2019 Little Easy Bean Network - Come And Reawaken The Thrill Of Discovery

[Blue-Jay]

@Zeedman, That would be great to have Solwezi back. The one we had originally was all gray. It sorta looked like Robert Lobitz's "Cyrus Grays" bean. I looked up Solwezi on some website this morning and it too was all gray. I'll PM you my address

 

[Decoy1]

I looked at the record I printed out this morning and looks like 12 never been grown out. They are as follows.

Badda Di Polizzi Blanda - Pole
Bolita Mix - Pole
Ice Cream Sandwich - Unknown growth habit (Probably Pole) and the seed looks like the species "Dolichios lablab"
Kim's Italian - Semi Runner Maybe Half Runner almost like a pole bean
Large White Lima - Bush
Missouri Wonder - Pole
Nickell - Pole
Powder Star - Pole
Rattlesnake - Pole
Shumway Experimental - Bush Snap
Tarahumara Purple - Bush Dry
White Baby Lima - Pole


@Lady0bug, The Shumway Experimental would probably be a good bet for your Minnesota climate.

I have two forms of Rattlesnake, one from Beans and Herbs in UK and one from Bohnen-Atlas. I wonder whether either form is the same as the one on your list. I’m hoping to grow both and have some available

 

[Decoy1]

These Are The Gone Forever or Wanted beans​

We had two fellows from Africa sent beans back in 2013 and Marshall Smyth from California doanated his bean collection and was the one who originally encouraged me to start this Network. Also a world seed traveler by the name of Joseph Simcox donated many beans he collected.

Nigel #2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - Unknown Growth Habit From Africa
Transkei - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Bush From Africa
Giant Of Stuttgart - - - - - - --Pole Probaby From Germany
Outeniqua - - - - - - - - - - - - -Bush From Africa
Star 2052 - - - - - - - - - - - - --Bush Snap From Africa
Wintergreen - - - - - - - - - - --Bush Snap From Africa
Solwezi - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Pole From Africa
Chrom - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --Bush Dry From Africa
Harare Sugar Bean - - - - - - - Pole Dry From Africa
Imboty imbayiyana - - - - - - -Bush From Africa
Imbotyi Umthubi - - - - - - - --Bush From Africa
Imbotyi Chaphaza- - - - - - - - Bush From Africa
Taupe Star - - - - - - - - - - - --A Marshall Smyth original probably never be recouped
Brown Star Gold Band - - - - -A Marshall Smyth original probably never be recouped
College Supreme - - - - - - - --Bush Snap probably ame out of the Australian seed bank
Bedessia Mosaic - - - - - - - -- Unknown Growth probably another from the Australian seed bank
Comtesse De Chamboro - - - -Bush Snap from Australia. Seed never grew from the first try
Anderson's Purple King - - - --Pole Snap Purple pod from Australia
Benishibori - - -- - - - - - - - - -Bush Dry bean from Australia might have come from their seed bank
Buona Della Montagna - - - - -Pole bean donated by Joseph Simcox probably an Italian variety
Slut- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --Pole bean donated by Joseph Simcox probably from Eastern Europe
Fagiulo del Anglela - - - - - - -Pole bean donated by Joseph Simcox probably an Italian variety
Red Bollito- - - - - - - - - - - - -Pole Dry donated by Joseph Simcox
Fagiolo Cannelino Dente di Molto - -Pole donated by Joseph Simcox probably Italian variety
Liesbohne - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bush Dry from my Austrian bean trading friend. Can locate the seed
Schone Von Frau Weitzl - - - - German bean seed might have been very old to begin with.

I have Slut and hope to have some available to send at the end of the season.

 

[kbguess]

New to bean growing. Found the 2018 LEB in the fall when I was trying to find Nonna Agnes seed.
I found a few and am trying my hand using grow bags in Iowa


Keith

 

[flowerbug]

howdy @kbguess and welcome to TEG and TEBN.

hope your beanie babies do well this season!

 

[Blue-Jay]

View attachment 31402
I have two forms of Rattlesnake, one from Beans and Herbs in UK and one from Bohnen-Atlas. I wonder whether either form is the same as the one on your list. I’m hoping to grow both and have some available

@Decoy1,

Your Rattlesnake (photo on the left of your post) looks exactly like the one we have. The seed shape and color and tone match well. The Bohnen-Atlas Rattlesnake looks like a runner bean, phaseolus coccineus named Rattlesnake.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Decoy1, Would be nice to get some Slut seed from you this autumn. Everytime I planted the bean it did poorly for me. Often times the weather had gotten overly wet after planting and the beans struggled all season only to be killed off by the frost in October before the plants could produce any dry pods.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Welcome to the LEBN and TEG.com. @kbguess. Let us know what varieties you are growing and give us a progress report once in awhile.

 

[reedy]

Yea! the bean network is up and going. I got big plans for beans this year but know already I may have to trim it down some due to space. I'll start with my own ongoing projects and then to the network.
"Survivor Pole Beans" this is my ongoing collection of every pole bean I'v ever come across and all out-crosses. I plant it in the back garden and largely leave it on it's own to do what it will with very little care and no watering. I save all that produce but emphasize early maturity and disease resistance.
"Survivor Lima Pole Beans" similar to the common bean project but I do give these supports as they are such extremely large vines. Limas do generally poor for me so I don't request them in the network any more, just too high a chance of failure. This year I acquired several bush types which I intend to plant in close proximity to see if some smaller, but still vining types might show up later.
NT 1/2 Runner is the woman's favorite for canning green beans so I grow them in semi-isolation. My favorite is KY Wonder so I do the same with them.
Runner Beans these also are generally poor producers but I have a fairly diverse collection and save seed from the most productive vines. The woman always plants them on a trellis I built on the back side of one of her flower gardens.
"Hoosier Wonder" is a new bean that showed up in my KY Wonder patch a few seasons ago. Very nice green bean, pods are longer and straighter than KY Wonder and seeds are larger, flatter and tan colored. This season they might, fingers crossed, be completely stabilized and I hope to have enough to share some.
Semi-Runner Collection this includes a green bean and a dry bean selection. I received a mixed up collection of green bean types from a friend in Minnesota that did well also included are Refugee beans from Russ. The dry are those unknown names that were not good as snaps, dry also includes Burgundy Bolita also from Russ. Pure Burgundy Bolita are saved but I won't be growing them this year.
Refugee can hardly say enough about these, great green beans and dry. Get about 4 feet tall so no giant trellises needed and very productive. GOT to find a spot for an isolated patch of these to can for green beans and build up a bigger stock of seed. Original grow out in 2017 did throw some off types but they seem to have settled down after selection last year. Off types were added to the semi runner mix, I saved one off-type tentatively named "Escapee" for a possible stabilization project later. .
Bush Beans I have a diverse collection of these but I'm moving completely away from growing them. Hurts my back to pick them and weather here makes them worthless as dry beans. End up with more dirt and mold than beans. I'm going to plant a row along side the Survivor Pole mix and see is any tamer vines show up in future. Earlier maturing ones will be picked for green beans.
NETWORK BEANS these need isolation as much as possible so they will be inter-spaced in the other garden, between the tomatoes, corn and sweet potatoes. I know beans are not supposed to cross easily but I have a lot of bumblebees and I find crossing happens fairly often. It's easy enough to cull out the off types but not till the F2 so for grow outs ya got to separate them as much as possible.

My network beans for this year are:​

Wide Pod White Greasy pole dry
Chocolate semi runner dry
Kilham Goose semi runner dry
Piatella semi runner dry
Mangetout Pleine le Panier semi runner dry
Karachaganack semi runner dry
Witsa pole dry
Veense semi runner dry
Nez Perce semi runner dry

Bonus Beans (All semi runner - dry)​

Red Wolf
Bull Valley Blue
Pebblestone
Pebblestone (purple)
Blue Aspen

You may have noticed an emphasis on semi runner. That's cause just like I got tired of stooping over to pick bush beans I'm also getting tired of building all that trellis for giant pole types. I looked for a long time for beans that were easier to grow and pick and was going to try to just breed some myself. Never knew they already existed until I found Russ's web site. I read somewhere that a lot of very old varieties were like that but that the European settlers preferred either bush or big vines, and the middle types got cast aside and largely went extinct.
There may be some truth to that cause I remember when I was researching vine type inheritance in beans I found very little but one thing I did find (I'll link it when I find it again) from the early 1900's showed a drawing of a bean vine that was climbing about about 4 feet and had multiple stems. Just guess what the name of that old, old bean was, REFUGEE! Can't believe how lucky I was to find that bean.
Anyway, counting days now not weeks till seeds go in the ground, it's been plenty warm already, just needs to dry up a little.

​

 

[flowerbug]

@reedy, where about are you located? i am always happy to adopt bush beans if i don't have them already.

if they've been grown out recently i can pass some of them along at the next seed swap.

i don't even care if there are crosses in the mix because i have the same thing going on here with a lot of bees doing that work for me.