2016 Little Easy Bean Network - Gardeners Keeping Heirloom Beans From Extinction

[PhilaGardener]

Thanks to everyone for sharing that twining tale!

Remy continues to offer Bosnian Pole on her site, although there is a limit of one pack per customer, so hopefully they are gracing many gardens.
http://www.sampleseeds.com/?page_id=3725

 

[Blue-Jay]

Since @PhilaGardener said hopefully the Bosnian Pole are gracing many gardens. I decided to check my records of how many people I've sent the bean out to. The count is 14 since 2013, and this year I donated
a sample of the variety to the USDA seed bank in Pullman, Washington. The Pullman bank is associated with the University of Washington and does grow outs of the varieties they have in their possession.

 

[Blue-Jay]

The Big Bean Show - Day #54​

Another bean I grew this year was a pole dry bean called "Peruvian Goose" (Photo Top Left) I am assuming by the name that the beans origin is Peru. It's another of the several beans I had gotten from Amy Hawk of Calhan, Colorado and her Simply Beans project. (Photo Top Right) Is a bean I had grown also in the early 1980's called "Pink Trout". It is a bush dry bean and usually displays more white on it's seed. The plants are true bush and grow without runners. This years seed coat on this bean is the result of our hot growing season. It comes from the bean collection of the late Ernest B. Dana of Etna, New Hampshire. It may have originally begun as an outcross in Ernie's collection, and I say this because he loved this trout pattern on beans and had so many of them. He would often come up with different ones that never seemed to be in general circulation. (Photo Bottom Left) is a pole snap bean called "Poletschka" with it's beautiful black rounded seed. I obtained this bean nearly 5 years ago from Lila Towle a member of the Danish Seed Savers. This bean also got donated this year to the USDA in Pullman, WA. (Photo Bottom Right) is the bush snap variety "Prince". It's origin is the UK in the early 20th century sometimes also called "The Prince". The plants are true bush and grow without runners. Another one I donated to Pullman.


"Peruvian Goose......................................."Pink Trout"


"Poletschka"............................................"Prince"

 

[Blue-Jay]

The Big Bean Show - Day #54​

In 2012 I was growing a bean by former SSE member the late Robert Lobitz called "Koronis Three Islands". I found this outcross that put out a very long vine and thought it probably would grow as a pole bean. It looked sort of like a slightly odd colored pinto bean and I named it "Prairie Patch" since my bean garden was out in the open among farm fields and fields of alfalfa. The state of Illinois had also become known as the "Prairie State". The bean does indeed climb past and will over grow a 6 foot 5 inch pole support. I grew the bean again in 2013 and got back a good amount of seed that looked like what I planted. It's has very productive plants. In 2014 I selected 8 seeds and got back nothing but solid black seed. What is the chance of that. This year in 2016 I planted some more of those 2013 seeds and got different results. (Photo Top Left) is "Prairie Patch". (Photo Top Right) is a white bean that segregated from the grow out. (Photo Bottom Right) is a solid golden tan colored seed that was another segregation.



"Prairie Patch"................................................."Prairie Patch Segregation"


"Prairie Patch Segregation"

 

[aftermidnight]

Hi @Zeedman nice to see you here, well I almost got the Bosnian Pole story right, but if it hadn't been for you two so many of us wouldn't be growing this great bean. I have to say as far as seed production, in all the beans I've grown it produces the most seed per plant.
When I share seed from this one I make sure to tell them when harvesting seed the brown color on the seed coat shows up as the seed ages, didn't someone dispose of the seed because there was no brown and they thought they had a cross?

Annette

 

[digitS']

@Zeedman !!

I was just thinking about you this morning. Reading about tofu and alternatives, like using peas and chickpeas. Thinking how I miss edamame but being overloaded with dry soybeans turned into a lot of work with tofu-making.

No problems with that the last 4 years. Two near failures in the soybeans led me not to grow them in 2015 & 16. It's location. I gave up one garden where Bei soybeans did just great.

In 2017, I need to decide if I want to use some of the salad growing space in the little veggie garden so that I can have edamame again. There isn't a lot of sunny areas there but the much more exposed big veggie garden is totally useless ground for growing soybeans!

It's good to see Zeedman here .

Steve

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I did a little experiment recently to try and make "soy sauce" from cowpeas. I didn't work (I tossed them when the smell got so vile I KNEW that it would be unsafe to eat the finished product.

for people of southern climes, I have HEARD it is also possible to make a tofu like product from the seeds of wingbeans (Tetragonolobus purpureus). However given how wingbean seeds smell when they are soaked, I am assuming that whoever did this leached them in some manner first and that bit of data was not passed on along with the information. For similar reasons, if someone was doing it, I'd also suggest getting a tan seeded form of wingbean, rather than the normal brown seeded one. Though I have no idea which strains have this (I would find tan seeds on occasion in the (presumably) mixed variety Thai seed packets I would get from a Chinese grocery near me, but their actual type is unknown to me.

 

[Zeedman]

@aftermidnight, @digitS', good to see you both here! With some of the other forums fading away, I figured it was about time to till new ground, so to speak. I'm sure that I will run into others that I know, once I've hung around here a bit longer.

I did a little experiment recently to try and make "soy sauce" from cowpeas. I didn't work (I tossed them when the smell got so vile I KNEW that it would be unsafe to eat the finished product.

That sounds a little scary. For that matter, although I grow a lot of different soybeans, I have been hesitant to attempt soy sauce. I just have too many reservations about the fermentation process... I'm still looking for someone locally who can give me "hands on" training in proper procedures.

2016 was a pretty good bean year for me. Aside from the glitch with Bosnian Pole, I was able to harvest 44 pounds of Phaseolus (beans, runners, limas), and 6 pounds of Vignas (cowpeas, yardlongs, adzuki). Soybeans did not fare as well, just short of 15 pounds total... considering that was divided between 18 different varieties (and about 250' of row), less than half of what I expected. Peas too were disappointing, chiefly because they were planted too late & suffered from PM.

More details & photos to follow. I'll start slow, don't want to step on anyone's toes here.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Zeedman, Welcome to our bean thread. Don't worry about stepping on toes. I'm sure it's not in your nature. Just dig in and hope you will enjoy being here. The more bean people we get here the more fun it probably will get. I think I've run across your name in places on the internet. Probably saw your comments on the Garden Web once. So whatever you like to talk about. Post photos of your gardens and beans. Whatever you like. Make yourself at home.

 

[Blue-Jay]

The Big Bean Show - Day #55​

One of the pole limas that I grew this was "Purple Eye" (Photo Top Left). It's origin from Seed Savers Exchange listings seems to be Arkansas, and is very productive. (Photo Top Right) is another outcross that I found in Robert Lobitz's White Robin in 2012. It's a bush bean I've named Purple Trout. Have grown it three times and it seems to be stable already. Purple Trout heavy amount of purple this year was due once again to our hot summer. The bean normally produces more white with purple spots. (Photo Bottom Left) is an outcross from one of my other stable outcross called Cherry Trout. This newer outcross is a bush bean I've named "Red Eyed Ranger). Could be close to being stable. (Photo Bottom Right) is a bush snap bean called "Red Valentine". I've seen various strains of the bean where it has a similar seed coat color and pattern but longer shaped seeds. This rounder seeded strain was traded around in Seed Savers Exchange in the early 1980's and was also part of the Wanigan collection. The variety is said to be pre 1830.


"Purple Eye"............................................"Purple Trout"


"Red Eyed Ranger"....................................."Red Valentine