what is really interesting to me about the “Fagioli di Sarconi” beans is that many of the patterns have shown up in my own growouts here when i've never sourced any of those beans before.
I think that all bean varieties contain a large variety of genes. It just depends on what crosses with what variety and what genes finally wind up making pairs which shows up in the seed coat colors and patterns you get. Colors and patterns are very repeatable.
When I first discovered the outcrossed bean I now have that is stable and was named Angel Eye. I thought I had a pattern on that bean that might be totally unique. Until I ran across an Australian website recently called Seed Freaks. It's a website by a fellow named Bob Reid and his private bean collection. If you go down to the 12th row of beans and the second photo from the left is a bean called Kelly Lake and the pattern at the eye looks very much like Angel Eye except the seed shape is not the same. So what I am getting at is seed coats are repeatable and it all depends on what genes make the pairs that display the color and pattern on your bean. I'm not surprised that patterns or colors that have shown up in your bean crosses are either identical or very similar to the patterns and colors on the Sarconi beans. I've had the Jacob's Cattle pattern and color show up a number of times in my own crosses on different shaped seeds and I haven't grown Jacob's Cattle in at least 12 years.
What is interesting is the name Kelly Lake is a name Robert Lobitz used to name one of his beans. I had one time purchased a Kelly Lake bean from another seed dealer in Australia and it was totally different. Two more photos to the right of this bean is another Robert Lobitz name called Koronis Pinto that I didn't even know existed.
Nasieddu - Pole Dry. From Valpiano, Italy. Now we have discovered that Nasieddu translates as "Little Nose". The beans origin is likely the upper Val d’Agri valley in Basilicata, southern Italy along with all the other Nasieddu beans shown previously. About half of my seed of this bean didn't germinate in 2025. So I wound up with only three plants. It was still a poor showing with just enough seed to fill a 3 x 4 inch (8 x 10 cm) ziploc baggie. Maybe I will try this bean again in another season and location.
New Mexico Black & White Appaloosa - Pole Dry. I was keeping this bean in my freezer as Appaloosa Black And White. I've seen it on a number of sites and named as New Mexico Black And White Appaloosa. Similar to the red one of similar pattern and history being found in a cave in the south west dating to over a thousand years ago. This bean was very productive in 2025 with 6 plants producing over 2 pounds of beans (992 g).
Nasieddu - Pole Dry........................................New Mexico Black And White Appaloosa - Pole Dry
Night Sky - Pole Dry. From a Canadain grower who got it from a friend. All the best seed I could pick out of it's seed crop is in the photo. It will be grown again in 2026. I like this beans appearnce. I think it's a very handsome bean. Fairly large seed as well.
Ntingi - Pole Dry. I planted a very light pink frosted looking Ntingi and got this dark red one. I will try the original Ntingi again in 2026. Seed production of this bean in 2025 was also very poor.
Night Sky - Pole Dry............................................Ntingi - Pole Dry
PGI stands for Protected Geographical Indication. It's awarded when a crop or product has a strong link to a particular area. For plant‑based products, this means the crop must meet strict regional standards (e.g., traditional growing methods, minimum quality, and traceable provenance) tied to that geographical area. For example the name Tarbais bean should only be used if it is grown in the region of Tarbes in SW France
PGI stands for Protected Geographical Indication. It's awarded when a crop or product has a strong link to a particular area. For plant‑based products, this means the crop must meet strict regional standards (e.g., traditional growing methods, minimum quality, and traceable provenance) tied to that geographical area. For example the name Tarbais bean should only be used if it is grown in the region of Tarbes in SW France
Nwambili - Pole Dry. A very good producing bean. 8 plants gave me nearly 1.5 pounds of beans (643 g). Sent to me in 2015 by Joseph Simcox. The bean comes from the southern regions of Africa. Beauty and productivity all rolled into one.
Oak Grove - Pole Dry. This is one of the beans that came from the outcrosses of Will Bonsall sent to me in 2015. The original seed looks like a small pinto. But this years grow out looked total different. It may be more of a semi runner than a pole bean. What seed it produced was nice quality but so llittle of it I didn't even record the amount.
Nwambili...........................................................Oak Grove
Occio Della Madonna - Pole Dry. One of 18 bean varieties received from a grower in Valpiano, Italy in 2019. This bean seems like one of the productive ones of that group. 8 plants in 2025 produced just over 1.5 pounds of beans (708 g).
Old U.S. Pinto - Pole Dry. This bean come to me from my dry bean farmer aqaintance in Idaho, Falls, Idaho. Productivity was ok and a bit below average. No deep history of this bean.
Occio Della Madonna...............................................Old U.S. Pinto
Nwambili - Pole Dry. A very good producing bean. 8 plants gave me nearly 1.5 pounds of beans (643 g). Sent to me in 2015 by Joseph Simcox. The bean comes from the southern regions of Africa. Beauty and productivity all rolled into one.
Oak Grove - Pole Dry. This is one of the beans that came from the outcrosses of Will Bonsall sent to me in 2015. The original seed looks like a small pinto. But this years grow out looked total different. It may be more of a semi runner than a pole bean. What seed it produced was nice quality but so llittle of it I didn't even record the amount.
Love Nwambili! I grew it in 2021 (I think it was?) Such a pretty bean. I'm glad to know it can produce so well @Blue-Jay , I barely collected 100 seeds from 3 plants that year, they were planted in a bed with other pole beans and none of them in that spot did well. In hindsight, I believe there was a high population of wireworms in the bed for whatever reason that season. I remember seeing a few of them but didn't think about it, until recently, when I read that they will eat bean seeds underground. Just like they do with potatoes. I need to regrow it!
