Rescuing Old Beans

MrsTwigg · February 5, 2015

Hi there,

I'm a new member to this site, and though I joined for the purpose of talking about tomatoes, the garden project I am most looking forward to this year is to attempt to grow and collect fresh bean seeds from some old (~15 years) beans that I have. I'm looking for any words of encouragement you more experienced gardeners here may be able to direct my way, as well as any comments or suggestions you may have. I plan to come back and update this thread as things progress.

The story on these beans is this: A couple years ago, my Mom gave me a ziplock bag half full of beans that had been saved by my aunt, who died in 2003 of cancer. She had been ill for a long time before she passed, so I'm pretty sure that she last grew these beans at least a couple years previous to her death--I'm guessing they're around 15 years old. I suppose they had been hidden somewhere until my Mom found them after going through the last few boxes of my Aunt's things. They're quite pretty, being mottled black and white as they are, and at least visually seem to be in perfect shape.

I've since come across some mention on this site about being able to bring back to life very old tomato seeds, so I wonder if I might be able to apply the same approach to these beans. In fact, I now wish I had tried to grow them out immediately after Mom gave them to me, but at the time I thought there was no hope of my being able to re-awaken them...plus, at the time, I was barely beginning to get my feet wet with regard to growing anything from seed.

Now I finally feel like I am ready to try! My aunt was devoted to "old-school" pursuits--she was a talented leather-worker, a skilled outdoorswoman who grew a lot of her own food, as well as holding a professional crabbing license (these can't be purchased--they are passed down in families, where I live), as well as being an amateur genealogist who traced my family's history in the area where I live back to the 17th century. It may sound corny (beany?) but these beans are all I have from my Aunt, and they really symbolize a lot more to me than just a random bag of seeds might...I'd like to think they meant something to her, and now I'd like to save them since, to me at least, they are an important memento of the past.

My intention is, come spring, to soak some of these beans overnight in some water into which I've dissolved some Miracle-Gro, at the rate of about 1 tsp to the gallon of water--I've read that the nitrates from the fertilizer can help old seeds sprout. I then plan to plant them shallowly in some prepared pots of seed-starting mix and place them on a heat mat under lights. If I get any to germinate, I'll then immediately transplant them very carefully into a prepared spot in the garden. If you've read this far, please feel free to let me know what you think of my plan. I'd appreciate any comments!

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed once I get things started...which won't be until late April at the earliest, because I want to make sure the garden soil is nice and warm if I'm lucky enough to get any to sprout. Wish me luck!

February 5, 2015	#1
MrsTwigg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Maryland Posts: 47	Rescuing Old Beans Hi there, I'm a new member to this site, and though I joined for the purpose of talking about tomatoes, the garden project I am most looking forward to this year is to attempt to grow and collect fresh bean seeds from some old (~15 years) beans that I have. I'm looking for any words of encouragement you more experienced gardeners here may be able to direct my way, as well as any comments or suggestions you may have. I plan to come back and update this thread as things progress. The story on these beans is this: A couple years ago, my Mom gave me a ziplock bag half full of beans that had been saved by my aunt, who died in 2003 of cancer. She had been ill for a long time before she passed, so I'm pretty sure that she last grew these beans at least a couple years previous to her death--I'm guessing they're around 15 years old. I suppose they had been hidden somewhere until my Mom found them after going through the last few boxes of my Aunt's things. They're quite pretty, being mottled black and white as they are, and at least visually seem to be in perfect shape. I've since come across some mention on this site about being able to bring back to life very old tomato seeds, so I wonder if I might be able to apply the same approach to these beans. In fact, I now wish I had tried to grow them out immediately after Mom gave them to me, but at the time I thought there was no hope of my being able to re-awaken them...plus, at the time, I was barely beginning to get my feet wet with regard to growing anything from seed. Now I finally feel like I am ready to try! My aunt was devoted to "old-school" pursuits--she was a talented leather-worker, a skilled outdoorswoman who grew a lot of her own food, as well as holding a professional crabbing license (these can't be purchased--they are passed down in families, where I live), as well as being an amateur genealogist who traced my family's history in the area where I live back to the 17th century. It may sound corny (beany?) but these beans are all I have from my Aunt, and they really symbolize a lot more to me than just a random bag of seeds might...I'd like to think they meant something to her, and now I'd like to save them since, to me at least, they are an important memento of the past. My intention is, come spring, to soak some of these beans overnight in some water into which I've dissolved some Miracle-Gro, at the rate of about 1 tsp to the gallon of water--I've read that the nitrates from the fertilizer can help old seeds sprout. I then plan to plant them shallowly in some prepared pots of seed-starting mix and place them on a heat mat under lights. If I get any to germinate, I'll then immediately transplant them very carefully into a prepared spot in the garden. If you've read this far, please feel free to let me know what you think of my plan. I'd appreciate any comments! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed once I get things started...which won't be until late April at the earliest, because I want to make sure the garden soil is nice and warm if I'm lucky enough to get any to sprout. Wish me luck!