[DD.]

Mrs Digger has been to see her relatives in the Fens today. Naturally the conversation got around to growing things as one of her uncles, (80 years young),used to be a potato farmer and he now has a large back garden.

He was relating the tale of when he was shelling his dried runner beans for this year's seed, one of the neighbours asked him what he was doing. When he told him the neighbour said that he always bought his beans new.

His reply was, "I bought these beans 53 years ago so that we'd have beans to eat when Margaret & I got married and these are the same beans".

Put my 3yr old seed to shame!

[peapod]

Shows you should save what works for you...Ill be saving my pea seeds for years to come from now on...
Ill post results on here in 50 years time 

[cathangirl]

Wow!  That beats my run of seeds by a mile. 
I also share out a lot of my seed beans and peas with relatives, friends and schools.
cathangirl

[DD.]

Shows you should save what works for you...Ill be saving my pea seeds for years to come from now on...
Ill post results on here in 50 years time 

I'll be 106, but I'll hang on.

[peapod]

Shows you should save what works for you...Ill be saving my pea seeds for years to come from now on...
Ill post results on here in 50 years time 

I'll be 106, but I'll hang on.

Ok then 5 

[garddwr]

Very interesting.

How do you go about drying them ? Is it a difficult and time consuimng process ?

The crop must be just the same then. How is the germination ?

Thanks

[DD.]

It's not difficult - you pick the beans you missed off the runners at the end of the season. A lot of them are dry enough already, but just keep them in a warm place until the pod goes brown & crispy.

Germination is pretty much 100%. Beans are self-fertile, whilst there is a very slight chance of cross pollination - it's there. Next season you'd soon spot any "mutant", just don't save the seed from that plant.

[garddwr]

Thanks DD.

Thats really useful information,thanks for posting.

I'll let you all know how I get on, you'll have to remind me to dry some at the end of the season though !

Thanks

[DD.]

Don't worry if you forget, I always have tons! Got a big box in the pantry which is probably 10 times more than I need this year.

[Lardman]

It's not difficult - you pick the beans you missed off the runners at the end of the season.

... I foresee a problem with your theory there   

[iwantanallotment]

Me too Lardman - I never miss any 
What a lovely story though, DD.  And nice to think that via successively saving seed, generations of family later can be eating the same beans that GGG Grandad Samuel sowed and ate 200 years before.
A magical thought 
Thank you for sharing.

[DD.]

OK you efficient pickers - as it gets towards the end of the season, just leave a few to mature!

[Aunt Sally]

You efficient pickers are doing the right thing !  Leaving pods on your beans stops them flowering and producing more pods  the best way to save your seed is just to leave the pods to mature on a few plants at the end of the row.

[DD.]

I try to pick them all, believe me, but I always miss some!

[mumofstig]

I wonder what variety they were growing all those years ago?
I have been thinking lately that i should be growing more veg of the types where seeds can be saved rather than the F1. But apart from peas and beans (which are easy) how difficult is it to do?