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

[heirloomgal]

This fellow is Gabriel Hess. He lives in Oeschenbach, Switzerland. You found another of my European contacts. Gabriel and I trade beans from time to time. He is from who I got Karoffelbohne from. Gabriel also trades and acquires beans from Guy Dirix in Belgium.

I bet you were surpised to see Pink Emperor in this fellows collection. He also has Candy and a bunch of those Ping Zebra segregations. He will grow some of his beans in a small greenhous he has. He is of university age. I think he actually contacted me first when he was still in high school. He either found my website or found me on Facebook.

Wow! What a coincidence! Gabriel has a very nice little operation going with his plants & seeds. He posted a picture of one of his rare pelargoriums and it is the most beautiful one I've ever seen. He is clearly really passionate about what he's doing! So uplifting to see young people devote their time and energy to such wonderful things. I love that the younger generation also seems to be very interested in breeding and selecting thier own varieties.

Another thing that caught my eye is he planted Vaquero, a bean which I received as a network bean in 2021. Interestingly, the photo of the dry Vaquero beans on his website look exactly like the ones I harvested from my Vaquero plants - which was quite different from the original form we both had. The seeds originally were quite small and very marked with bovine themed black spots. Yet both his soil and my soil (and growing circumstances too I guess) altered the bean to be bigger, rounder and much less black marks. He wrote on an instagram post that, that specific color marks that Zuni Shalako and Vaquero have are a result of high heat at the time of bean formation. So, my guess is because he and I probably have similar growing conditions we both wound up with identical beans.

 

[BeanWonderin]

I have what appears to be an outcross of Nigel from last year's planting. One plant in the row had purple coloring on the leaves and pods, so I marked the plant and harvested the pods separately. I was thrilled to see a purple Nigel bean as the outcome.

Nigel outcross (top) growing in Nigel (bottom):

Nigel blossom:

Nigel outcross blossom:

Nigel outcross pods:

If this is an outcross, I should expect to see significant variation in the 2024 grow-out, right? I would like to stabilize the purple coloring.

Nigel (left) and Nigel outcross (right):

 

[flowerbug]

I have what appears to be an outcross of Nigel from last year's planting. One plant in the row had purple coloring on the leaves and pods, so I marked the plant and harvested the pods separately. I was thrilled to see a purple Nigel bean as the outcome.

Nigel outcross (top) growing in Nigel (bottom):
View attachment 64652

Nigel blossom:
View attachment 64653

Nigel outcross blossom:
View attachment 64654

Nigel outcross pods:
View attachment 64655

If this is an outcross, I should expect to see significant variation in the 2024 grow-out, right? I would like to stabilize the purple coloring.

Nigel (left) and Nigel outcross (right):
View attachment 64656

that's the fun of outcrosses. you don't really know exactly what you have until you grow them again... well, ok, let me rephrase that, you might know what you have if you have planted only a few varieties and know what the domanant and recessive gene mix is like of your parental varieties. you'll know even more if you do specific crosses by hand (i found out last year that i'm much worse than the bees at trying that).

i love purple flowered beans.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If this is an outcross, I should expect to see significant variation in the 2024 grow-out, right? I would like to stabilize the purple coloring.

Beautiful bean. I can see why you want to stabilize it.

You never know what you will get with an outcross like that. I've had some that immediately produced a stable bean. I've had some that continue to produce outcrosses through generations, never stablizing.

It's not just bean color you are looking for to establish a new variety. It can be growth habit (bush, semi-runner, half-runner, or pole) color and shape of the leaf, bloom color, pod shape and color, the list goes on and on. I'd suggest planting several beans where they are kind of isolated to reduce the chance of another cross-pollination and keep individual notes on individual plants. See what you get.

The way I understand the rule is that if you get the same thing three years straight with no variations you have a stabilized bean and can name it anything you wish as long as the name is not already taken.

 

[BeanWonderin]

I got a package of beans from @Blue-Jay yesterday and I am so excited!

This year, I will be growing for the network:

• Beurre Dore
• Malathini
• Natal Coffee
• Deuil Fin Precoce
• Grune Aus Den Karpaten
• Kitoba

Looking forward to a great growing season!

 

[Blue-Jay]

I did a little germination project this past week. I have had about 17 bean varieties I've been keeping in baby food jars on a shelf in my cool basement since 2012. This seed has never been kept in a freezer. I do a germination test on them every few years to see how they are doing. The results are fairly surprising on many of them. Some varieties fair better with age than other. Considering they are all 12 years old except one the germination I thought was amazing.

Super Bean 2013 Pole Germination 60%
Davis wax bush. 2012 Germination 26%
Eden Prairie Dry Bush 2012 Germination 65%
Florida Speckled Pole Lima 2012 Germination 13%
Gillenwater Dry Semi Runner 2012 Germination 60%
Illinois Wild Goose Pole Dry Germination 43%
Improved Golden Wax Bush 2012 Germination 80%
Nova Star Pole Dry 2012 Germination 65%
Osborne & Clyde Pole Dry 2012 Germination 93%
Provider Bush Snap 2012 Germination 95%

 

[Blue-Jay]

I did a little germination project this past week. I have had about 17 bean varieties I've been keeping in baby food jars on a shelf in my cool basement since 2012. This seed has never been kept in a freezer. I do a germination test on them every few years to see how they are doing. The results are fairly surprising on many of them. Some varieties fair better with age than other. Considering they are all 12 years old except one the germination I thought was amazing.

Purple Eye Pole Lima 2012 Germination 100%

PXBT-PP-97B-OOH Bush Dry 2012 Germination 90%
Rose Eye Pink Semi Runner 2012 Germiantion 100%
Rose D'Eyragues Bush Dry 2012 Germination 95%
Soldier Bush Dry 2012 Germination 100%
Tenderpod Bush Snap 2012 Germination 86%

Kishwaukee Green Bush Snap 2008 Germination 60%

 

[heirloomgal]

That is super excellent @Blue-Jay , you have nice conditions in your basement. I've found that beans have excellent keeping qualities when it comes to germination, but even I'm surprised that you got 100% on many of them after 12 years!! That's pretty incredible. And fantastic. I like to read things like this, because I feel like most seeds can remain viable for much, much longer than it's generally thought. So it's nice to see them do so well like this.

 

[flowerbug]

...
View attachment 64750 Provider Bush Snap 2012 Germination 95%

wow! the Provider beans i have from you are mostly white with only a hint of pink in them.

 

[flowerbug]

That is super excellent @Blue-Jay , you have nice conditions in your basement. I've found that beans have excellent keeping qualities when it comes to germination, but even I'm surprised that you got 100% on many of them after 12 years!! That's pretty incredible. And fantastic. I like to read things like this, because I feel like most seeds can remain viable for much, much longer than it's generally thought. So it's nice to see them do so well like this.

being sealed in a glass jar and a very stable environment may have a lot to do with it. i've had reasonable results too and i'm not storing my beans in the freezer or refridgerator at all, but we do have the AC which keeps it from getting too hot in here - i'm sure that helps.