Esme's experiment beans

These are the 'experiment beans'
taste like pinto beans, of course...
look more like cranberry beans for 'ID'

These are what came from the soup bean mix and I let these go to seed and dry in their pods to plant for next year. They are not like their 'parents', and they are all alike to each other. I am amazed and curious. I even joined Seed Saver's Exchange now... I want to learn more!


The originals
I selected these carefully from the whole bag, in hopes of
selecting for the color trait with small speckles.

It is hard to tell which set, the brown or the red, this came from. My memory says it was the red - and the evidence seems correct. My big question is if they crossed with the actual garden pintos I had planted in large number in the middle of the garden. The pintos were already producing beans by the time this set was starting to sprout but also put on a second round of flowers recently.

The varieties in the garden (all legumes included):

Mayflower bean (1 plant survived, produced very late in the season, about 7 pods total, saved 12 seeds or so)
Black Shackamaxon bean (several plants survived, produced very late in the season, 15 to 20 pods total)
White half-runner pole bean (producing nicely)
Kentucky wonder pole bean (producing nicely)
Provider bush bean (overwhelmed me!, got about 15 extra seeds)
Fordhook Lima beans (slight producer, and had a second wind)
Brown whippoorwill cowpeas (putting on pods, produced about 50-80 seeds)
Black eyed peas (from grocery store) (did very well)
Purple Hulled peas (overwhelmed me!)
Mississippi Silver crowder peas (did well early, then died off.. about 30 seeds saved)
Scarlet Runner beans (damaged, never produced)
Purple Hyacinth bean (poisonous, but pretty flower)

Mark said I should count these as separate 'varieties' because they had different sources and I was watching them as separate items.

--Pinto beans (from garden seed packet) (produced well and loved these)
--Pinto beans (from grocery store) (not doing well)
experiment beans from grocery store mix : red (produced, were cranberry beans)
experiment beans from grocery store mix : brown (produced, were regular pinto)
experiment beans from grocery store mix : black (did not come up)
experiment beans from grocery store mix : white (damaged)

The e.b. red, purple hulled peas, black eyed peas and packet pintos have all produced enough to save some for seed.