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

[heirloomgal]

Beautiful specimens @Decoy1, that Armenian Striped Brown is especially interesting.

 

[heirloomgal]

Some more bean pictures. I'm trying to get all the network beans photographed for you @Blue-Jay , it's taking me some time as make my way through all the jars. This round had no network beans in it, the next one will I think.

Cranberry Onondaga ~ bush
Well, both pictures stink but it is what it is until I grow it again, likely in 2026. I will get a better picture with the next grow out. It's pretty.

Perelka ~ semi-runner
This is such a nice little bean, sooo productive. 4 plants gave me so much seed!

Ocean View ~ bush
Only 1 off type plant this year. Inching closer to stable.

Domaci Cucak ~ pole

Oude Sloveense Boerboon ~ pole

Stripey Snap ~ Pole
This was another bean that made me fret, only one plant survived the cutworm attack in June. But thankfully it survived and I can try again, with plenty extra. From Spain.

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Grandma Gina's ~ pole
The most difficult bean I grow for seed saving. It went fairly well this year but still there was some cracked seed coats. For whatever reason more people request this bean from me than any other. It's so popular, I'm guessing the large size of the pods is what gets people's attention. It really is not a great seed producer though. All those huge podded beans seem to have a normal amount of seeds in abnormally large pods, with somewhat less pods on the plants. Still, this is a favorite bean for me too. And even the seeds are a nice purple color!

 

[heirloomgal]

Lambada ~ pole
Network bean. I failed with this one last year, but this year the plants were amazing and healthy. Great production. The pods of 'Lambada' are so gorgeous.

Fagy Utan ~ pole
Interesting that the seeds are two colors. I received this from an SSE member, and I have no clue it's origins. I should check the platform and see if it's still on the list and what it says. (eta: I checked and it's not there anymore. Interesting though that something which popped up when I was looking there is SSE says distance between plants is the same for eating as saving seeds. I was surprised to see that, but think it's great.)

Hundert aus Einer ~ bush
I believe this was a Vilmorin bean, and also goes by the name 'Hundert für Einer'.

Olivia ~ pole

Bażanowice ~ semi-runner
This was a later maturing bean for me but, wow, it was such a fabulous yielding bean. Just excellent.

Domatsu ~ pole

 

[Decoy1]

Bażanowice ~ semi-runner
This was a later maturing bean for me but, wow, it was such a fabulous yielding bean. Just excellent.

Lovely selection.

Carrying on the discussion about photos in sun compared with photos in shade, the colours of Bażanowice, for example. look so very different in your two pictures.
It would be interesting to know whether one seems truer than the other to you.

 

[heirloomgal]

Lovely selection.

Carrying on the discussion about photos in sun compared with photos in shade, the colours of Bażanowice, for example. look so very different in your two pictures.
It would be interesting to know whether one seems truer than the other to you.

The difference in how the beans look in sun vs shade can be really substantial, and it also seems to vary a lot according to the seedcoat colors. Adding to all this is the quirks of the ipad; the 'Tirana's Rotviolette' beans I posted did not have a shade picture for comparison because my device could not focus in the shade. The burgundy color seemed a problem, and all the shade shots were blurry as a result. In real time that bean actually has some blue/dark purple undertones that are absolutely lost in the full sun pictures. I may not even post a pic of Friese Woodboun as much as I loved that bush bean because both sun and shade pics are so poorly representative. Darker seeds seem to be more of problem for my device, they seem to absorb the light instead of bounce it. I missed all the good sunlight of August & September!

I think with Bazanowice the reality is somewhere between the two representations; it's not as beige-ish yellow as the sun shot makes it, and yet not as drab as the shade pictures portrays it. It almost has a slight hint of greenish color.

 

[heirloomgal]

Nearing the end of the bean photos. Probably not a lot of point to post photos of beans grown for fresh eating if they aren't especially interesting. I went out today to try and get a few more pictures in but the sunlight was really spotty with the partial cloudiness. Anyway, clearly my time has run out!

Green Albufiera ~ bush
I think I may have received this lovely one as a gift, because I don't recall it being on the trade list with my Spanish bean friend. I could be wrong, I don't really recall at this point. I can't seem to find any information about it, except that it might be Portuguese. If anyone knows anything about it please share! I feel like it's for fresh eating, but didn't try them as I thought they were pole beans and put only 3 around a tree! lol

Chriesistei ~ pole
In researching this variety I realized it's translated name is 'Cherry Pit'. I don't usually translate names but this one is so cute I may go with Cherry Pit instead. It has quite an interesting history really (from Google AI):

"The 'Chriesistei' pole bean is a rare, traditional Swiss heirloom variety from the Canton of Aargau, known for its distinct, cherry-colored seeds. The name translates to "cherry stone" in Swiss German. The bean is a traditional variety specific to the Aargau region of Switzerland, with different local strains. The Swiss organization ProSpecieRara (which focuses on preserving rare and endangered heritage plants and animals) currently logs four varieties of the Chriesistei bean in its database: Chriesi-Stei, Chriesistei Boniswil, Chriesistei Dintikon, and Chriesistei Reinach."

Black Creaseback ~ pole
This bean came with the name 'Ideal market' which is also correct. It was renamed "Ideal Market" or "Reuters Ideal Market" by the Chris Reuter Seed Co. of New Orleans in 1924. Its origins date back to 1914 when it was introduced as "Black Creaseback" by Van Antwer's Seed Store in Mobile, Alabama. I kinda like the sound of Black Creaseback more so that's the one I'm going with (even though I don't know what a creaseback is). Another vole victim but I still harvested some, I want to regrow it again next year and try the green beans. You can really tell with this one that the selection it's undergone has been excellent. I also love the perfection of the seeds.

Mazeppa ~ bush
I think this one was also in my first network bean grow out. Back then I had problems with sclerotina, and it suffered as a result but I've now figured out how to grow bushes without those problems for the most part. So I gave Mazeppa another whirl, and it was fabulous. I have a nice fat jar of them now! Took these pictures in my sunroom so there are no contrasting shots.

Loipersdorfer ~ pole, wax
This bean did SUPER well this year, what a producer. Just loved this one. Lots of interesting information to find about it! Hilariously, my first AI search results mentioned my own instagram post about this bean; because I called it 'new' (meaning new to me of course) it thought that it might be a new bean, lol). It also said the "bean is described as 'wildly productive'" - that was my post too, lol. I refined the search and the info got better. This AI stuff is like inviting Data in your living room for a convo.

"The name 'Loipersdorf' likely refers to Bad Loipersdorf, a spa town in the Styria region of Austria. The general region of Eastern Styria is known as the "Green Heart of Austria" and is famous for its local produce, including runner beans (Käferbohne). The town of St. Ruprecht an der Raab, also in Eastern Styria, has even dedicated itself to runner beans as a symbol."

Malawi Mix ~ semi-runner
Certainly a productive mix. I can't help but feel like I may have grown some of them on their own in years past. One bean looks a lot of like 'Van Gogh's Olive'. The purple speckled ones look like 'Mrocumiere' but that one is a bush and these were semi-runners (as were all of them). I do like the big light gray ones. In future grow outs I think I'll pick certain ones out and plant them on their own. There was some little dark grey, charcoal matte beans that were nice too (one is low center in pic). Not many of them, but I'd like to select them out.

 

[Decoy1]

Green Albufiera ~ bush
I think I may have received this lovely one as a gift, because I don't recall it being on the trade list with my Spanish bean friend. I could be wrong, I don't really recall at this point. I can't seem to find any information about it, except that it might be Portuguese. If anyone knows anything about it please share! I feel like it's for fresh eating, but didn't try them as I thought they were pole beans and put only 3 around a tree! lol

Green Albufeira is a bean I last grew in 2019 but I remember liking it very much. My notes say,
Dry. Not brilliant for shelling. OK for snap but tends to get too big quickly.
Albufeira is in the Algarve
A very high yielding variety, with big heavy green beans, not yet tested for stringiness. A later variety that needed time to mature.It has larger pods and is also a big, strong plant. Was bought from a market in Albufeira

 

[heirloomgal]

Green Albufeira is a bean I last grew in 2019 but I remember liking it very much. My notes say,
Dry. Not brilliant for shelling. OK for snap but tends to get too big quickly.
Albufeira is in the Algarve
A very high yielding variety, with big heavy green beans, not yet tested for stringiness. A later variety that needed time to mature.It has larger pods and is also a big, strong plant. Was bought from a market in Albufeira

Did it grow as a pole bean or a bush bean?