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

Blue-Jay

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Hello Again Members Of The Easy Garden Forum !

The time has come already for season three of the Little Easy Bean Network. Last year we were growing out a colletion of beans I had obtained unsolicited from a South African Grower. The work of renewing this collection is still unfinished so we will continue this season with these varieties renewal. We will either find that these older seeds still grow or do not. Time will soon tell.

Here is how this bean network will operate as many of us anticipate the 2015 gardening season. I will post photos of 28 bean varieties and their names below in this thread. Growth habit is given if known. The samples I will send out of this collection will be as small as three seeds and some samples more than 25 seeds. You can decide how many of the seeds in the sample you wish to grow, but you will be entrusted with all that is left of the seed I have of these varieties. I will package the samples and pay at my cost the postage to you. The beans you grow of this collection will be from this collection (photos below) and not from any varieties pictured on my website.

You may request as many varieties from this collection that you feel you can successfully grow. At the end of the growing season after your ripened seed has been harvested and dried well enough to store. Please return 25 quality seeds to my address. Try not to return shriveled seed or seeds that have begun to degrade and have brown spotting, but seeds that I can keep in long term storage in my deep freeze for future growing. The postage and packaging for the seed samples you return will be paid by you. That is a very small cost for obtaining new bean varieties. This is part of the fun. The remainder of the seed crop is yours to keep and use or share with others as you wish.

Also for every two varieties in this collection that you choose to help grow and renew You may choose from my website one bean variety free of charge. Yours to grow and keep forever and use as you choose. Seeds of these varieties you do not have to return renewed seed. Varieties that are marked “Seed Is Currently Not Available” are simply not available they will not be sent out. Seed packages will be sent out from now until May 25, 2015.

If you participated in previous Little Easy Bean Network seasons and did not return seed by the end of the that growing out year. Your paticipation will be suspended until you return renewed seed from varieties you obtained from those previous growing seasons and return renewed seed in this years current growing season.

Please try to gather and return some information on the beans you grow. Record the date of each variety when you planted them, and the date you harvested your first dry seed pod. There are some varieties in the collection that the growth habit is unknown. I would suggest providing support for those beans in advance as they might turn out to be pole beans. Record anything you can about pod lengths color, growth habit, blossom color. If they are pole, half runner, or bush types. Test a couple of pods to see if perhaps they might have a snap bean useage. Any information you gather about these varieties will be valuable in future grow outs. If you have determined after planting that your seed does not grow. Let me know soon as possible as I can send something else for you to grow.

You can contact me with your name and address to let me know what varieties you would like to receive by sending me a personal message through this forum or by emailing me at upadam@comcast.net. New participants are welcome and needed.

Hope you will find your participation fun and interesting.

Admire Snitbonen,Star 2000, Piet Special, Bizana.jpg

Left To right all four of these are bush. 1. Admire Snitbonen 2. Star 2000 (Snap) 3. Piet Special 4. Bizana

Star 2052, Nyimo Bean, Imbotyi Mbayiyana, Imbotyi Chaphaza.jpg

Left To right all four of these are bush. 1. Star 2052 (Snap) 2. Nyimo Bean 3. Imbotyi Mbayiyana 4. Imbotyi Chaphaza.

Imbotyi Imswi, Imbotyi Umthubi, Purple Champion, Prizewinner.jpg

Left to right. First 2 bush, Second Two Pole. 1. Imbotyi Imswi 2. Imbotyi Unthubi 3. Purple Champion 4. Prizewinner

Solwezi #64, Solwezi #63, Argentinian White, Ausie Purple King.jpg

Left to right. All 4 are Pole beans. 1. Solwezi #64 2. Solwezi #63 3. Argentinian White 4. Ausie Purple King.

Zebra, Lazy Housewife, Mammoth Golden Cluster, Feijao.jpg

Left to right. First Three are Pole beans. Fourth bean is unknown growth habit. 1. Zebra 2. Lazy Housewife 3. Mammoth Golden Cluster. 4. Feijao

Zambezi #2, Zambezi #3, Portugesw White Alubia, Kambulanketi.jpg

Left to right. All Four of these are unknown growth habit. 1. Zambezi #2 2. Zambezi #3 3. Portugese White Alubia 4. Kambulanketi

Sweet White, Chilean Butter Bean, Portugese Red, Red Speckled Sugar Bean.jpg

Left to right all four beans have an unknown growth habit. 1. Sweet White 2. Chilean Butter Bean 3. Portugese Red 4. Red Speckled Sugar Bean
 

journey11

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Welcome back, Russ! I hope you had a good winter vacation.

I like the theme for this year's thread. Hopefully all of the rest of these beans will find homes this season. I am going to pick two for now, so everyone has a chance to get in on the fun. But if there are any left un-adopted, I'd be glad to volunteer to take on some more. I won't be planting my beans until the first week of May, so no hurry to mail them out.

I'd like the Ausie Purple King and Mammoth Golden Cluster. They have intriguing names. :) PM to follow.
 

Blue-Jay

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Hi @baymule, I'm surprised this site didn't do a mobile version. Have you ever tried bringing my site up on your phone. I have some neices who bring it up on their smart phone devices. I never did a special version for mobile units.

Thanks everyone. I had a nice time and it really gets my enthusiasm level up for the new season. About this years theme. I believe I had read somewhere that it was something John Withee (founder of Wanigan Associates) would say from time to time. I thought it was on one of his bean catalogs, but when I looked at the one and only copy I have of the booklet this morning I could not find it there. Perhaps I read it in an old magazine article about him. I'll have to go through some of those old articles and read them again.

@journey11, someone has already taken the Mammoth Golden Cluster, but you can grow the Ausie Purple King. I'll put you down for that one. Give me another choice it's still early, and you can have a free one if you like off my website with a second choice.

Thanks @sea-kangaroo for the identification of the Nyimo bean. Looks similar to the Bambara Nut that we had last year. I wonder if this will grow anywhere here in the U.S. Personally I really prefer to concentrate on the common beans Phaseolus Vulgaris and the Limas Phaseolus Lunatus.

I would guess that the Mammoth Golden cluster is probably a yellow poded bean. I think there is only about three seeds in the sample.

God I pray Marshall will find another good place to live and garden. He is such a sweet generous soul.
 

Hal

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@Bluejay77 Mammoth Golden Cluster is indeed a yellow podded bean, it has flat yellow pods that are well coloured and I always found them to taste quite good.
Under my conditions it was quite a good climber and yielded well.
 

VA_LongBean

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The reason I didn't choose Nimyo is because It looked like the Bambara groundnut. Virginia is most likely not the best place for them.
 

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