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

[Blue-Jay]

SIx varieties did not produce well enough to return seed:

You can use the Georgia 4 off types as food if you want. I had the best year ever with my Rio Zape grow out. That was due to our extended summer in October. The beans were even larger than any I had grown previously. @ruralmamma the beans in your photos are all just beautiful.

 

[Dahlia]

Finally getting around to editing bean photos and now for the bean show! These are the varieties returned to Russ. I believe I'm regrowing six varieties and hopefully will post photos of them and their variations soon. Please excuse my photography skills. Due to weather, these were all taken inside with a poor lighting setup.

View attachment 79283

First up is Blue Tip. One of the first beans to produce. Average of eight seeds per pod.

View attachment 79284

I chose Brinker Carrier because of its history. Average harvest.

View attachment 79285

Cade's Cove was one of my favorites as it really produced.

View attachment 79286

Coal Camp was a bit of a problem child. Took forever to produce and late season rain wrecked havoc on the harvest. Will grow this again in 2026 along with seeds obtained locally in hopes of a better harvest.

View attachment 79287

Cold Creek was another favorite. I did lose several seeds due to late season rains but still a pretty good harvest. Also had a blue variation on at least two of the eight plants and will post that later.

Those Cold Creek beans remind me of Holstein cows! Do you eat those or just collect them for their beauty?

 

[Blue-Jay]

Those Cold Creek beans remind me of Holstein cows! Do you eat those or just collect them for their beauty?

I eat them too. They are a bean I named and I think it's getting close to stable or might already be stable. If you are getting any off types from it, it may have crossed again with something in the vicinity of where it was last grown.

 

[Dahlia]

I eat them too. They are a bean I named and I think it's getting close to stable or might already be stable. If you are getting any off types from it, it may have crossed again with something in the vicinity of where it was last grown.

How neat! I didn't know you made up the name! (Good name BTW!)
Are most of the bean names I see on this forum made up by the growers?

 

[ruralmamma]

You can use the Georgia 4 off types as food if you want.

They're too beautiful to eat! I'll have to grab a new photo of them next time I'm home.

Those Cold Creek beans remind me of Holstein cows! Do you eat those or just collect them for their beauty?

My main concern was growing enough for seed this year. Will sample them next year

I eat them too. They are a bean I named and I think it's getting close to stable or might already be stable. If you are getting any off types from it, it may have crossed again with something in the vicinity of where it was last grown.

The off-type was blue/purplish when it was harvested. Will pull it out and see how it looks now that a few months have passed.

 

[jbrobin09]

View attachment 79309

Wren's Egg was the first dry bush bean to mature. Larger than the average dry bean and a decent harvest considering I lost two of the four plants early in the season. I did lose a few lingering pods to late season rains.

View attachment 79310

Ma Williams was the star of the show in 2025 with her bright pink pods. These seeds represent the cream of the crop as late-season rains stained or ruined many of them. Extremely large seeds and I'll grow them again for the spectacular color show if nothing else. Average production.

View attachment 79311

And finally Onyx, formerly known as WB-PKT#45.1. Average production which I think would have been much better if the bed had been more fertile. Outproduced the other two varieties in the same bed by a landslide! Will grow again in 2026.

SIx varieties did not produce well enough to return seed:

Arlington Red Cranberry
Avalon (only one of four seeds produced true to type)
Batumi Georgia 4 (approximately 30 seeds total with half sporting an off-type)
Pixie
Rio Zape
Woodboogie

I like that Wren’s Egg. I wonder if it might do better in an area like mine where falls are typically very dry (no rain for weeks), and generally dry for the rest of the season most years. It sounds like a short season bean…I wonder if I can find some here (Canada).

 

[Blue-Jay]

How neat! I didn't know you made up the name! (Good name BTW!)
Are most of the bean names I see on this forum made up by the growers?

I don't think that most beans be circulated among bean growers are made up by them. I think most of them are genuine heirlooms or you might say golden oldies.