2022 Little Easy Bean Network - We Are Beans Without Borders

[flowerbug]

@Boilergardener I want to grow mainly because I supposedly have a Potawatomi ancestor 9 or 10 generations back. A friend says it must be true as I'm not claiming Cherokee ancestry.

Is it bad form to offer bean seeds to others here?

no.

Also, would someone point me to info on freezing dried seed? Should they go into vacuum sealed jars? Zip-locked baggies, in or out of a jar? Not sure if the seeds should be treated special in any way.

after they are completely dried is the biggest consideration, a sealed container is the best, but i think for space consideration the small ziplock envelopes are probably the most efficient, i'd use the thicker mil ones (i don't have room for a freezer here ).

if going in for a quick sample you wouldn't need to bring them to room temperature, but your local humidity and conditions will apply too. you don't want them to get wet or you'd need to dry them out again.

as to the type of freezer you don't want the kind that heat up the sides to defrost. you need a stable temperature for the best results (and the colder the better IMO ).

 

[Jack Holloway]

Russ listed his 1x2 strip idea in the previous years thread, i cant remember what page but fairly far back. I have been using old Cattle panels im guessing are 4- 5 foot tall, but that just isnt enough for some of the pole beans it doesnt allow them to grow to their potential. I went and bought the 1x2 inch "strips" and i will try to stick them in deep enough they can handle the weight of 3-4 plants around each pole. Another person on here cut tall saplings and uses those ehich is a good idea. I may also ziptie a few 1x2 strips to the cattle panels I had them left over from 4- H a pig pens, also was nice to reuse them.

Thanks! I'll find it. As a child I picked commercially grown Blue Lake Pole beans here in the Willamette Valley.They were at least 8 feet, if not 10 feet high. Had to stand on a 5 gallon bucket to pick, even then, my brothers had to pick the top part of the vines. This was back before child labor laws, and before bush green beans were common.

 

[meadow]

Potawatomi like many others couldnt handle the bacteria diseases from the humid and wet weather in my opinion. Brown lesions on some seeds and many pods didnt fill or were moldy. Ow well. This is the reason im going to a taller option for the pole beans in your 1x2 furring strips idea I am excited about for the upcoming season.

Also the close spacing probably contributed too. Air circulation is even more important during wet and/or humid weather. I even prune my summer squash to improve air circulation.

Looking forward to seeing your results with the furring strips!

 

[Zeedman]

Is it bad form to offer bean seeds to others here?

If it is, we are all guilty of bad form. (gasp!) Repeatedly and unapologetically, I might add.

 

[Jack Holloway]

Since I've been told this is allowed, I have the following old T&M Runner Bean seeds to give away. These are seeds I've never grown out. The year the seed was produced for are listed with the description. The descriptions are from the packs of seeds. I can send out two sample packs of each variety. Not sure if @Bluejay77 would like some sent to him after they've been grown out or not. I've learned I don't seem to have much luck with Runner Beans, so I don't need any back. Thanks. DM me (conversation?) if you want any. First come, first served. Oh, I've never sent bean seeds out of the USA, so while I'm happy to do it, I'm not sure what is involved.

Sunset - seed grown for 2005 - Experience one of the earliest pickings of the season with "Sunset", a unique variety with unusual, salmon-pink blooms, producing crops of short, tasty beans. Extremely decorative and suitable for adding colour to any corner of the garden.

Celebration - seed grown for 2009 - Celebration is British bred and supersedes the old favorite 'Sunset' for yields, pod quality and length. Very early, ideal for the first pick of the season and maintains production throughout summer. Fleshy pods are straight and up to 30cm (12 inches) long, of excellent flavour. Decorative rosy pink flowers.

Sun Bright - No date on package most likely either 2005 or 2009 - Developed over several years by a skilled customer. 'Sun Bright' is an exclusive, unique new Runner Bean with Striking golden foliage. Tremendous crops of beans are produced all summer in the flower border or vegetable garden. It also says 100 days to maturity.

Hestia - seed grown for 2009 - A superb variety with all the best characteristics of modern runner beans, but on dwarf plants. Early to corp, often cropping before traditional climbing types, with a very good yield of tasty, long straight, stringless pods held well above the soil. Ideal for growing in small gardens or patio containers where its bicolour blooms will make an attractive addition. Height 60 - 76 cm (24 - 30 inches)

Achievement Merit - most likely grown for 2005 - A new British re-selection that gives an improved form of the ever popular Achievement. Heavy yields of long, smooth, slender straight pods that have exquisite flavour are produced in abundance over a long season. Red flowered variety, particularly attractive in the garden.

Wisley Magic - seed grown for 2005 - Highly commended in the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit trials, this prestigious variety gives the heaviest yields of any garden variety. Long, smooth, straight pods with a delicious flavour, and produced over a long cropping period. Flavoursome, straight, quality pods 37 cm (15 inches) long.

 

[heirloomgal]

Hestia!

I had a packet of those beans for, I'm not sure, probably 8 years. It was from Fothergills's I think. I never did get to trying them until last year. There were very few seeds in the packet and not one sprouted. I think the packet was old when I bought it, as many packet beans are. I also put those on a heating mat to germinate, which was a bad idea I realised after. Probably sealed their fate. The picture on the packet was quite pretty, flowers were red and white I think. I always wondered about that bean since it was never re-offered by Fothergill's after that first year I bought it. Until you posted this, I wondered if the bean was kind of a 'sham' variety. But it isn't!

 

[meadow]

Since I've been told this is allowed, I have the following old T&M Runner Bean seeds to give away.

What is T&M?

 

[heirloomgal]

What is T&M?

I googled it and I think it stands for Thompson and Morgan.

 

[meadow]

I googled it and I think it stands for Thompson and Morgan.

Thanks!!

 

[Jack Holloway]

What is T&M?

Thompson & Morgan, a UK seed company.

edited to add: Whoops! didn't see that this was already answered. My Bad! As we used to say, when I was a child, 50 lashes with a wet noodle.