The 2014 Little Easy Bean Network - Get New Beans On The Cheap

[Hal]

They certainly will. They taste good too.

Are the pods flat or round?

 

[Blue-Jay]

Hey @marshallsmyth

What segregations are you getting out of Billingsgate? I have found 7 segregations from this bean and I planted 10 seeds this year. That's nearly one segregation per seed. That's is in my book unheard of. They are all nice looking colors and patterns. I hope every single one of them settles down into stability over time. I'll eventually put up the photos of all the seasons results.

Right now I'm in a frantic race to save as much of my seed crop as I can from too much rotting moisture as we have had 4 inches of rain (a months worth) in one week. Where was this rain in the middle of July when the beans were in needed ?

As long as I'm on the subject of Billingsgate. I thought it would be fun to show you were the name came from. When I saw the name it just jumped out at me screaming this is the name of one of your new beans.

 

[897tgigvib]

Howdy Russ, solar power only still here.

Billingsgate has, from 5 plants I think, sorted into what looks like 3 or 4 kinds. One or 2 look like Magpie, (going by memory), only fatter. One is a brown based pinto which I believe will further segregate, and one has some nice bluish dotting on it with a white background and a bluish end.

I'll take some photos as soon as I get a generator.

Oh good luck with all that rain Russ. Sure could use some of that over here. But you know the routine, pick the pods that are touching the ground first, and the seriously wet ones you should probably go ahead and open to dry as quick as possible. I use those paper plates that are very absorbent for that, and then place them on a high dry warm shelf. Better to have slightly immature seeds with a wrinkle or 2 and no gloss than to have rotted seeds.

White Robin seems to be the strangest outcross to me. I actually think White Robin outcrossed from 2 different subspecies of vulgaris that normally don't cross. One of the plants is growing, and has been growing, and still is, just fine, but every single pod on it, which are purple pods, all of them on this plant, has mostly dead undeveloped seeds in it. So far I've gotten only 3 half way decent looking seeds from that plant. Black seeds. I actually think it may have had a POLYPLOID event, that plant. I truly hope the few seeds from that plant do grow! The other 2 White Robin plants, one made White Robin looking seeds, the other made seeds that may be tricolored once more of them cure longer. Mainly white, then purple, with a bit of silvery purple.

I sure have a lot of photos to take.

Buxton Buckshot has so far not produced, Black Turkey is having a hard time of things, and Long Tom with one surviving plant just may give a few. Hanna Hank needs to make some more of those magnificent pods. I think it will. These are some of the problem plants I can think of.

Oh, having a hard time with some of the African varieties too.

But Marico! What a beautiful variety. She had me worried there for awhile, but came through with a nice crop of gorgeous seeds, more speckled than the planted seeds but I think that difference is in soil and location.

Red Rajma similarly finally came through as a bush. (that answers the ? mark on the package). Bush. Unless Red Rajma has some special qualities for flavor, I think it is best as an heirloom for future germplasm. In Kenya and South Africa, for the small farms there where serious production may be needed, I think they would do well to see how Burgundy Kidney could be a more productive replacement, or maybe one of the newer developments.

Anney's and the Red Speckled have so far not produced any at all, and also, neither has White Coco. The half white sugar has one plant trying its best to give me a crop.

My season here is nowhere near over so there is still plenty of time.

Oh, I can hardly wait to photo all these seeds!!!

What an amazing year it's been growing these new beans!!!

Thank you Russ!!!

I'll be putting together the return seeds, oh, probably late October.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

@Bluejay77 , I'm gonna kick myself for this, but you do know that Webster;s dictionary defines "Billingsgate" as "rude, coarse, offensive or threatening language" (probably from the original Billingsgate in London, which was the site of one of London's major fish markets (as in "swears like a fishwife") and a pretty seedy area.)

I'm having some issues with one of my African beans as well, the mottled grey. Unlike the FPM*, which , wile African behaves within parameters compatible with most of this area, I'm beginning to think that MG is an African bean that really can't perform well OUTSIDE of Africa. My first plant crapped out and dropped after two pods and six beans (and the last two are not exactly 100%, by that point the plant had gone leafless. There IS one more in the pot with a few buds, but that's one out of twenty or so. And even there, I question it's utility, a bean plant so long season it doesn't even begin to get its first buds until almost September probably is too long season for at least the top half of this country. And unless they REALLY perk up with the cold, cropping isn't so great either (it doesn't flower all that heavily). I may give it one more season (to see if any of the orginal seed I have left is any earlier, but I think this one is pretty close to a write off.

*Side note: Since FPM is presumably entering the seed ring soon, maybe we should change the name; drop the "mixed". It's probably presumptuous of me (since (I never named the variety) but all of the seed in the ring ultimately came from what I distributed around and, as far as I can tell, it's all the same, there is no "mix" involved. Maybe it never was mixed and the various packet colors are just the result of different soils and drying conditions. Maybe the age of the start seed removed much of the diversity from the original population. But in any case, still calling it "mixed" seems a little misleading now. So maybe when it goes among everyone else it should be noted as a selection from Fort Portal Mixed, with a new name (If I'm right about some of the stuff I have this year being a slightly different, larger version that can be another strain down the road). I'd suggest "Fort Portal Amethyst" but that 1. perpetuates the assumption it is very similar to Fort Portal Jade (it isn't) and 2. I already used it (It was my nickname for the strain I was trying to start from an off type FPJ that was purple instead of green) I've got it, since it is such a nice shade of purple, how about "African Violet"?

 

[journey11]

Are the pods flat or round?

Flat, about 5" long.

 

[Hal]

@Bluejay77 , I'm gonna kick myself for this, but you do know that Webster;s dictionary defines "Billingsgate" as "rude, coarse, offensive or threatening language" (probably from the original Billingsgate in London, which was the site of one of London's major fish markets (as in "swears like a fishwife") and a pretty seedy area.)

I'm having some issues with one of my African beans as well, the mottled grey. Unlike the FPM*, which , wile African behaves within parameters compatible with most of this area, I'm beginning to think that MG is an African bean that really can't perform well OUTSIDE of Africa. My first plant crapped out and dropped after two pods and six beans (and the last two are not exactly 100%, by that point the plant had gone leafless. There IS one more in the pot with a few buds, but that's one out of twenty or so. And even there, I question it's utility, a bean plant so long season it doesn't even begin to get its first buds until almost September probably is too long season for at least the top half of this country. And unless they REALLY perk up with the cold, cropping isn't so great either (it doesn't flower all that heavily). I may give it one more season (to see if any of the orginal seed I have left is any earlier, but I think this one is pretty close to a write off.

*Side note: Since FPM is presumably entering the seed ring soon, maybe we should change the name; drop the "mixed". It's probably presumptuous of me (since (I never named the variety) but all of the seed in the ring ultimately came from what I distributed around and, as far as I can tell, it's all the same, there is no "mix" involved. Maybe it never was mixed and the various packet colors are just the result of different soils and drying conditions. Maybe the age of the start seed removed much of the diversity from the original population. But in any case, still calling it "mixed" seems a little misleading now. So maybe when it goes among everyone else it should be noted as a selection from Fort Portal Mixed, with a new name (If I'm right about some of the stuff I have this year being a slightly different, larger version that can be another strain down the road). I'd suggest "Fort Portal Amethyst" but that 1. perpetuates the assumption it is very similar to Fort Portal Jade (it isn't) and 2. I already used it (It was my nickname for the strain I was trying to start from an off type FPJ that was purple instead of green) I've got it, since it is such a nice shade of purple, how about "African Violet"?

The African stuff does very well in Australia and the other way around.

Flat, about 5" long.

Thank you.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Bluejay77 , I'm gonna kick myself for this, but you do know that Webster;s dictionary defines "Billingsgate" as "rude, coarse, offensive or threatening language" (probably from the original Billingsgate in London, which was the site of one of London's major fish markets (as in "swears like a fishwife") and a pretty seedy area.)

I didn't know that about the name Billingsgate. However that is British history, and the name doesn't always have to keep a negative connotation. Since I didn't know about the negative connotation when I first saw the street sign. The name never had any negatives for me to begin with. Now it's the name of a nice looking bean and it's family of very pretty offshoot segregations. Locally around the Woodstock, Illinois area Billingsgate Lane has some very nice homes located in a pretty rural setting. Another positive for the name.

 

[Blue-Jay]

I checked on the Armenian Giant Black bean yesterday and it has grown about a dozen large flat pods that are developing lumpy spots where seed is forming. The plant is continuing to bloom abundantly. So I think we are going to get seed out of this plant before the end of the growing season.

 

[Hal]

I checked on the Armenian Giant Black bean yesterday and it has grown about a dozen large flat pods that are developing lumpy spots where seed is forming. The plant is continuing to bloom abundantly. So I think we are going to get seed out of this plant before the end of the growing season.

Sounds promising.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

The African stuff does very well in Australia and the other way around.

I wasn't trying to knock ALL African Beans, just mention that that SPECIFIC one may have some issues. AV and Bantu are from the exact same region, and I have no problems with either of those.

@Bluejay77 . Glad to hear that the AGB is producing. When the seed comes out check to see if it is all still flat black/purple. The original seed was a flat unmarked black, but the original original seed (i.e. what I planted to get the seed you wound up with) had some small white spots, and I never could figure out whether they were a pattern or some sort of damage (they seemed raised and scar-ry) I Dug up the old picture Ricter's used, to show what I mean

Oh and I can assume that AGB actually is a common bean by now, right? I'm not sure If I have the know-how to tell as common from a runner bean, but I assume that, with your long bean growing experience, you probably do, and if it WAS a runner bean you would have mentioned it by now.