2021 Little Easy Bean Network - Bean Lovers Come Discover Something New !

[heirloomgal]

That's a tough one @jbosmith, mostly because all the lovely black beans I've grown were semi-runners. I don't think I've grown a black bean for dry use that grew as a bush. Provider probably wouldn't count nor Black Valentine since those are for fresh eating, though I do like those varieties. This year I grew Mitla Black, Hopi Black and Nicaraguan Black Turtle. I loved all three of them. Early, healthy, hugely productive and shelled as though they were in tissue paper. I grew Black Coco last year and liked that one too; I don't think it was a semi-runner though many of them are it seems. But I don't think that one can compare to the other 3 in production.

I can see why you like to grow that type for eating, it's one of my favourite eating beans too. My daughter's favourite 'fast food' is homemade black bean burgers (no bun needed), they are delicious. I could live on black beans & rice. With my black sprawlers I just pushed in some bush sticks along the row. I do think that Mitla and Hopi could grow utterly neglected if they had a few sticks.

Where did Manitoba Black come from, I've not heard of that one?

 

[heirloomgal]

Bluejay77's Big Bean Show
Day 10 - The Beans I Grew This Summer​

Dog - Bush Dry

This bean has a Jacob's Cattle seed coat. I acquired the bean from Amy Hawk's Simply Beans of Calhan, Colorado in 2011. The bean produced one off type this year that also will not be grown. I believe this off type may have been a semi runner.

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Dog..............................................................................Dog off type 2021

Draper's Glen - Semi Runner Dry

Discovered in 2019 in my Marico grow out. Thought I would grow it this year. It struggled a bit in growing and produced a lot of off type seed. I did get back some seed that was colored like the original but seed had a lot of flattened ends which I think was due to the dry weather. I will take the best of this years seed and give it a try next growing season. Draper's Glen produced two off type seeds.

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Draper's Glen..................................................................Draper's Glen off type #1

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Draper's Glen off type #2


Eagle Island White - Bush Dry

One of the 26 Robert Lobitz beans I had received as a gift from Seed Savers Exchange in 2020. 17 inch tall plants with white blossoms. 4 inch pods contain medium size oval solid white beans. A Robert Lobitz orignal named bean that he introduced through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook.

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Eagle Island White


Early Dawn Pinto - Bush Dry

14 inch tall plants with white blossoms. 4.5 inch pods contain pinto colored and patterned beans. A Robert Lobitz original named bean he introduced through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook in 2004.


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Early Dawn Pinto

Draper's Glen

 

[jbosmith]

That's a tough one @jbosmith, mostly because all the lovely black beans I've grown were semi-runners. I don't think I've grown a black bean for dry use that grew as a bush. Provider probably wouldn't count nor Black Valentine since those are for fresh eating, though I do like those varieties. This year I grew Mitla Black, Hopi Black and Nicaraguan Black Turtle. I loved all three of them. Early, healthy, hugely productive and shelled as though they were in tissue paper. I grew Black Coco last year and liked that one too; I don't think it was a semi-runner though many of them are it seems. But I don't think that one can compare to the other 3 in production.

Ohh there's a few in there that I've never heard of. Nicaraguan Black Turtle?

I can see why you like to grow that type for eating, it's one of my favourite eating beans too. My daughter's favourite 'fast food' is homemade black bean burgers (no bun needed), they are delicious. I could live on black beans & rice. With my black sprawlers I just pushed in some bush sticks along the row. I do think that Mitla and Hopi could grow utterly neglected if they had a few sticks.

My goto meal is beans, rice, and salsa, though my personal favorite for that is a big meaty bean like Littleton. There are some Nepali growers in our community garden who grow their beans on random brush that they pick up on their way there and it makes it look like they have giant bean shrubs by the end of the season!

Where did Manitoba Black come from, I've not heard of that one?

I got it from Sylvia Davatz who founded Solstice Seeds. She still lists it in the SSE yearbook and Solstice Seeds (now owned by her neighbor) also still sells it: https://solsticeseeds.org/product/bean-bush-dry-black-manitoba/

I suspect I have some in a jar somewhere if you'd like them though they'll be a few years old and you might need to over-plant to get a good number to germinate.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Bluejay77's Big Bean Show
Day 11 - The Beans I Grew This Summer​

Cyrus Greys - Bush Dry

This one of several of my top producing beans this year. An 8 foot section of row gave me 2 pounds of beans (907 grams). This variety from the late Robert Lobitz. He named and introduced this bean through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook in 2004. The bean is named after Cyrus, Minnesota

Early Stearns - Bush Dry

More beans from the late Robert Lobitz of Paynesville, Minnesota. Named for Stearns county where Robert lived. Every year I pull another packet out of my freezer marked Early Stearns and all I get is all kinds of off types. I'm not sure I even know what Early Stearns is supposed to look like. I think Early Stearns is supposed to have a tan patch around the eye with some perhaps bluish or darker brown speckling in the eye patch. So the next 5 photos I'm calling them all Early Stearns off types.


Cyrus Greys.........................................................................Early Stearns off type #1



Early Stearns off type #2.................................................................Early Stearns off type #3



Early Stearns off type #4.....................................................................Early Stearns off type #5 mix


Eden Lake Pearls - Bush Dry

Bush Dry. Seed 16 inch tall plants with pink blossoms. Pods are 3.5 inches long containing small oval solid white beans. Another of the 26 Lobitz varieties I acquired from Seed Savers Exchange in 2020. An original named bean Robert introduced through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook. Named after Eden Lake township located in Stearns county Minnesota.

Eden Prairie - Bush Snap

5.5 inch green snap pods on medium size plants. Robert introduced this bean in the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook in 2004. Named after the city of Eden Prairie, Minnesota located 12 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County.



Eden Lake Pearls...............................................................Eden Prairie

 

[heirloomgal]

Ohh there's a few in there that I've never heard of. Nicaraguan Black Turtle?

Yup, I can send some to you in our trade if you wanna give them a whirl @jbosmith. They were very similar to Hopi and Mitla, just a wee bit larger and a wee bit shinier. None of them are big beans though, not like a kidney. They were smaller beans for sure, not as round and hefty as a navy type. I wonder if there is a bit of 'wildness' in them, because they are so willing to leave their shells, and so prolific. I think I posted the weight (6 plants) of the heaviest of the 3 a little ways back. They came from Heritage Harvest Seed in Manitoba. (You'd think they'd be selling Manitoba Black! 🤣)

 

[heirloomgal]

Bluejay77's Big Bean Show
Day 11 - The Beans I Grew This Summer​

Cyrus Greys - Bush Dry

This one of several of my top producing beans this year. An 8 foot section of row gave me 2 pounds of beans (907 grams). This variety from the late Robert Lobitz. He named and introduced this bean through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook in 2004. The bean is named after Cyrus, Minnesota

Early Stearns - Bush Dry

More beans from the late Robert Lobitz of Paynesville, Minnesota. Named for Stearns county where Robert lived. Every year I pull another packet out of my freezer marked Early Stearns and all I get is all kinds of off types. I'm not sure I even know what Early Stearns is supposed to look like. I think Early Stearns is supposed to have a tan patch around the eye with some perhaps bluish or darker brown speckling in the eye patch. So the next 5 photos I'm calling them all Early Stearns off types.

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Cyrus Greys.........................................................................Early Stearns off type #1


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Early Stearns off type #2.................................................................Early Stearns off type #3


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Early Stearns off type #4.....................................................................Early Stearns off type #5 mix


Eden Lake Pearls - Bush Dry

Bush Dry. Seed 16 inch tall plants with pink blossoms. Pods are 3.5 inches long containing small oval solid white beans. Another of the 26 Lobitz varieties I acquired from Seed Savers Exchange in 2020. An original named bean Robert introduced through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook. Named after Eden Lake township located in Stearns county Minnesota.

Eden Prairie - Bush Snap

5.5 inch green snap pods on medium size plants. Robert introduced this bean in the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook in 2004. Named after the city of Eden Prairie, Minnesota located 12 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County.


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Eden Lake Pearls...............................................................Eden Prairie

Wow, lots of special looking beans in that Early Stearns bunch, Eden Prairie too. It looks like pinkish red paint splatter.

 

[heirloomgal]

@jbosmith

(Black Nicaraguan was 1.3 for 6 plants)

 

[flowerbug]

@Bluejay77 any background information you might have on any of the below things would interest me greatly.

both Mrociumere and Pale Gray Lavender look like Cyrus Greys in the pattern of the background, but since you have seen them all in your hands are they beans that look alike to you (and also the background of Dapple Gray) in pattern?

mainly i ask because i'm really wondering if Dapple Grey is a Robert Lobitz bean too and if Cyrus Grays came from him then perhaps he also was the source or a partial source of one of the parents of Dapple Gray.

Dapple Gray i've not seen any mentions at all or pictures in any older materials and my own experience now is that it has a lot going on there in the genetics once it gets disturbed by a cross pollination event. with the arrival of Dapple Pink i'm even more curious as to what is going on.

Dapple Grey ? (do you recall what year you first got this one?)
Cyrus Grays via Robert Lobitz in Minnesota, 2004 SSE
Pale Gray Lavender European via Belgium (do you recall what year?)

Spring Valley Purple and Purple Stardust are also RL beans with that pattern.

also of note:

Forelle Fliederfarben has that same pattern of background the metallic gray color for the above.

Mrociumere (is that French?) Kenya Africa, has that pattern but a different color.
Ntingi is also an African bean sourced by you in 2013 - the color of this one is very similar to hints you see in Dapple Gray so i'm really curious about this one and where it might have come from (besides Africa) or how long it had been there.


ultimate source of all beans South and Central America, but i have not seen many beans from that area that have this sort of pattern on them so perhaps the cross or mutation happened after they made it overseas? do you know any other beans with this kind of pattern (that i've not listed above)?


i wish i had a bunch of $ to throw at this to get every bean in your collection genetically sequenced so we could try to get some family trees set up.

 

[Artorius]

@flowerbug
This year I got an Ocean View off type which has a similar color pattern to Dapple Grey but instead of grey it is navy blue.
I'll take a photo this weekend. On working days I go to work while it is still dark, and when I come back it is already dark

 

[Zeedman]

@jbosmith

(Black Nicaraguan was 1.3 for 6 plants)

That is an impressive yield for 6 bush bean plants.