2025 Little Easy Bean Network - Growers Of The Future Will Be Glad We Saved

SusanneinHastings

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very nice looking seeds from Andikove. :) i could get some but not very many that looked that nice.
I have to say this plant did not seem awfully productive. It averaged about three mature seeds per pod, admittedly it was in a pot.

We are eating a very tasty yellow wax bean this year, one of the American Seed no-names from the 25 cent rack at Menards. I will have to save the seed.
 

SusanneinHastings

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I have got a handful of unknown bean seeds where it was told to me that they should come from Stryria. … One is this variety with moon-like pods. They are currently 5cm / 2 inch long. I have no clue what it could be. I don't assume it's a Kipfler variety because the pods are flat and not round like Kipfler. And they are more curled than "Marmorierter Mond". But they are very beautiful.

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I have a relative traveling to Germany soon so I looked up Kipferlbohne and found some promising shops in Germany using that term. I could order and she could carry it back here. I visited in January and looked eagerly for beans after reading about German regional heirloom beans online, but the town (Bavaria) was quite bean free. Even the Biomarkt and Reformhaus (the organic/healthy foods shops) had only little packages of pinto and black soybeans. And when I looked at the big online German shops they had a lot of varieties that are common in America. So I didn’t end up bringing any back.

These shops are smaller and didn’t show up on my searches for seed before. Some interesting looking things:
https://shop.garten-des-lebens.de/samenfestes-saatgut/bohnen-und-erbsen/
https://das-lavendelhaus.com/produkt-kategorie/gemuese/bohnen/

But this Brezel (English - pretzel) bean looks fabulous. It is an Austrian shop though, I don’t know how problematic to order and ship to Germany.

https://ybbser-kraeutergarten.at/produkt/brezelbohne-samen/
 

jbrobin09

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Well, it’s been a terrible year for beans here. Our summer up until August only had a handful of days that broke 20C (none over 25C) so the beans germinated but not well. They were quite sickly. We finally got some heat in August but we are almost at our fall frost date so some of them won’t produce seed most likely as they didn’t start flowering until end of August. I didn’t put all my beans in one basket (😉) - I reserved half the packets of network beans so I can try again if needed.

I will get some seed from pole bean Carminat, which I planted in a large pot on my deck. (I may do more of that next year if we have a cool start again.) It’s my first time growing Carminat and it is a very tasty snap bean! Highly recommend. It also seems fairly productive despite the cool weather.

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Oxford

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I have a relative traveling to Germany soon so I looked up Kipferlbohne and found some promising shops in Germany using that term. I could order and she could carry it back here. I visited in January and looked eagerly for beans after reading about German regional heirloom beans online, but the town (Bavaria) was quite bean free. Even the Biomarkt and Reformhaus (the organic/healthy foods shops) had only little packages of pinto and black soybeans. And when I looked at the big online German shops they had a lot of varieties that are common in America. So I didn’t end up bringing any back.

These shops are smaller and didn’t show up on my searches for seed before. Some interesting looking things:
https://shop.garten-des-lebens.de/samenfestes-saatgut/bohnen-und-erbsen/
https://das-lavendelhaus.com/produkt-kategorie/gemuese/bohnen/

But this Brezel (English - pretzel) bean looks fabulous. It is an Austrian shop though, I don’t know how problematic to order and ship to Germany.

https://ybbser-kraeutergarten.at/produkt/brezelbohne-samen/
Usually, you cannot find such beans in cities and supermarkets and you will indeed find them only in small shops or through cooperatives. I think the only exception is in Switzerland where the Swiss foundation for the cultural and genetic diversity of plants and animals works together with the largest retail and wholesale company in Switzerland and there you can find quite a large selection of such seeds in their garden stores.

There is no issue to order seeds in Austria and let it send to Germany. In Europe, seeds can be transferred within the EU and with some other European countries like Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland without limitations.

Yes, Bretzelbohne = Pretzel bean: https://trueloveseeds.com/products/pretzel-bean

Shops in Germany:
https://das-lavendelhaus.com/produkt-kategorie/gemuese/bohnen/ => has the Rassacher Kipfler
https://www.bio-saatgut-lang.de/c/b...bohnen/stangenbohnen?page=3&sort=position-asc => has Anellino Giallo, echte Kipfler and many other interesting (rare) beans

Shops in Austria:
https://samengreisslerei.at/produkt...nen-phaseolus-vulgaris/stangenbohnen/fisolen/ => has several Kipfler/ Posthörnchen
https://www.sortenwerkstatt.net/produkt-kategorie/bohnen/ => various Kipfler
https://therapiegarten.at/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Samen-Pflanzenliste-2025.pdf => p.8, there are many Kipfler e.g. Rassacher, Kipfler Marija Coshter which has black seeds, or Kipfler rot that has red seeds, etc.
 

heirloomgal

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I assume it's Aloisia Marmoriert.

Aloisia is a very old female first name with origin in Old High German, and "marmoriert" means marbled.

To my knowledge there is also an Aloisia Schwarz (=Black) which has green pods and black seeds (and is curled, too). It's a variety of the many Kipfler beans of Styria.
Yes! That's it! You know your beans @Oxford! I believe I grew the other Aloisia last year.
 

heirloomgal

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Well, it’s been a terrible year for beans here. Our summer up until August only had a handful of days that broke 20C (none over 25C) so the beans germinated but not well. They were quite sickly. We finally got some heat in August but we are almost at our fall frost date so some of them won’t produce seed most likely as they didn’t start flowering until end of August. I didn’t put all my beans in one basket (😉) - I reserved half the packets of network beans so I can try again if needed.

I will get some seed from pole bean Carminat, which I planted in a large pot on my deck. (I may do more of that next year if we have a cool start again.) It’s my first time growing Carminat and it is a very tasty snap bean! Highly recommend. It also seems fairly productive despite the cool weather.

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Sorry to hear that @jbrobin09. It's been a difficult bean year for me as well. It's good luck you planted Carminat, one of the earlier beans that is really good quality. I know I sent some of them to a fellow SODC member who is really into fresh beans, and she thought it was one of the best purple beans she's tried. Looks like you'll be able to harvest some seeds from your plants. Always hope for a better season next year. I love growing beans, but they are quite particular in their needs, and I feel like if anything goes off the rails they aren't survivors, at least not like many of the other vegetable plants.
 
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