Calling all ye beany sleuths!

[sparrow100]

After finding my 2004 pea beans I'd better try to grow them next year!
Sounds like a pea bean challenge
Who else is playing?

I'm in - all 3 versions that I have.

[nellie-m]

Oh my, I seem to have missed out on an interesting conversation. Some thoughts:

- yes, bean seeds do darken with age, so much so that sometimes I can hardly recognize the varieties I put into storage in autumn when I get them out in order to sow them in spring!

- and yes, if they weren't completely ripe and dry on the plant and you shell them, their colour may not be as intense as they ideally should be.

With the slight nuances I see in the pictures, it could still be the same variety, all else being equal.

I get the impression that "Pea Bean" might be a name for a whole group of bean varieties rather than a single specific one. Bohl has several in his archive, one of which was bought by a German chap at a Majorca market and is called "Mallorca Markt" in his catalogue. It seems to look very similar to the Inca bean but only produces three seeds per pod. Then of course "Pea Bean Inca" which he was given by a lady who cultivated it in Finland. A third one is called "Kjems Pea Bean" which is described as having speckled seeds, one simply "Pea Bean" which came from a German source (not me ;-) I got mine from Zaz, I think, or VVG who would have got them from Zaz, so I think we can safely assume that mine are originally an HSL strain).

Maybe that's a bit like the Borlotti beans, it's a group name, and the individual varieties then are called "Suprema", "Lingua di Fuoco" etc.

"Alice Sunshine" is a lovely little DFB I grew for Bohl's archive (and sent in to the VSP), and completely (!!) different from the climbing "Snowcap".

[nellie-m]

And it's true, there can be considerable variation in local old varieties. My Cherokee ToT, for example, in spite of all the seeds looking exactly the same, produce pods of different lengths as well as more bluish/violet and green ones.

The CFB "Breiteneicher Alte" which I grew for Noah's Arc is another good example: they are true in that seeds are all the same shape and size, and plants all have the same growth habits, but seed colour varies considerably, as does pod colour. That particular variety is really fascinating and I plant to grow it again with only one plant per pole so as to be able to really spot all the differences.

[veggiechicken]

I also have some "Two colour coco beans" (? Bicolour coco) from 2004 that look similar to the "peabeans" Same markings, different shade of brown!
Anyone know these?

[nellie-m]

2004! Blimey. You'll be lucky if you get them to germinate. (Unless they were expertly dried and kept very dry and cold, that is.)

[sparrow100]

Yes - I've seen them on an American site. The markings seem to be similar in a variety of beans, with differences in colour & strength of colour, as Scarlet pointed out earlier.

My HSL inca pea beans are pretty much the colour that the original beans were from Seedy Sunday, so I wouldn't expect them to go much darker.

If you want to try some of either the F2 rogue/cross or my HSL Inca pea bean do let me know - I don't have huge quantities of them, but I have some spares. (rubs hands and whispers 'seeeeeeeeddddsssss')

[nellie-m]

"Old Bean Seeds Challenge": if you want to grow out really precious old-ish bean seeds it is a good idea to provide them with really good conditions for germination. That is:

- plant in individual pots in sterilized soil, not directly into the ground
- optimum temperature is 18 to 25C (65 to 77 F) !!! that means: indoors!
- not much earlier than usual, because after germination you don't want to wait too long until planting them out.

I have saved one rare old variety of Bohl's that way, he only had five seeds left that were at least eight years old and three did actually come up. Only gardeners with SBS will know how I felt when I actually harvested a handful of seeds from these three plants later

[veggiechicken]

Thanks nellie
I probably have some more Old bean seeds somewhere I'll have a rummage and give them lots of tlc next year

[nellie-m]

Apologies, apologies, apologies! Mine DIDN'T come from Zaz/VVG, but from Hazel on the Hill! Maybe she's around to help demystify Sparrow's two strains? Because what's funny is, the colours are sort of divided horizontally while the HSL ones are divided vertically if that makes sense.

[veggiechicken]

Do you still have the packet, nellie?
I can "see" a brown paper envelope with a white label that Hazel picked up at a local seedswap. - that I "may" have sent you from the VSP.
Of course, I could be confused

[Hazel at the Hill]

Just a mo - let me read back..........

[nellie-m]

I did get it from the VSP in 2013 indeed. Just had a look, thank goodness my computer has a lot more memory than I have.

[Guest]

^^^Your pea bean Inca came from Hazel who got it from HSL according to the label

[nellie-m]

And just to add a little to the confusion <bg> the Inca pea bean seems to be very similar to, if not identical with, "Aunt Jean's beans" that are sometimes offered at the SSE. Seed Savers Exchange. Not only regarding the appearance of the seeds, but Aunt Jean's also have pods with only three seeds while still being a heavy cropper. Bohl gives the same description for the Majorca Market bean.

[veggiechicken]

^^^Your pea bean Inca came from Hazel who got it from HSL according to the label

Is it in a brown envelope with a white label and pink & grey print?