How does everyone keep records on the different beans you grow?

What information do you track?

thanks,
Dean

I hope more people reply to this, because I'm sure my method could be improved. Right now I only use Excel for my seed inventory, keeping track of what kind of seed, what year it's from, seed source, and how many I have left. Might be good to put more info into Excel if I can figure out how to do it. I didn't know you could put pictures in Excel.

Thanks,
Dean

Plant
=====
Type                       i.e. Common Bean, Runner Bean, Peanut
Climbing Habit                       i.e. Bush, Pole, Runner
?????                       i.e. Dry, Wax Snap, Shelly
Variety
Days to Maturity
Note:                       i.e. Stringless, Curved bean
Description

Seed
====
Color
Supplier
Year
Cost

Planting
========
Year
Date
Spacing
Size(length)                       i.e. 20 feet row
Germination
Garden Location
Note                       i.e. Used Cattle Panel

Growing Season
==============
Weather Notes
Fertilizer
Type
Cost
Date
Notes
Disease Notes

Harvest
=======
Start Date
End Date
Yield
Quality
Used as                        i.e. Snap, Shelly, Dry
Taste
Grow again                       i.e. Y or N
Rating
Notes

Annette

I should have probably added a column giving the year I first received a seed variety.

In the link below is the ultimate guide how to catalogue and photograph beans. HTH

I've never described this, since the 2-sided form is rather lengthy... wish I could just post it. The form often has more than one item per line, sometimes with selections which can be circled. There are also plenty of blank lines to record observations. The basic outline follows:

Front page:

Cultivar/Source Data
- Common name & variety (I use SSE's guidelines, such as "Bean/pole/dry Calypso")
- SSE number + other accession number (such as USDA or Gatersleben)
- Family + species
- Possible alias or similar
- Source/year + year grown

Culture
- Date/days: Sow / Germination / Flower / Seed
- Transplant? (select plastic cell, peat pot, rooted cutting, hotbed, other)
- Spacing: plant / row
- Culture: (select climbing, caged, trailing, row, pot, greenhouse)(could add raised bed to this)
- Spacing/culture correct? (yes/no)(if "no", remarks on line below)
- Blanks for mulch / irrigation / isolation method
- Organic? (yes/no) + blanks for fertilizer / chemical applications
- Lines for Culture remarks

Plant Description + Photographs? (yes/no)
- Blanks for height / spread / growth habit
- Sections of lines for describing:
Root:
Stem:
Leaf:
Flower:
Fruit:
Seed:
Reactions to environmental stress:
Disease observations:
Insect/animal observation:

Back page:

Harvest Evaluation
- Date/days for vegetable maturity (green + ripe, or shell for legumes)
- Total plants (or row feet) + Quantity + Weight
- Vegetable yield per plant/row foot + Quantity + Weight
- Seed Yield (total weight) + Weight per 100 seeds (grams)
- Seeds per ounce + avg. weight per plant + avg. seeds/plant
- Lines for harvest remarks

Culinary Qualities
(This is where I enter flavor, texture, ease of preparation, etc. Methods of preparation & specific use tested are mentioned, such as salad, boiled, grilled, sauce, chili, soup, etc.)
- Sections of lines for describing:
Raw:
Fresh cooked:
Dry (either seed, or dehydrated):
Shell quality (legumes only):
Frozen:
Canned/pickled:

General Comments:
Lines for anything which was not covered, or needs further explanation. At the very least, I always include:
- Any other varieties of the same species grown nearby & distances. This will help to identify the parentage any crosses which might appear in following years.
- A summary of the weather for the growing season, and its effects.
- Any other factors which might have influenced plant growth or seed purity, such as shade, soil variations, late planting, or damage to isolation methods.

This is the main descriptor page; there are addendum pages (much simpler) that can be used to record the differences in performance in successive years. There is also a worksheet that I use to list all varieties, their planned location, whether transplants are needed, and to record all date information: plant/germ/flower (flower color is recorded also)/harvest (green)/harvest (ripe)/harvest (dry). I generally use one of these worksheets for each of the main families (Leguminosae, Solanaceae, Cucurbitaceae) plus miscellaneous.

Dean, you'll be getting a package from me shortly, with the seed we discussed previously. I'll enclose a copy of the descriptor sheet that I use, plus the worksheet I use to record dates.

Mediafire advertises itself as the simplest to use, you don't need an account apparently.

Some of the record headers will be more or less important to different gardeners. I am sure a market grower will want to record fertiliser input, a home gardener may not feel the need. A seedsaver tends to not worry about the cost of seed, as it is a once off. Even a very heavy shipping charge can be traded off against to a lifetime of 'free' seeds.

I think, the header 'grow again yes or no' should be used with caution. If the variety was diseased, and if after culling diseased plants there were not enough plants left, then there may be no choice. However if a new bean variety was simply not adapted, for example if KY seeds underperformed in their first year in the UK, then a decision not to continue should only be taken after at least one more growing cycle with own, now better adapted seeds. Similarly, if the weather or other factors were responsible for a difficult season. I had an underperforming yellow variety this year, Mazlenk Visok Rumen II, which I suspect will do much better with adapted seeds, and especially in a warmer summer. Oregon Giant on the other hand clearly underperforms during a warmer and drier summer. If I was a commercial grower I would need to discard both, but as a home gardener I cherish the fact that different beans flourish in different years and plan my garden around it. As a consequence I very rarely say 'no' to any variety. And with changing environmental circumstances who knows which varieties will be coming to the fore in 20 years? Sorry, I digress.

It is helpful to go back to older seed samples, if a problem occurs. For example if a few crossed plants were to turn up, if the plants showed signs of disease or if stored seeds lost their label, got attacked by the bean weevil or simply got dropped and mixed up. Therefore I find it helpful to see at a glance from my records every year I have saved seeds of one variety. This makes it possible to go back to a known sound batch.

I haven't done this yet on my database, but there could also be a column to show who has been sent seeds. I tend to remember where my seeds came from but not who I send seeds to. This is important if beans are grown that are very rare and only maintained by a few people, because problems can happen. Also a note where seeds are stored - seed drawer or freezer to make finding a batch easier.

Zeedman, you examples are really detailed and I am look forward to see digital examples. I think you can convert the WordPerfect docs to Word docs by using the instructions at this Link.

thanks,
Dean

May I suggest just uploading a scanned image file to any file sharing site, and anyone can download, printout and either use on paper or re-create the file in the format of their choice.

Dean

Rick

Note: The link cited by galina has changed.