Roger
Was happy to see your Insuk's Wang Kong growing in South Carolina. By the way I had one,out of 95, white flowered plants this year. We planted some of the older seed as well. This is the first time in 3 years we've had a white,previously we've averaged less than 1% white flowered plants. Reminds me that I promised you some white seeds. If you still want them send me your address again.

Beautiful pics, Rodger. That "Zelma Zesta" bean looks interesting; is it is one of your commercial plantings? I'll be watching for it in the companies you mentioned.

The "Insuk's" planting is spectacular... I am looking forward to hearing if it successfully sets seed in your warm Southern location.

I hope you will find more time for GW in the Fall, when your work is done. Especially on the Bean Forum... it's just not the same here without ya! ;-)

Rodger, it's easy to see from those pics why you have no time for surfing the web. You have my respect for your ambition and hard work. Thanks for giving us a look at your farm. It's awesome (to use the word correctly for a change).

Jim

So glad to see the pics. The Zelma Zesta look great! The blooms on the Insuk's Wang Kong are beautiful. I was also happy to see a picture of your greasy bean plants. I had asked a question regarding them a few weeks ago. I also enjoyed seeing the Listada eggplants. I received the seeds for those too late to plant for this year.

Y'all are too kind. On the Insuks Wang Kong I have several pods that are set some nearly mature. but nothing to really bragg about, even though this is the first runner I have grown to produce pods in the summer and we have been steady in the 90s with a few days at 100. Jim, there are three plants that have white blooms. The red is stunning but I realy like the white. No need to send seed for the white I will save any from these and clean them up. Jimster, I spend all my free time in the garden, I can't image doing anything else. What has been taking up alot of my time has been my real job but I am back to normal now and I can't believe it is mid July. I started fall plants last week will start to pot them up next week. I will only have about two hundred flats of fall veggies compared to about a thousand flats of spring plants. The greasy pod pole is a Southern exposure seeds exclusive I planted them end of May and they are just now setting flowers so about 60-70 days till harvest. The Zelma Zesta pole is also for Southern Exposure and is a reliable producer in the heat. I planted the Zelma Zesta in late April had the first ready beans First week of June and they are loaded still. The other Pole bean is called Potomac a black seeded bean The were also planted same day as Greasy pod and they have beans ready to pick so a little earlier, another exculsive for Southern Exposure. For myself I have Cherokee Pole and Ohio pole a surprise gift from a good friend of mine up in Ohio and Black seeded cornfield a pole bean I grow last year from a seed swap in Georgia, I really like the taste of that bean. The Beans for me were all just planted for a fall crop. In peas I have Ozark razorback a red and white crowder with black speckels and Colossus a large tan crowder both for seed, both are starting to show buds and planted 5 weeks ago. For me I planted green eyed pea, Goose pea another red and white seed but not a crowder a rather large kidney shape pea and Old timer Purple Hull they are all three up and were just planted within the last week. I planted 18 different winter squash 2weeks ago and 4 qourds all for fun. I will be hosting a tomato tasting this saturday and a tour of my garden which besides the 1 acre vegetable plot there is 1 acre in flower gardens around the house, wish you all could stop by we coud sit on the porch and enjoy a tomato sandwhich and some Iced tea. And for any one in the Virginia area try to make it to the fall festival at Monticello's Tifton Farm on Saturday Sept 6. There will loads of great garden seminars, venders, Antique apple tasting ,cider making, a seed swap( last year was a dissapointment I didn't get anything new) and I am also doing a seminar of growing Heirloom beans and seed saving. Rodger

Those pictures are amazing! Do you have swarms of humming birds near the Insuk's?

~Sam

Hello Roger,

What part of South Carolina?

I have a city garden in Summerville.

I have seen humming birds around the Insuk's runner and a lot of bumble bees. I live in Little mountain about 120 miles from Sumerville right off I-26 exit #85. Rodger

Rodger, I also loved seeing your garden pictures. The plants look so healthy and well cared for. Quite superb! Thank you for showing us.

I also was intrigued by your Zelma Zesta, but for different reasons. The plants,flowers and pods look identical to Selma Zebra bean, which is a Swiss heirloom bean. I just wonder whether they are the same and whether a spelling error has crept in somewhere (very likely not with you). I don't know whether it will be possible for you to re-check with your OS donor, but if you are growing for seed companies, it might be a worthwhile exercise to be sure of the name. Selma Zebra is in the SSE yearbook.

Even if this is not possible, and whatever the name, it looks as if some lucky customers are going to get really good beans from your seeds.

Galina, The Zelma Zesta bean was developed by my wifes Geat Uncle the Late Mr JC Metze. Mr Metze gave me a quart jar of seed in the early 80s. The bean was developed from a family bean that he selected for long tender pods. In the 1960s he sold the patent for the bean to Parks seed company which is about 30 miles from us here in South Carolina. Parks Trialed the bean at their bean grow out farm in Selma Alabama. My understanding from Parks seed is all varieties that were introduced from the Selma Alabama farm used the name Selma. Parks no longer uses the farm in Selma Alabama most seed is generated abroad or in the Western part of the US today. Parks sold the bean in their catolog in the 1960s to early 1970s. So the real name of the bean would have been Selma Zesta, but I use the spelling of Zelma Zesta because that is what is written on the label that Mr JC Metze gave me when he gave me the beans. I have heard of the Selma Zebra but it is another bean and it too would have originated at the Parks seed co. grow out farm in Selma Alabama. I also grew a sunflower this year for seed for Southern Exposure seeds and it is called Selma suns and also was an old release from Parks seed and grown in Selma Alabama. Rodger

Hi Rodger,
I don't know how I missed you garden pics before, but very nice! Your veggie garden is huge. The bloom photos of Insuks look beautiful. I also think your Zelma Zestas look great along with the gorgeous Selma Suns sunflowers.
Thanks also for the Parks-Selma history, very interesting.
Remy

Rodger
thank you for the history of this bean. Very interesting! And yes, quite definitely, another bean altogether. Thank you for clarifying.

Awesome, Rodger! How'd the last half of your season go? Continued droughty, I imagine?

Roof-water and grey-water are valuable resources for me, though your garden is much too large to be sustained entirely by those.......

Rodger

I hope you don't mind if I come back to Selma Zebra bean. I know now that it is a different bean from the Zelma Zesta bean which you are growing out. This is regarding your last paragraph, where you wrote:

I have heard of the Selma Zebra but it is another bean and it too would have originated at the Parks seed co. grow out farm in Selma Alabama. I also grew a sunflower this year for seed for Southern Exposure seeds and it is called Selma suns and also was an old release from Parks seed and grown in Selma Alabama.(snip)

As I said before I believe Selma Zebra to be a Swiss bean. I have just been on the website of Pro Specie Rara, which is the Swiss equivalent of SSE, and found the following entry for Selma Zebra:
http://www.prospecierara.ch/

Selma Zebra GE-1075
Die Sorte wurde aus Kreuzungsversuchen der Firma Mauser in den frühen 70er-Jahren selektioniert und ist heute nicht mehr im Handel. Gesprickelte, leicht gebogene Hülsen. Die Sorte ergibt gute Erträge. Die Hülsen eignen sich zum Dörren und Tiefkühlen.

Which translates as: This cultivar has been selected out from crosses made by the Mauser company (a well-known Swiss Seed Company) in the early nineteen seventies. It is no longer commercially available. The pods are patterned and slightly curved. This cultivar is high yielding. Pods are suited for drying or freezing.

Two entirely different accounts of the origin and history of Selma Zebra bean. Does anybody know more? Is there a connection between Park Seeds and Mauser Seeds?

Hello Rodger,
Very nice and prolific pics.You have really impressive garden.I am particularly interested in knowing about sweet potato plants,about pic. that is you are holding in your hand and one on the chair.
Are the sweet potatoes bush kind? The pic. on the chair and one in your hand, is it having Nitrogen nodules? Are the beans with red flowers the Runner beans?
Thanks in advance for the Info.

Galina, I assumed the Selma Zebra was a Park Seed intro based on the Name (Selma). I do have an appointment to meet with the archive and historical spokesperson on the 18th of Nov to look at old catologs to get the actual years the above mantioned varieties were sold and I will also do a manual search in the catologs of the 70s to see if the Selma Zebra been is there. So I should respond back on the 18 or 19 with a answer.
PnBrown. The garden overall did well even with the secound year of extreme drought we have had. I did install a well and irrigation system last year just for the garden and geeenhouses. I had too crop failures one was the Insuks runner bean and another was a greasy pod bean both were to be grown for seed. Unfortunately the storm that blew over the supports on both of these beans resulting in losing the plants. I had several pods developing on the Insuks but within a couple of weeks of the plants blowing over disease set in and they were gone. I do have enough seed to try again next year. I had high hopes of a good crop on the Insuks. The other seed crops werer above average to excellent and I had a very succesful year in Squash bug Pickle worn and Cucumber beetle control in a certified organic operation. The Bean Beetle wasp once again was 100% succesful in riding the garden of The Mexican Bean Beatle and I attended an organic growers conference last week that one of the speakers suggested that the MBB wasp may become overwinter in my area. So I am on the look out know.

Rodger

thank you so much for taking the time to research into the history here. I wish I could be there and help. I am eagerly waiting for your report.

Unfortunately we know so little about many beans. With deliberately bred, commercial older beans, their ancestry is being kept a closely guarded secret and with family heirloom beans the history often fades when a gardener sadly dies, even if the seed itself survives. If some history can be recorded here, or a possible link between the seed companies discovered, that would help keep a little more history from being forgotten.

For what it is worth: there is a sister seedling to Selma Zebra, which is called Selma Star, apparently also selected from a cross in the early seventies, according to PSR.

It is hard to believe looking at your photos that you had drought conditions. They look so lush. Sorry you had storm losses, especially with the Insuks, which look so good in the pictures.

Rodger, did you reapply the wasps this year or was the resident population of bean beetles still absent due to the treatment two years ago (if my recollection is correct)? I had no need to reapply. The entire community garden was clean after the a single application of 2 units of wasps I released last year. As I have said, I can't prove it was due to the Pediobius foveolatus, but I know of nothing else to explain it. It was amazing,the most successful result I have ever seen from any garden remedy.

Jim

Jim I did reapply the wasp. I grow so many legumes that I can't afford to lose any to the MBB and there is a lot of soybeans grown in SC so the MBB is here and can easily find my little spot. I don't have the beetles showing up in early May like I use to but they still show up in July. The speaker at the Conference I attended a few weeks back, Suggested that the Wasp has a range of up to 10miles and in the warmer regions of zone 8 and up they are seeing the wasp overwinter which is great. This wasp also attacks the Squash beetle which looks very similiar to the MBB. I have not noted any overwintering wasp but I also haven't looked and I am actualy in Zone 7b about 15miles from the zone 8 line. So I still plan to purchase the wasp next year but I will start scouting for evidence of the wasp overwintering.
On another topic which is what the original post was about, pictures, I have yet to down load all my pictures for some reason my computer is not working right it is just too slow and I don't have the knowledge to fix it.My computer is only 2 yo and it worked fine last year I have security spy ware coverage ect the only change was Hughesnet my provider did a major upgrade and since then everything has been slow. So most of my posts and veiwing have been done during breaks at work and our company policy blocks picture hosting sites so until I figure out what is going on with my computer I can't spend hours down loading and uploading pictures. But I will do some. Rodger

Galina and others that may be interested. I went to park seed today. The archives is not as good as I had hoped. They have most catalogs from 1868 to 1912 a few from the 30s and nothing from late 30s till late 70s and everything from about 77 till present. According to the archive person there was never an effort to keep catalogs or invoices where seed came from or who developed them so those types of records do not exist. I did find that the Selma Zebra bean was a parks introduction from Selma Ala. It was listed in the 1977,78 and 79 catolog and may have been in the early seventies as well but again there is no catologs from that time. Rodger

Those were some nice looking pictures.

What cucumber were you growing for Fedco, if I could ask? Just wondering, as I will be ordering some to market this next season. I am thinking of buying both General Lee and Super Zagross Middle Eastern, as I am looking for a prolific 7-9" long cucumber.

thanks,
Dean

Hi Rodger did you get many more of those monster whopper tomatoes that are too small to mess with?

We could have sent you some of our rain this spring. Seemed like it rained every day for months. Very unusual, got a late start due to cold wet ground because of it.

The Loudermilk butterbean has grown very well here despite less than ideal conditions like crowding, shading and rabbit predation. It's very prolific and put on lots of pods, though many of them do not have enough time to fill out all the way. It has the wild habit of mature pods exploding open and scattering the seeds. Did it do that for you too?

The cowpeas have also done well and matured seeds. The Japanese beetles really loved the Mississippi Silvers. Are there any wasps that predate on Japanese Beetles?

Dean the cucumber I grew for Fedco is Arkansas Little Leaf, Happyday I'm glad you did get a harvest on the peas and yes a lot of Limas do tend to shatter when dry. There is a wasp for the Japanese Beetle a native predator in Japan that is being introduced but is very costly. Check out www.drmcbug.com For me they are not a big problem in the vegetable garden only on the roses which I have over 100 and it is only for a few weeks in July then they are gone. I have chickens and they love them. I do use the lure trap and feed the full bags to the chickens.

Hi Rodger
Have I misjudged identifying pics. of Nitrogen nodules? I am interested in doing some research on N-nodules.Any info. will be useful.
Thanks.

Rodger

thank you for your report. What a pity that Park Seed don't have comprehensive archives and complete list of catalogs. No doubt what they did have was very interesting all the same. They offered Selma Zebra for at least 3 years and not since. Perhaps they will re-offer sometime.

I had a look on ebay and did not find a single Park catalog from this period. But plenty older ones.

Hope you have an easier time with the weather next year to get a good Insuk seed harvest.