bean seed saving advice...

Well.. my daddy... what can you do with daddies. After me looking all over the country for EAGLE green beans and having no luck. Daddy knew this...found some in his storage frig and planted them mixed in with his other green beans. Now a bunny has eaten them all...LOL Its almost funny.

Point is...I have about 8 bean seed that he had left in the bottom of the bag. I want to plant these Eagle beans and save the seed for next year. Supposedly they are not a hybrid and this will be okay. However, I've never saved bean seed before.

Please give me some advice. Will I just leave the beans on until they
1) turn yellow
2) dry out ?

How far from other green beans do they have to be planted to avoid cross pollination ? I will plant them in a couple of big pots so I can locate them away from the regular garden.

any advice will be appreciated
charlotte

Charlotte, I'm afraid I can't help, but you might consider cross posting this over in the seed saving forum, http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/seedsaving/all/

Those must be some fabulous beans! :-)

Beans (P vulgaris) heve no commercial hybrids that I am aware of and do do not cross pollinate easily. Jus leave them on the vine until they are almost dry. Pick, let them complete drying, shell out and store.

Thanks guys.... Yep...they are marvelous beans !!

Charlotta, I came across Eagle beans a few years back. 'Smatter of fact I wanted them so bad the Melody was able to get me a few seeds from the Seeds Savers folks! Excellent bean!

However, beans will cross pollinate BUT the variety you are growing, as FarmerDill said, have a slim chance of crossing. The only time I've witnessed crossing of P. vulgaris is if you allow them the entangle w/another variety, so keep that in mind.

You've got a good'n there. Enjoy!

Shoe

Thanks Shoe... for me..they are THE bean... I never liked GB before and the Eagles helped me develop a taste for them. I plan to put them in big pots a bit aways from the garden... !

Great! I'm excited for ya! Again, you really have a trophy bean.

Happy Growing...in all your Gardens of Life!

Shoe.

(And be sure to let us know how things work out with the Eagles!)

you bet !!!

Are the seeds difficult to find? I know, but I like trying different things. Charlottade, if you have any luck growning them, would you consider selling me a pod?

For me...the seeds were impossible to find.. Some savers may have them but commercially they are no longer available. The local garden store said he could have sold $200 worth of seed this year if he could have gotten them.

If I have great success I'll be glad to share sometime but lets not "count our beans before they hatch" LOL :)

Is that like counting chickens? LOL

Exactly !!! :)