selecting for an Appalachian landrace

So I've been collecting and growing several Appalachian cut-short and greasy beans in an effort to determine those with the best flavor.  This year I'll combine those that have passed the taste test and begin further selecting for taste and productivity.  I'll also maintain the original varieties for the time being as I already know they taste good, but mainly to provide additional stock for future experiments.

In my mind, by only adding those varieties I deem flavorful, I have a better chance of producing flavorful offspring though there's no guarantee of that.  Also there's the question of whether to keep the two distinctions separate or to just combine them all as I do have two varieties that are both greasy and cut-short.   I also grew an Appalachian half-runner grex I acquired from another grower last year and hope to experiment more with it too.  


What I hope to accomplish?  An Appalachian bean mix that's both flavorful and productive yet tender when the pods fill out.

I  welcome any input

Heritage beans sound like good candidates for landrace:

https://extension.wvu.edu/agriculture/horticulture/heritage-beans

Whick kind of beans? Bush, pole or runner beans:

Pole beans are a much wider group of beans with a slightly larger pod and a more prominent string. For fresh market, ‘Coal Camp’ and ‘Fat Man’ are excellent pole bean varieties. For dry, shelled beans, the ‘October Tender Hull,’ ‘Turkey Craw,’ ‘Coal Camp’ and ‘Fat Man’ are excellent varieties.

Michelle Heath wrote:So I've been collecting and growing several Appalachian cut-short and greasy beans in an effort to determine those with the best flavor.  

I had to look up these bean terms! So for other people not familiar with this Southern delicacy:

There are greasy beans–so called because they have smooth, shiny hulls that appear slick with grease. And there are cut short beans which feature seeds that outgrow the hull so that the seeds touch and make the bean appear square or rectangular. Put them together and you achieve bean perfection!

From sarah Loudin Thomas's blog

purple appalachian string beans

Anne Miller wrote:

Whick kind of beans? Bush, pole or runner beans:

The varieties I'll be working with are all pole varieties used mainly as snap beans.

That sounds mighty ambitious and I can see how that would be exciting to a seasoned gardener.  I have friends who love greasy beans but they aren't as prolific as they'd like them to be in their area, so they switched to rattlesnake beans.  Those are so prolific for them that they grow enough to can and last all winter.  

I don't care for any kind of green beans, myself, but I do love beans.  Soup beans are mighty good!

As a completely new gardener (once I get relocated), I have a naive question.  I want to grow known heirloom, non-GMO, completely natural seeds for everything I grow.  Is hybridization considered a form of GMO?  How can I know if a fruit or vegetable actually is a GMO?  I won't be able to plant a garden this year because I'm relocating and getting settled, so I'll be buying from fruit stands, farmer's markets, small farms, homesteaders, etc., and as little from chain grocery stores as possible.  

I'm not breeding a new bean variety at the moment, but found Logan county greasy cut-short beans very delicious. Make good leather britches as well (hang to dry). These are Appalachian-adapted.

Emmett Ray wrote:
As a completely new gardener (once I get relocated), I have a naive question.  I want to grow known heirloom, non-GMO, completely natural seeds for everything I grow.  Is hybridization considered a form of GMO?  How can I know if a fruit or vegetable actually is a GMO?

I'll attempt to explain to the best of my ability.  GMO stands for genetically modified organisms and takes place in a laboratory.  Hybrids occur when two varieties cross, either intentionally or through promiscuous pollination.  For instance if your friends planted both greasy and Rattlesnake beans in close proximity, there's a chance that those beans could cross and the resulting seed is a hybrid.  Those seeds may carry traits of either parent or be entirely different.  Maybe one of those seeds will produce a plant that's superior to both parents and you decide to save seed from that plant and repeat the process for several seasons until the seed eventually stabilizes and produces offspring that is exactly like the parents.

Heirlooms have been preserved for many years and often isolated to keep the seed "pure."  So if you plant rattlesnake beans only, the resulting seed will be rattlesnake as well.  

Landraces or Adaptation Gardening is when you take several varieties and plant them together and let nature take its course.  You save seed from those varieties that taste good and thrive in your growing conditions.  Over the course of time, you'll end up with a mix specific to your region.  You can introduce new varieties to the mix to increase the genetic diversity.  Joseph Lofthouse has spent many years developing landraces for his short growing season and I recommend his Landrace Gardening book if you'd like to learn more.  There's also a great interview with Joseph on YouTube that I highly recommend and will come back and add a link to.

I don't believe any GMO seed is available to home gardeners and I hope it stays that way.  I believe all GMO food must be labeled as such.  

Please feel free to correct me or add additional information as I'm not an expert.  

Tanya White wrote:I'm not breeding a new bean variety at the moment, but found Logan county greasy cut-short beans very delicious. Make good leather britches as well (hang to dry). These are Appalachian-adapted.

Thank you!  I hope to try them next season as I've heard good things about them.  Frank Barnett cut-short was the star of the garden last year as the the taste was phenomenal and the seed was very large compared to other cut-short varieties I've tried.

Michelle Heath wrote:I'll attempt to explain to the best of my ability.  

If that was "an attempt" to explain, then you need to be teaching something... anything!   That was incredibly clear, concise, and relatable.  Crystal doesn't get any clearer.  Thank you for taking the time to reply and explain!  To be honest, this was my biggest concern about gardening and you just broke that chain.  I figured if I wanted to grow frankenveggies, I'd just as soon save myself the work and buy them at the "grocery" store.

Emmett Ray wrote:
If that was "an attempt" to explain, then you need to be teaching something... anything!   That was incredibly clear, concise, and relatable.  Crystal doesn't get any clearer.  Thank you for taking the time to reply and explain!  To be honest, this was my biggest concern about gardening and you just broke that chain.  I figured if I wanted to grow frankenveggies, I'd just as soon save myself the work and buy them at the "grocery" store.

Glad my explanation made sense.  🙂

Here's a video in which David the Good interviews Joseph Lofhouse that I find very informative.

Michelle Heath wrote:
Glad my explanation made sense.  🙂

Here's a video in which David the Good interviews Joseph Lofhouse that I find very informative.

Thanks, I'll give it a perusal.  I feel a lot better now about all the new varieties of apples now in recent years, too.  

GMO seed is stocked and sold at farm supply stores / elevators, but it requires a signed contract stating your understanding that it is intellectual property and you cannot save seed for planting, breeding, etc. You will not find GMO varieties in seed packets sold to gardeners as far as I know, if for no other reason than it would be too hard to maintain intellectual property ownership. Also they wouldn't bother doing the immense amount of R+D necessary unless it's for a huge commodity product. I doubt GMO garden veggies even exist, but I'm not read up on that.

Since this is leaning towards Appalachian edibles, I hope it is okay to post the link below here.  Yes, it's a Facebook link, but I think I verified that you don't have to be a member to read the contents.  Please feel free to remove if in the wrong place or outside of Permie Publishing Standards.....  Thanks!

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1169874487831406&set=a.770094734476052