that i know them well and they won't get confused with any others. and then there are also my project beans which i may just have a few of so i may not be able to give out samples until they get grown out again (and hopefully they come true or get crossed again with something else to become yet another project at improvement).

my normal bulk bean varieties are Yellow Eye, Purple Dove, Vermont Appaloosa, Painted Pony, Venda is not quite bulk bean quantity (because it is harder to shell) but i do plant it often enough now to keep it going, Lavender is getting bulked up, Peregion used to be more commonly planted but it has a lot of semi-runners in the blend so i'm not planting it as often now as i was for several years. Tinker's Fire is also one i've bulked up enough to where i can give out samples at seed swaps.

each year at the seed swap i try to have single varieties of the favorite beans, plus a blend of several varieties as a fresh edible mix and then also anything else that is interesting. often i have a lot more varieties with me (i try to bring as much of my collection as i can) than anyone takes. i don't really get enough time with some people who might want to talk more, it would be nice to have a way of doing that in a more relaxed environment. we really need teleporter booths so we could pop around and check out the bean collections and swap samples without having to ship them through the mail.

so this is also a plug for the seed swap that if you ever want to show up and go through the collection and take samples you'd be welcome to do it, but you may need to bring a chair to sit on while doing it and some small envelopes. i'm always happy to sit and talk beans in between talking to other people.

 

[flowerbug]

I keep all my beans stored in glass jars @Neen5MI, which I've found to be an excellent method for keeping the germination rates high. I store all the jars in my basement, on the floor, mostly stacked inside heavy carboard flats. I have a few hundred jars now, so for quick retrieval I put a sticker on each lid with a number to represent the bean variety. I keep a google spreadsheet for that numbered list, with the corresponding name and year grown. I re-format the list on another google spreadsheet in alphabetical order by bean name first, then jar number, because I always search for beans by name not jar number - but I can search for them either way because I have both options.

for the future please put a tag in the jar with the name and year last grown just in case someone can't get access to those spread sheets...

Every season I continue from the last jar number with the lid stickers (so I don't need to hold jars up to read the number, I can scan a whole box at once), and add the new entries onto the google spreadsheet. The only dilemma I've encountered with this system is that if your going to stack you bean boxes, the jars all have to be the same basic height.

yes, that is why i went with the 2oz sample cups and lids, they may not stack as tightly as the small plastic envelopes but they also hold enough of a sample that you can cover a variety pretty well. i'm planning on eventually going to the small clear plastic envelopes because they will take up a lot less space and be easier to store and move, but i have to use up my boxes of 2oz containers or replace them entirely. that might be my winter bean project this year, i'm ready to move on from the 2oz containers. they weren't expensive so it's not too much of a loss now but i also need to get an order in and that means trying to find a good supplier and doing that research is not where i'm at in the season just now...

All year I collect my salsa, pizza sauce jars etc. jars and save them for storage for the bean harvest that year, so there can be some variation in the jar heights - which is a problem. Sometimes I have to buy a few extra jars at the store even though I already have other jars which are too tall.

I find that beans, if kept relatively well, have super excellent germ rates. I think seeds on the whole are not given enough credit for how well they can hold viability. I have even had poorly stored beans sprout with nearly 100% germination after more than 7 years.

so far i'm content with how well things are storing at room temperature but we do run the AC in the summer. i think if it gets too hot that doesn't help storage quality... a basement on the floor would be a great way to do it as long as you don't have dampness or other issues affecting the lids/labels, etc. with the small plastic containers i don't have bug or animal issues, just once in a while some may get left out that they start getting dusty. keeping them in a closed box helps with that.

 

[Decoy1]

In the book Beans Of New York this bean is also known as Longfellow. The book states it is called Nain Gris Maraicher in France which interprets into English as "Dwarf Gray Market Garden" An old variety grown also in the U.S. Brought to the U.S. by the Henderson Company in 1895. The bean has many names and synonyms. I acquired Longfellow from the USDA gene bank in Pullman, Washington. I grew it only once so far but mine didn't have pods this long. In a number of seasons I discovered the plot I had grown the bean in doesn't grow any bean well at all in any season. They are all small plants with smaller seeds. I should retry the bean in a different area.

Glad you liked Horsehead. It is one of my favorites and very productive too.

Emperor of Russia is one of the very first beans I grew. Thanks for the extra information, Russ.
It is held in UK by the Heritage Seed Library who offer it to members fairly regularly.

Adam Alexander, known as the Seed Detective, rates it as his very favourite variety.

HEIRLOOMS AND OFF-LIST VARIETIES DOING WELL - The Seed Detective

The Seed Detective - a place for vegaholics, those hopelessly addicted to growing their own fruit and vegetables. A site for anyone who shares my passion and curiosity about the delights to be had in a kitchen garden.

theseeddetective.co.uk

 

[Decoy1]

Yes, the attic gets very hot, but my beans are only there during the fall harvest and drying season when temperatures have moderated, and as much of winter as needed to experience a freeze. Then I move them to a conditioned part of the house.

So, those small samples, for replanting or sharing, does anyone have a system to keep them organized? I currently rummage through a box or bag. This year, including runner beans, edamame, and pole beans, I planted 32 varieties of annual legumes. And I have a similar number that I didn't grow this year. It's becoming unwieldy.

For the foodies out there, once a portion of the harvest has been set aside for replanting, do all the remaining dry beans go in a mixed bag, or do you have categories for different uses? Soup vs chili vs curry vs bean dips, etc. Or are they stored separately by variety indefinitely?

I did buy a small second- hand freezer for seeds, mainly beans. It lives outside in a barn.
I keep smaller and smaller amounts of each variety as time goes by. I keep a smallish number of seeds from each harvest for the year, usually 60+ varieties, in small ziploc bags, and put them alphabetically for that year in a plastic box. It then goes in my freezer.
I keep all my notes with photos etc on an Airtable base, so I can find which year I grew a bean in and locate the seeds that way.

 

[heirloomgal]

for the future please put a tag in the jar with the name and year last grown just in case someone can't get access to those spread sheets...

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I do also put a front label on the jar with the name & year grown too as an insurance. That doesn't really come in handy when locating specific jars, but I'm usually gathering up many jars at a time to fulfil seed requests and it has definitely happened that I've inadvertently opened multiple jars and then been confused which lid goes on what jar because the jars often contained the same original product, pizza sauce or whatever. It's a little hole in the system and the front labels help to keep things straight.

I've wondered several times since 2020 if I should be putting bush/pole on the jar. I think it's on the spreadsheets. A part of me thinks I'll never forget which is which but........

 

[heirloomgal]

a basement on the floor would be a great way to do it as long as you don't have dampness or other issues affecting the lids/labels,

I don't have wetness or high humidity, but the jars would protect from that if they're closed properly. There are even really great markers you can get at places like Home Depot that are impervious to wetness etc. and will make marks that last in all conditions. You can even write on wet surfaces with them.

 

[ruralmamma]

To everyone using spreadsheets, do you keep a physical copy of your inventory for backup?

I've lost too many garden notes do to electronic failures and my own failure to periodically transfer those notes to a journal. I'm currently growing 48 pepper plants as a trial and keeping note of characteristics of each. I observe them first thing in the morning and sometimes I just take my physical records outside and take notes.