2024 Little Easy Bean Network - Growing Heirloom Beans Of Today And Tomorrow

[therealjoedirte]

Last year after the Central Michigan Seed Swap I stopped by Karen Goldens house in Highland, Michigan and picked up a 30 pound black garbage page of beans that were orignally at Susan Simcox's house and beans the Joseph had brought back into this country from overseas. I took them home and in April did a germination test on them. I discarded 35 varieties that didn't germinate at all. Some that I already had a good supply of quality seed in my freezer I discarded because Joe Simcox had given samples of them to me back in 2014 and '15. There are a few of these beans on the Network pages that Joe had actually had the correct name of them written on his packets. A few of them he just had the country where he collected them and if they had any germination at all I named them and put them on the Network. Joseph had a lot of beans in this package where he didn't give any name or country where he collected them. So there is a bunch of them in my freezer that will grow, but are just marked No Name and a number. I could put them up in a posting if anyone would like to grow them out and name them. I would then include these on the Network pages when I get a full page worth of bean names. A full page is 56 varieties. I checked my freezer list and there are 25 beans listed as No Name that I am pretty sure came out of that bag of Simcox beans last year.

I just put up another bean on the priority list I found on my freezer list that has 90% germination that I didn't get on the Network when I added a page last year.

I think this is a wonderful idea. I am ready to play my part in seed preservation. I have spent the last few years moving, and then getting my garden space setup. I believe I am ready to take on something like this in the 2025 growing season. My question is what does it take to get on the trial list, and what seeds are we working with? Thanks in advance for your consideration.

 

[therealjoedirte]

Summer Bean Show 2024 Vol. #28

I like bean wheel #114. Somebody had the patience to do that with seeds and pods. They even have the names of the beans printed on strips of paper. The Brazilian Purple Moor is pretty. It was interesting that someone grew probably in Europe Koronis Purple and like to spell the beans name starting with a C instead of a K. Dalmatiner a bush dry bean like Jacob's Cattle in Germany. All beautiful specimens of seed.

View attachment 69312View attachment 69313
Bean #113.............................................................Beans #114

View attachment 69315
Bean #116 - Flambo



View attachment 69316View attachment 69317
Bean #117 - Brazilian Purple Moor....................Coronis Purple

View attachment 69318
Dalmatiner - Bush

Ha, I grew #116 Flambo. Thanks for the appreciation

 

[Zeedman]

Only one teeny little problem. We wanted to keep one columnar growth type cedar next to the house, it was the only one that had not gotten overgrown and still had some shape to it. Unfortunately, it's gone bald on one side with the crowding! DH wants to wait and see if the sun exposure will force some new growth, I'm humoring him about it but I don't think that'll happen. The tree is just too old, and grew in that cluster for too long.

To judge by my neighbor's cedars, which had severe deer damage (from the one year he did not wrap them in burlap over the winter) the chances for recovery are few. Even then, the tree is unlikely to recover a symmetrical shape.

 

[heirloomgal]

What a day, 22C/ 72F and gorgeously sunny. I was able to get so much done with this great weather both indoors and out, and still have time to snap some bean pictures while the light was good.

'Sakaguchi Kang Wong' runner beans! Yay, survival!

'Blauegraue' network bean, living up to it's name! LOVE this bean!

'Sivcek'. No idea where this bean is from originally, but I got it from Belgium.

The 'North Carolina' network bean outcross - purple madness.

The network bean 'Stibitz' is turning out to be the most difficult bean I've ever shelled. It's worth it though, because it's a really special bean variety and I plan to grow it again next year. Usually really hard podded beans that don't open easily are the tough ones, where you have to break the pods off in pieces to get the beans out. But these are not like that; these are spongey, as though there are layers of flakes that contain a degree of softness in them no matter how dry they get. It's beyond breaking the pods, these pods need to be crumbled in your hands to liberate the seeds. Shelling over a box flat tonight, the bottom is covered in pod crumbs - not pod shell halves. The seams just won't open! It's the weirdest thing! And the pods are not tight to the beans, there is plenty of room in there.

There are 2 types of seeds that showed up in Stibitz @Blue-Jay though the same pods were on all the plants. A speckled one and a pure beige one. Do you want a mix, or only the speckled ones? I'm not sure there is enough of the pure beige ones to return. Those seemed to be a minority.

 

[Artorius]

@heirloomgal do you have more information about Sakaguchi Kang Wong? I can't find anything about this bean on the internet.

 

[ruralmamma]

I like the trend in some places where people take out their entire front lawn and make it garden. If my home owners association would allow it. I think I would do the same.

Well ... technically my house sits where the old garden used to be. We created a massive new garden about twenty years ago that proved to be a headache as it was at least 1,000' away from the house and our work schedules didn't allow enough time to tend to it. In 2020 I had two 4x8' beds in the front yard and by the end of the year I had eight beds and the area fenced off. The next year I added the final two beds and I refer to it as the old garden since I started on another in 2022. I can't see my neighbors and we don't have an HOA, so no worries about complaints.

 

[ruralmamma]

oh that is a hard spot to be in when the weather is nice and there is so much yet to do outside. i hope you will find ways to still get things done and also not keep injuring it. you really don't want it to be a chronic issue later in life.

I probably let it go a little too long the way it is. It has definitely slowed me down. I managed to plant a bed of garlic yesterday and kept moving a small stool around with me instead of kneeling down as I usually do. Still 10 days before my appointment with the specialist, so trying to take it easy.

 

[Dahlia]

What a day, 22C/ 72F and gorgeously sunny. I was able to get so much done with this great weather both indoors and out, and still have time to snap some bean pictures while the light was good.

'Sakaguchi Kang Wong' runner beans! Yay, survival!
View attachment 69898View attachment 69899

'Blauegraue' network bean, living up to it's name! LOVE this bean! View attachment 69900

'Sivcek'. No idea where this bean is from originally, but I got it from Belgium. View attachment 69902

The 'North Carolina' network bean outcross - purple madness. View attachment 69903

View attachment 69904

The network bean 'Stibitz' is turning out to be the most difficult bean I've ever shelled. It's worth it though, because it's a really special bean variety and I plan to grow it again next year. Usually really hard podded beans that don't open easily are the tough ones, where you have to break the pods off in pieces to get the beans out. But these are not like that; these are spongey, as though there are layers of flakes that contain a degree of softness in them no matter how dry they get. It's beyond breaking the pods, these pods need to be crumbled in your hands to liberate the seeds. Shelling over a box flat tonight, the bottom is covered in pod crumbs - not pod shell halves. The seams just won't open! It's the weirdest thing! And the pods are not tight to the beans, there is plenty of room in there.

There are 2 types of seeds that showed up in Stibitz @Blue-Jay though the same pods were on all the plants. A speckled one and a pure beige one. Do you want a mix, or only the speckled ones? I'm not sure there is enough of the pure beige ones to return. Those seemed to be a minority.
View attachment 69906

Do you cook with these beautiful beans or just grow and collect them?

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal do you have more information about Sakaguchi Kang Wong? I can't find anything about this bean on the internet.

Here is the blurb for it from the Seed Savers Exchange @Artorius, this is the write up of the man I received the seeds from. I can also attest that these make really great fresh eating green beans, even raw. I ate the ones that were not mature, delicious beany taste.

Sakaguchi Wang Kong​

VEGETABLES / RUNNER-BEAN

Pole/Snap or shelly. This is a white version of Insuk's Wang Kong. After growing Insuk's for several years, I had one plant with white flowers. I tagged the inflorescence and sure enough, it had white beans. I collected and planted them the next year. I got a variety of color combinations from them that was actually quite pretty. Now, five generations later, 9 out of 10 plants produce white flowers and white beans. I named it after my wife who has collected beans for me from various countries. These are very tasty as shell beans in the fall. I do not harvest them as snaps because I want to let them go to seed. The seeds do darken over time and these freshly shelled beans are much whiter than what I planted last spring. One pack contains 20 seeds.

 

[heirloomgal]

Do you cook with these beautiful beans or just grow and collect them?

Both. A lot of the varieties I grow are green bean types, but it depends year to year how much I'll eat vs collect seed for.