2015 Little Easy Bean Network - Old Beans Should Never Die !

[Hal]

Even Hal in Australia knew of Robert's beans.

Joseph Simcox donated some of the Robert Lobitz material to the seed bank here if I recall correctly.
I had never seen anything like Blooming Prairie or the sibling lines anywhere else.

 

[Blue-Jay]

That's right I had forgotten about that. I remember now seeing Joseph's name on the AusPGris website looking at those Lobitz bean names.

On another note I'm glad to see the Texas and Oklahoma drought come to an end. Hope the weather especially the rainfall amounts normalize now in the future after all the excess water drains off and the soil gets to the point where it can handle normal rainfall amounts. Like to see that drought on the west coast come to and end too. That California drought is all the way up into the states of Oregon and Washington now.

 

[baymule]

@Bluejay77 I am fine. Had rained almost every day but we are high and not flooded. There is so much water that the ground is giving it back. We have water seeping out of the ground, pooling up and running down a gully like a creek. A neighbor has water bubbling up 3"-4" high in several places in his front yard, running a river and making a mud swamp. Impromptu springs have popped up everywhere, even water running down the roads.

The second set of beans you sent are up and growing well. The garden has a wonderful crop of weeds. Ground is sandy, but saturated and soft. Have not got a water hose yet. We bought two 125' no kink black hoses two months ago, they are still in the wrapper. LOL

Being a first year garden from hastily claimed land, some things are growing good, some not. I can see it taking awhile to get it the way I want it.

We love our new home, have been working hard at getting fence up, making improvements. People in the area are super friendly and nice. The rolling hills are pasture, wooded and lots of agriculture in area. We admire the beauty of it all.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Fort Smith Arkansas smashed the record for the wettest May on record. They had about 20", the old record was 15". Their average annual rainfall is only 45" so just in May they made almost half of that. I'm less than an hour north of Fort Smith but at a much higher altitude. We only got about 13" in May, less than a half inch from our all time wettest. People are dying and having their homes and livelihoods washed away. What I'm seeing is just an inconvenience. You have to keep it in perspective.

The only beans of yours I have in the ground are half the Feijao and Zambezi #3. I put them in a raised bed about a week ago. One Feijao has sprouted so that looks good. The ground is cracking a bit so I have hopes some more will soon show themselves.

From the forecast I should be able to get the other half of those plus all your others in the ground late this coming week. Like Bay I have plenty of weeds out there plus mowing will be a real adventure. There is something about mowing in standing water that just isn't right so that part is a bit out of control. I still need to get sweet potatoes, black turtle beans, lima beans, purple hulled peas, some corn, trumboncini squash, butternut squash, and some tomatoes and pepper in the ground. It will all come in time. Just an inconvenience.

 

[PhilaGardener]

@Bluejay77 , thanks, that would be an interesting read! I know about a number of his selections (including the Cranberry Red Potato) and in the past tried to research his breeding work on the web, but it seems like there isn't a lot of information out there (in part, he was a bit early for digital footprints). He really seemed to do a lot in the purple/rose part of the spectrum and his varieties of beans, in particular, generated a loyal following.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Here is the piece from Jim Tjepkema of Minnesota. I don't know where I got the idea it was an interview. It is an article Jim wrote on Robert Lobitz and I think he gleaned all the information from Seed Saver Exchange publications. It's a bit more information than what you will find on the internet about Robert Lobitz. I think the text is clear enough to read. You could probably even use a good sized magnifying glass to enlarge the text more. This article must have also been published in one of the SSE publications.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Here is the piece from Jim Tjempkema of Minnesota. I don't know where I got the idea it was an interview. It is an article Jim wrote on Robert Lobitz and I think he gleaned all the information from Seed Saver Exchange publications. It's a bit more information than what you will find on the internet about Robert Lobitz. I think the text is clear enough to read. You could probably even use a good sized magnifying glass to enlarge the text more. This article must have also been published in one of the SSE publications.

View attachment 7765

 

[Blue-Jay]

I don't know why this made two copies of this post.

 

[PhilaGardener]

Thanks @Bluejay77 - that is very clear and an easy (and interesting) read. I didn't know he was the first to popularize Golden Sweet from the USDA collection.

 

[Hal]

Thanks @Bluejay77 - that is very clear and an easy (and interesting) read. I didn't know he was the first to popularize Golden Sweet from the USDA collection.

Most seed sellers don't include much history or accurate history but not only did he introduce it but he named it as well. I'm glad @Bluejay77 shared this article with us.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Hi @baymule !

Glad your feet are dry and you're ok. Sounds like you are very happy with your new place, and I bet you have more ground to garden on now to your hearts content.