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

[TheSeedObsesser]

I would go, but I'm being dragged to Cedar Point this weekend. And I don't think that my parents are willing to drive that far in the other direction just for me. Maybe next year.

Have fun!

 

[Blue-Jay]

Now I'm all confused. This is the first year I've taken detailed notes on the plant's characteristics, so other than what I have from memory, I'm not sure about any other changes in the Ora's Speckled. For the most part the plant looked just like it always had, but I may have missed something. It's my intention to keep better data from now on. I took good notes this year. Last year and this year were the only times it had thrown any difference in seed coat. Could have been crossed up in Bill Best's field, I'm sure. I bought them here back in 2009. Up until 2013's garden when I grew out a couple new ones for you, I only had 3 beans I was growing.

Let me see if I can get this right... You have the original parents...mother plant and pollen from father plant. Their offspring is F1. Those seeds still look exactly like mama. You plant those, but maybe plant characteristics change. F1 plant yields F2 seed...still no change in seed coat? You plant F2 seed and the plant may exhibit more changes. It yields F3 seed which MAY look different in the seed. Which would make my black cut shorts F3s. And the black speckled are F4s then. How far out would you have to go to hope to stabilize a new variety?

Ok @journey11,

You got the understanding of the changes in bean seed coats now. I think it varies on how long it takes to stabalize new beans. Some stablize in a few years. Some can take 8 or more years. I have a bean Kishwaukee Yellow which although looks uniform in it's plant growth, and pods keeps throwing off three seed coat colors. I think this bean will always do this. I first discovered this bean in my garden back in 1977.

Take some pictures of the seed swap if you go. If you feel like it take some notes on the names of some of the bean varieties being offered and traded there. Nashville is an 8 hour drive for me from here. I don't know if the drive would be worth all the gas and time although I must say the idea making the trip is vary enticing.

The fellow that lost his bean collection some years ago in a flood is Earl Wood.

 

[Ridgerunner]

@Bluejay77 are you ready for a theory of why that may never stabilize? I'll use chickens to explain it. You are dealing with gene pairs.

There are some chicken genes that are not really dominant or recessive but partially dominant. The blue feather color is one. If you have two blue feather genes at that gene pair, you get a splash. Splash is where the chicken is white but has some places where black was splashed on. If you have one blue feather gene and one not-blue feather gene at that gene pair, the chicken has blue feathers. If there are two not-blue genes at that gene pair, you have a black chicken. Of course it is a little more complicated than that. For the blue feather gene to work the chicken has to have some feathers that would normally be black. A white chicken would never show the effects. A red chicken that would normally have a black tail might have a splash ot blue tail if thar blue feather gene is in the mix.

To try to be clear, if you cross a splash with a splash you get splash. If you cross black with black, you get black. If you cross blue with blue you get blue, black, and splash.

The seed coat color you are trying to save may be like that blue feather gene. You are selecting a color that depends on only one gene being present in that gene pair so it never can stabilize. Are maybe half the seed coat colors the one you are trying to save while the other two are about 25% each? The math would work out for my theory. If you save one of those other seed coat colors and get 100% of those when you grow them, that would also support this theory.

But then, it could be something else completely.

 

[aftermidnight]

Come on Russ only an eight hour drive, when we raised and showed rabbits back in the 70's and 80's we took an hour and 40 min. ferry ride to the mainland, another hour to the border(usually a half hour lineup to get through), 3 hours to Seattle and another 3 hours to Roseburg in southern Oregon. You do what you have to do....and we're talking beans here .

I only wish I was younger, had a passport and someone I could bum a ride with, I'd go in a heartbeat. A couple of beans I have are originally from that swap meet.

Whoever goes please take pictures for those of us who would love to go but can't

Annette

 

[buckabucka]

@marshallsmyth, maybe you should send some of that Buxton Buckshot back here to Maine where it belongs!

I'm going to do my best to get your seed in the mail this weekend. Lots going on here, but I will get to it eventually.

 

[journey11]

I am all set to go! My DH has plans to bow hunt this weekend, so it will just be Ava and I. She's excited too. Hopefully I can get his mom or mine to watch my toddler for the day.

@Bluejay77 -- Russ are you still looking for that black and white seeded Logan Giant? I can ask around for you while I'm there. If it turns out to be a big gathering, it may be worth your 8 hour drive next year.

I will take a notebook with me and the camera. I will keep track of who I meet and what I find. I saved a lot of seed this year and hope I have enough variety to make some good trades.

@Smart Red , we can work something out, I'm sure.

I'll also pass through the town my great-grandmother was born in. Might be fun to get out and poke around there for a bit if I have the time.

Road trip!

 

[ninnymary]

Journey, that sounds like fun! You also get to share the experience and trip with your daughter. Hope it's a great trip.

Mary

 

[897tgigvib]

Journey, also be on the lookout for rare family heirloom COLLARDS. Those are critically endangered, and are in need badly of people growing them and saving seeds of them.

While Appalachian families always almost had someone wanting to grow the family beans or tomatoes, often there was nobody to continue growing the family collards. I've read where 10 years ago some graduate agriculture student went looking for heirloom collards growing families, and only found about 100, and most of those were very old widows. There were some very gorgeous collards. Some looked almost like Kale, some like cabbage leaves, some with colorful leaves or midribs.

Also, you may find there some true native Indian corns such as an 8 row white kerneled flour corn, or a white sweet corn with a very dark husk and cob.

Ohhhhh, you're gonna be like a kid in a candy store!!!

 

[baymule]

@journey11 you have a lot of people going with you this weekend, we'll all be there hanging over your shoulder! How precious that Ava is so excited to go with you, that's going to be such an awesome mom-daughter trip!

 

[journey11]

Journey, also be on the lookout for rare family heirloom COLLARDS. Those are critically endangered, and are in need badly of people growing them and saving seeds of them.

While Appalachian families always almost had someone wanting to grow the family beans or tomatoes, often there was nobody to continue growing the family collards. I've read where 10 years ago some graduate agriculture student went looking for heirloom collards growing families, and only found about 100, and most of those were very old widows. There were some very gorgeous collards. Some looked almost like Kale, some like cabbage leaves, some with colorful leaves or midribs.

Also, you may find there some true native Indian corns such as an 8 row white kerneled flour corn, or a white sweet corn with a very dark husk and cob.

Ohhhhh, you're gonna be like a kid in a candy store!!!

So you're saying I should bring more than just my bean seeds with me... Oooh, I may stay all day and have to get a hotel. They say it goes until everyone gets tired and goes home, LOL. That sounds awesome.

I like to eat collards, but I've never grown them...don't know why not.