'16 Bean, pea, legume swap questions

[Tormato]

Here's your thread. Ask away.

[Tormato]

Also, those participants that didn't receive any, or enough, Jembo Polish beans, please PM me. I'll put this message in the swap thread too.

[imp]

Originally Posted by Tormato

Also, those participants that didn't receive any, or enough, Jembo Polish beans, please PM me. I'll put this message in the swap thread too.

PM'd you.

[Gardenboy]

What beans and peas do you have to swap? I have CA black-eyed peas, Purple Hull peas, Blue Lake green beans and King of the Garden lima beans. Need something that can withstand the south FL hot temperatures.

[Tormato]

I'm wrapping up the swap in a few days, and will then inventory what is left over.

For hot weather, I have several lima varieties (bush and pole), a few cowpeas, a few yardlongs, while Wando would likely be the best pea, and Rattlesnake the best bean.

[oakley]

I did not play the swap as i have my favorites, and room in my pea/pole bean bed for just a dozen varieties...ordered a few new ones this year...one is a grey dwarf for shoots. I like to harvest pea shoots for salads...

Question is what variety is good for the small haricot verte...i have no more seed and must have tossed the empty seed packet. (i usually save those as a reminder that i am out)
I'm thinking it was Renee seeds i picked up somewhere. I like a few plants of those and don't see them often. They have always done well right behind the early peas dying off.

Wondering with all the varieties i see now, what might be a new one to replace the one i've been growing....bush growth full of very tiny beans. I did see a pole variety but did not seen so tiny as a bean.

[BettyC-5]

Now that I have spent several days looking up bean seeds, there is one that I can't find. It is Grandpa Hale's. Anybody know if it is a bush or pole bean? And at what stage is it used?
And I was wondering if there is any history on the unknown red bean from Ukraine?

[walt456]

Grandpa Hale's is a bean grown in Southwest Va, it was given to me by an elderly farmer who's grown it for decades. He said it's grown as a fall bean. I haven't grown it out myself yet since I got the seeds last fall. I believe it's a pole bean.

[BettyC-5]

Thanks for the reply walt456. I notice you also sent in the Roi Des Belges, do you know if it is a bush or pole bean?

[walt456]

It's a bush bean. Those came from the USDA Grin bank. They're awesome beans.

[Raiquee]

Tormato how many seeds do you want people sending in of each variety? I'm putting my list together for next year with this swap in mind. 200 seeds? More? Less? I guess I'm not sure what the average participation rate is.

Also need this answer for the MMMM for next year! I feel like that one has a lot more members.

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by Raiquee

Tormato how many seeds do you want people sending in of each variety? I'm putting my list together for next year with this swap in mind. 200 seeds? More? Less? I guess I'm not sure what the average participation rate is.

Also need this answer for the MMMM for next year! I feel like that one has a lot more members.

Participation for the bean swap is usually 20-25 people, about half of whom are also in the MMMM. The rate of what each participant sends in is highly variable, from almost nothing to 600 packs. The varieties of beans to send back may be important. Kentucky Wonder, Blue Lake (generic), Rattlesnake, Black Turtle, and several more, are usually sent in by several participants. I likely have enough left over of those, and some other varieties, for next year. Dry beans are the most common sent in, likely because they have to be dried before using. My guess is lots of snaps are eaten, with seed saving less of a priority.

Peas are always in short supply and high demand. Most other legumes are moderate supply, with moderate demand.

I'll be posting what I plan to grow (no guarantee of a crop). For now, Flamingo, Kwintus, Garrafal Oro, and Aunt Mary's Meat are pole snap beans that have done well in the past, and plan to be in the garden with many plants of each. Hopefully others will post their plans, so there will be many different varieties grown.

A plan of about 10 packs of beans (minimum 5 seeds each pack) would be a good start. Once people start sending in their wish lists, we'll know what the demand is. Some varieties may have a much higher demand, especially if someone requests more than one pack of a variety (that's allowed).

The MMMM can be 100+ participants. If someone has a really special variety that is virtually unknown, I have no problem with them sending in 100 packs of that variety, which could be their only donation the swap, if they wish. Typically, people send in 10 packs (minimum 5 seeds a pack) of a variety. They then can choose to enter that variety in the "Categories" part of the swap, or just consider them bonuses. Like the bean swap, participation rates are next to nothing up to several hundred packs. The "average" participant sends in ~100 packs. It may be closer to ~80 , but there are bulk packs of seeds sent in that make a few thousand more packs.

I think I'll start a thread on the 2016 MMMM (a Spoiler Alert), for people who would like to post what tomato and pepper varieties they plan to grow, for people to see what others are planning to grow, and for people to start planning their wish lists.

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by Gardenboy

What beans and peas do you have to swap? I have CA black-eyed peas, Purple Hull peas, Blue Lake green beans and King of the Garden lima beans. Need something that can withstand the south FL hot temperatures.

This is what I have left...

lima

Black Butterpea
Calico Speckled Lima
Carolina Sieva
Christmas Lima
Dixie Red Speckled Butterpea
Dixie White Butterpea
Fordhook 242
Henderson's Bush
Hopi Pole
Old Time Pink & White
Violet's Multi Colored
Whitfield Butterpea

cowpea

21 Pea
Penny Rile
Pigott Family Heirloom
Red Ripper
Top Pick Pink Eye Purple Hull


yardlong

Asparagus Black-Seeded
Chinese Red Noodle

Maybe a few more, as I inventory everything in my collection.

[Raiquee]

Ok Cool. I think for beans i'll shoot for 200 of each variety, and I can easily send in 100 packs of tomato seeds when they are only 5 per bag.

I like the idea of the spoiler alert thread for the MMMM. I will decide if I want to up my 5 bean teepees to 9 with 2 varieties each on it I will shoot for bush/poles as well because I love them so much! I will post my list when I can.

[smileyb]

will you be doing this again in the future?
I have beans to swap looking for greasy beans