2026 Little Easy Bean Network – Plant A Garden, Water Your Soul, Join Our Family

[Blue-Jay]

Hello Everyone !

Here we are now in 2026 beginning our 14th year in this Network. At some point in time it felt like a family to me and I’m sure to many of you as well. Helping each other by posting our collective knowledge has been an amazing thing for me to enjoy, learn and observe as I will soon begin my 80th summer in this world. From the thrill and enjoyment of my first garden of radishes at the at of 3 in 1949, to my high school gardens in the 1960’s to the amazing discovery of John Withee’s Wanigan Associates bean network in 1978. I take great enjoyment in the discovery of new bean varieties nearly each year and seeing the coming of new members to our family of bean growers, lovers and enthusiasts. Yes plant a garden and water your soul with the discovery of all the knowledge, beauty and love that is here.

For all the details on how the Network functions. Go to my website www.abeancollectorswindow.com and click on the link Network near the top of the page.

So below is a list of what I call priority beans that need a grow out more than any others listed on my website on all the Network pages Net 1- Net 11.


Priority List 2026

Annette’s Italian -- Pole Snap From the 2023 Appalachian Seedswap
Awasoh’s Bear -- Pole From the 2022 Appalachina Seedswap
Barksdale -- Pole Snap – From Annette Barley of Nanimo, BC
Beurre Dore -- Bush Snap - Green, Yellow pods ?
Bobis d’ Albengo -- Bush purple podded snap bean
Brown Eyed Bobby -- Bush Snap – Only One Sample
Ferrat -- Bush? Maybe snap bean from UK
Flynn -- Pole Dry
Fountain Pitts Allen -- Pole Dry - Bred by a high school student from Kentucky
Gorema -- Pole Dry Bean from Tennessee
Grand Mere -- Pole Snap
Hobb’s Goose -- Pole Dry traces back to the early 1800’s in Lee County Virginia in the Appalachian
Mountains
Joe Bean -- Pole
King City Pink -- Bush
Krupke -- Pole
Lewis County Fall -- Pole Might be an Appalachian bean
Lucy Cantrell -- Pole Snap Stringless
Njano -- Growth Habit Unknown
Ottis Stuart -- Pole Snap
Purgatorio -- Pole Snap Italian Origin
Red Head -- Bush Dry
Robert Hazelwood -- Pole Half Runner
Rosey’s Red -- Bush Dry From Maine
Striped Double Hull -- Pole

 

[Decoy1]

Exciting to have the 2026 thread started so promptly and with much appreciated warm words. Great!

Bobis d’Albenga (Albenga I believe rather than Albanga) is a bush variety from Albenga in Italy. I grew it in 2024. It’s a vigorous productive variety of purple splashed snap beans. I’m happy to share some seeds though I probably haven’t got the full sixty.

 

[debunkshy]

I was looking at the pages just yesterday, before I saw your priority list!
Request sent to you via email.
Thanks!

 

[Blue-Jay]

I was looking at the pages just yesterday, before I saw your priority list!
Request sent to you via email.
Thanks!

Do you live in Kentucky? Then I think I know your name but won't give it away here. I've been here so long there is no way I can escape my identity.

 

[heirloomgal]

@Blue-Jay I've had some issues over the holidays trying to connect with my tech friend who is going to mail my parcel for me to you with Zonos, but it looks like this week he finally will have a spot open for me. So I'm hopeful I'll be able to send you a tracking number this upcoming week.

 

[Blue-Jay]

@Blue-Jay I've had some issues over the holidays trying to connect with my tech friend who is going to mail my parcel for me to you with Zonos,

Just tell your friend since we are not sending the beans to the USDA in Linden, New Jersey and not using the USDA green/yellow label. This shipment can not have any statement about beans or seeds. Customs will confiscate them for sure. Used cassette tapes or whatever but not beans or seeds. Sending me seeds without them going through the USDA is as difficult as sending them to Poland or Japan.

I am a little bit concerned because you are not taking care of the whole operation yourself. If it were just you sending the package I would breath easy.

 

[heirloomgal]

Just tell your friend since we are not sending the beans to the USDA in Linden, New Jersey and not using the USDA green/yellow label. This shipment can not have any statement about beans or seeds. Customs will confiscate them for sure. Used cassette tapes or whatever but not beans or seeds. Sending me seeds without them going through the USDA is as difficult as sending them to Poland or Japan.

I am a little bit concerned because you are not taking care of the whole operation yourself. If it were just you sending the package I would breath easy.

I will actually be part of the process too, and will provide all the instructions. He's basically there to navigate the App inputs and all the forms on the computer. And anything else that comes up. I will probably sit there and give him the info and he's going to plug everything in and then if any issues arise he will deal with customer service for me. Unfortunately I got word back from my friend who is in SSE and she was unable to send the seeds she wanted into the US because of some established glitch in the Zonos system. At least they acknowledged it though. So this fellow will help me with that as I suspect the same thing that happened to her might happen to me - unless something has changed in the last month or two. The online process may just shut down, and not issue me a scanning code for the post office. For now, I'm going to be hopeful it will work. He's very experienced with online processes of every kind, so I'm confident that even if I hit a glitch he will get me through. I don't think I'd be able to navigate the Zonos process myself, apparently its very complicated.

I will send some photos so you can see all the contents too before I seal the box.

 

[saritabee]

Hi all!
Been a loooooong minute. I was going to report in on the 2025 thread, but we'll start fresh with the new year.

My 2025 bean season had a handful of successes, despite a couple large setbacks (and if any of you have tips or tricks re: spider mites -- which were a new thing this year -- I would LOVE to hear them).
However, those don't feel that important this year, because I had one HUGE success (and Russ will maybe understand how exciting this success is for me): Frost Bean.

I've been trying to grow this bean out for LEBN since 2019 -- that's seven growing seasons, six of which I was actively growing out Frost. The first year, the seed was pretty poor quality; every year since, I've barely been able to scrape together enough seed to replant the next year. But this year!! Woo-hooo (and also *whew*).

Russ, I'm going to pop these in the mail to you now that they're dry enough.
I know you had wanted some Manto de la Virgen and I couldn't remember if I had gotten those to you, so I grew them out again this year, and will put some in the package as well.

Wishing everyone an absolutely beautiful 2026 bean season!