2023 Little Easy Bean Network - Beans Beyond The Colors Of A Rainbow

[Blue-Jay]

@Bluejay77 Erin Anderssen liked the Armenian Giant Black story, and got back to me about it today after I shared @Pulsegleaner's details as well. She said she will circle back to you next week about it. Maybe you'll run out of AGB seeds if she prints the story! 🤣

It will be interesting to read Erin's article. She must be putting a lot of thought into it. No telling what the after affects of her article might be on us. I only get a very occassional request for Armenian Giant Black now.

 

[heirloomgal]

Hard to say. Maybe Grandma Gina or Uncle Steve's Italian?

I think Grandma Gina's is the bean that I was thinking about, her two grandkids are continuing to grow this bean, Pittsburg for one and Kalamazoo the other. Apparently Gina and her husband loved their home of Pittsburgh (according to the obit), and maybe this is where my mind went with the idea it was grown in their backyard for years and became their family heirloom. I think I had the right idea, but my mind muddied the details a little.

There's also Sylvano's, which is apparently a family heirloom grown in New Jersey and is 100 years old. That too could be the family heirloom I was thinking of, grown by the same family for so long. Though I'd have to say, from a pod perspective, I've never seen another like Grandma Gina's. Sylvano's was more productive fore sure, but the pods were not that enormous. They also had in common that they both were not easy to dry down in time.

 

[Blue-Jay]

I've finally gone through this 25 to 30 pound bag of Joseph Simcox's beans that I think were once in the hands of his sister in Michigan. She would grow out beans that Joseph had brought back into the country. In 2019 after the Central Michigan Seed Swap several of us that attended the swap had been invited to stay at the home of Karen Golden of Highland Michigan. After the swap and the last evening I would stay at her house she brought out this bag of beans and says look through it and take what you want. I could tell by what was marked on the seed packets that they were Joseph's collected beans. About 20 minutes into looking through the beans she tells me to take them all but I did not. I selected quite a bunch of them and departed her house the next morning for home. It has been my guess that Joseph's sister Susan probably didn't want to continue to be a grower for all those beans and they got into the hands of Karen. Since 2019 I wondered what had become of the rest of that huge bag of beans. Fast forward to 2023 and I attended the Central Michigan Seed Swap again and Karen was a speaker at the swap. Later in the evening on the day of the swap we had dinner in town and I sat right next to Karen Golden. I think I had asked her about that big bag of beans sometime during that day at the swap. Would they still be available to take the rest of them? I believe she tells me that she had messaged Joe and later that evening at dinner she tells me that he said it was alright that I take the rest of them. Since I've gone through them and did 127 germination tests of which some are still in progress. I have wondered if it was worth acquiring these beans. Some of them have proper names marked on them. A couple named by Joe. A few of them are from the USDA seed bank and those are the ones that have most of the proper names marked on them. A lot of the packets have information as to where they were collected. For example, A market in Rwanda on the way to Tanzania. Most of these beans don't have a name. So to my way of thinking what is to create interest in other people to take and grow and continue to steward these beans without a name. I think a name is a beans first layer of Identity.

I have photoed many of them and will show the photos here on this thread. I will give the germination percentage that I got from their germination test. I will also share about each one what is marked on their containing packet the informtion that is known about them. I would like to get some concensus about these beans. Can we name all these beans and the ones that are marked where they were collected become part of their identity. Would that be sufficient or was my acqusition of these beans a waste of time and effort. Tell me what you think.

Collected at a market in Rwanda on the way to Tanzania in 2016. Germination 85%


Collected at a market in Rwanda #2 on the way to Tanzania in 2016. Germination 86%


Musante, Rwanda 2016. Germination 100%


Tanzania near Rwanda Border 2016. Germination 86%


Tanzania near Rwanda Border 2016. Germination 86%


Rwanda Market On the Way To Tanzania 2016. Germination 100%


Tanzania near Rwanda border 2016. Germination 100%


Cajamarca Zoco - Germination 40%


Maria Teomila Montoya, Santiago Ecuador. Germination 50%


Batumi Georgia rare selections 2015. Germination 50%

 

[Blue-Jay]

I also found 54 small packets with a small amount of seed in them. They had no name and no information as to where they were collected. I did not do a germination test on any of these 54 packets. In my germination testing I found 20 seed samples that would not germinate. Many of them would just mold or rot. I simply tossed out those samples. How many of these 54 small samples would not germinate is anyone's guess. Some samples are so small one to three seeds that I don't think they would be worth testing. I did test a few that had no name and collection information. These will be designated as No Name #.

No Name #2. Germination 40%


No Name #3. Germination 93%


No Name #4. Germination % Forgot To Record


Cranberryflieder 2015-2016. Germination 20%


Cranberryflieder Austria 2016 Jessica DiStefano. Germination 91%



Arnold W6 26486. Germination 100%


Tanzania Near Rwanda Border 2013. Germination 100%



Tarbais PI 518230 2013. Germination 100%



Silvert Bush PI 349848 France. Germination 100%



Beurre Dore PI 518175 France 2013. Germination 90%

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Could No Name #2 be a lima bean? I think I see "spokes" on the seed coat.

 

[Blue-Jay]

Could No Name #2 be a lima bean? I think I see "spokes" on the seed coat.

Interesting that you should get the impression of a lima because that was my first impression also. I thought it might even be Dixie Speckled Butterpea.

 

[flowerbug]

@Bluejay77 at least you have cold storage as i could not even attempt to do what your doing there.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Interesting that you should get the impression of a lima because that was my first impression also. I thought it might even be Dixie Speckled Butterpea.

It's the shape. Small limas often have a seed shape slightly different than that of a common bean of a similar type. There's a bit more of a "curve" to the seed, and the ends of the curve are often more pointy. It's a bit more like an orange wedge than the disc or kidney shape a common bean can get.

 

[Blue-Jay]

So can I take it on myself to name these beans or get permission perhaps through Karen Golden to apply names to these beans. Karen Knows Joseph Simcox so I could question her about doing this. I don't like beans that don't have a name. I would imagine the dates on the seed samples are probably the year they were collected and the age of the seed could be older. Anyway more photos below.

Musante Rwanda 2016 Germination 100%.................Batumi Selection 2015 Germination 66%


Anakin Kuvallii Giant Germination 100%....................Batumi Georgia 2015 Germination 100%


Nagorni Kharabak 2015 Germination 70 %...................Georgia 2014 Germination 100%


These fit together like a puzzle. Mongeties Del Garxet.Buddha's Bellybutton 2013 PI 346325
Spain 2014 Germination 30%..........................................Germination 86 %


Saconel 2013 France Germination 93%.....................Doti Dotion - Ijevan Armenia Germiantion 100%

 

[Blue-Jay]

More beans from Joseph Simcox's collection efforts. A couple of them I think were from me. I even recognize one packet that had my label on it when I sent him beans in late 2013 or early 2014. Some larger quantity packets looked like they were probably beans that Joe's sister Susan had grown out back in 2014 to maybe around 2016.

Succotash Joe might have got this from me 2014 Germ 66%...No Name #6 Germ 96%


Lavender Swirl Concepcion market 2017 Germ 100%.....Musanze Rwanda 2016 Germ 100%


Globula 2014 Germ 74%............................................Agjstev Ijevan Armenia 2015 Germ 100%



Inca Pea Bean 2014 Germ 57%..........................................PI 282068 Origin Chile Germ 66%


Batumi Silk Georgia 2015 Germ 100%........................Fasoul Ross Scritti 2014 Germ 60%