What I'd really like to do is, if the plants haven't been "discovered" yet, send them off somewhere and have them named after her. Do any of you have info on how to get the ball rolling on something like that?

Yes, those beans would be considered an hei rloom but you're the one who should be naming them, and NOW, not someone else.

And if you want them distributed to a wider group of people then there are several ways you can go about that.

You can offer those seeds in the exchange area in the Vegetable Forum here at GW , bit that's pretty much a closed circle .

You can send the seeds to someone who is an SSE member who is a bean specialist so they can list them in the SSE Year book where they will get widespread exposure and also will then be kept in permanent storage and not be lost.

You can send them to a more limited seed saving organization such as the Appalachian Seed group which is headed up by Gardenlad, who also posts here.

Or you can send thenm directly to some of the better commercial seed sources for them to work up for very widespread sales and distribution.

o you can do any or all of the above.

No, you won't get money back. I've done same w it h tomatoes and money is not part of what we're talking about here.

So lots of avenues of distribution and if I can help put you in touch with bean SSE folks who list in the SSE Yearbook, or some seed company sources, or whatever, please e-mail me.

But YOU name those beans NOW. LOL

How about describing what kind of bean you 're talking abou t and what the geographic origin is, etc, just out of curiousity

Carolyn

Well said, Carolyn.

But you skipped one venue: Hotchichi can join SSE and become a listed member, and offer the seeds directly.

Hotchichi: In case Carolyn wasn't clear, let me reiterate: YOU name those seeds, WITHOUT DELAY!

If you want some suggestions, I would include a name and/or honorific (i.e., Mamaw Jane's...) and a trait (i.e., Striped Pole) in the name. Something that you can relate to, and which prevents confusing it with what might be similar beans.

Also, record all the possible history of them you can. Your great grandmother's name, and where _she_ got the seed, and the lineage of it through your family, etc. Record any geographic movement you can determine too. That is, if g-grandmother came from Tennessee and brought the seed with her, you want to record that. The more such history you can record the better.

With your grandmother in her 90s, now is the time to get as much data as she can remember.

Don't worry if it becomes anecdotal in nature. Much of what we know about family heirlooms is. But the important thing is to preserve both the seed and its history.

But you skipped one venue: Hotchichi can join SSE and become a listed member, and offer the seeds directly.

Absolutely .

Somehow I got the impression that the person wanted t o send the seeds somewhere, and I wouldn't suggest sending them to SSE directly, but I would suggest becoming a member and listing them yourself as the much better wqay to go.

Varieties sent directly to SSE sometimes don't make i t out of the loop.

If they had I wouldn 't have been the one to introduce German Red Strawberry toamto, which had been sent to SSE and who knows what happened t o it.

You can go to seedsavers.org and read about SSE and membership, etc.

If membership doesn't appeal to you as I said, I can still connect you to a bean listing SSE member.

But if you have any interest at all in preservation of hei rloom varieties you might wish to support SSE with your membership and in your case become a listed member in order to list your own heirloom beans.

Carolyn

Thanks for the responses!

First of all, there aren't very many seeds, about 20. She only had a small envelope of them saved and shared them between me and a cousin and kept a few for herself. So I expect that they're almost extinct. My plan is to plant these 20 and let all of the pods dry on the vine, is that a bad plan? Do I need to isolate blossoms? She never has.

Second, I guess they're less of a bean, and more of a pea. I'll have to name them after I've grown them. I can only vaugely remember eating them as a child, and I was never one to care for legumes. I don't remember much about them except helping her pick and being forced to eat them.

Carolyn, when you mentioned money, I almost LOL! That had never even crossed my mind, my hope is to bring my granny's peas back from near-death and make a nice tribute to her. She's a great lady and will get a lot of pleasure from knowing other people are enjoying something that came from her.

Oh! And she grew up in the Ozark foothills in north central Arkansas. I'm not sure about her grandmother, but I'll ask.

Gardenlad, I'm planning on visiting her today and I'll ask her as much as I can about them. Her very, very long-term memory is still extremely sharp.

Thank you both for the tips! It'll be next year, most likely, before I have enough seed saved to share with anyone at all, so I have plenty of time to decide what to do.

While we're waiting for you to grow them out, could you describe the seed? Size, shape, color, etc?

Also, when you see her, try and confirm whether its a bean or a southern pea. And ask her how she grew them, so you know what to expect.

For instance, many peas grow a very rampant vines; which is why they were traditionally grown as field crops rather than garden crops. If that's the case, you want to leave enough room for them.

Conversely, if they're, say, a pole bean, then you'll need to rig supports of some sort.

Since there are only 20 or so seeds, and you're unsure of their viability, you might want to divide them up and try different germination techniques, though your granny will be able to give you good advice there no doubt.

And you might want to consider holding some of the seed back in case something goes wrong this season. Plant half of them maybe. If all goes well, you'll still get plenty of fresh seed for a small distribution or to grow out again the following year or whatever you decide on.

And no, there's probably no need to isolate blossoms.

Below is a link with information on seed saving and planting. It gives the average viability of pea and bean seeds as 3 year, mentions that they don't transplant well, gives best soil temperature, and so on.

By the way, I also have family in north central Arkansas, but they are useless folk because they have never produced or saved heirloom vegetables.

Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Cooperative Extension

I found this thread while searching for something else. There isn't a follow-up, and I don't see an AR member offering beans (or peas) in the 2006 SSE Yearbook. Maybe time to dust this one off...

Hotchichi, if you are still out there, were you successful in growing out the seed?

Thanks Zeedman! Yes Hotchichi! I'm in suspense!

George
Tahlequah, OK

Same here Hotchichi. What happened? Did they grow out well? Did you taste some? You might like them now as an adult. That's how it was with me anyway. Big grin.

Mary

I just ran across this, and I too would love to know what happened. I'd also like to mention that it is Vital that you isolate them, either with distance from other legumes which might contaminate the lineage or by mechanical means if you plan on resurecting an heirloom. If you have 20 seeds and they all get contaminated in the next generation than you might as well have none.

me too me too!!!

Knock knock... Hotchichi, are you still out there? Too bad there is no email link on the member page; I would sure like to follow up on this.

One last try. Does anyone out there know this poster (who has no email listed), or what the final outcome was? I am still interested in obtaining seed for growth & preservation, if seed is available.