I am interested in the Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans. Maybe the amaranth. I have never tried it. I will email you.

Why don't you take a look at the link below and see if you can identify the symptoms. It sort of looks like the common bean mosaic virus, about half-way down the page. Here is a link that might be useful: Bean Diseases

From your want list, I have seeds collected from Cherry Brandy rudbeckia (open pollinated), Hardy Orange (Poncirus trifoliata), and Mexican Hat. I'd love to trade for some of your beans. Email me if interested. Thanks!

Diane, You're welcome. Yes it is fiction but it is based on the drought that hit the Great Plains from approx. 1949 through 1957. During that period of time, rainfall averaged less than 40% of usual and many cattle ranchers were driven out of business. In one year in the 1950s, Lubbock, Texas, recorded no rainfall. So, the conditions were not unlike the Dust Bowl days although by the late 1940s the Soil Conservation Service had put many programs into place that prevented, largely, a repeat of the dust storms of the Dust Bowl years. I believe Mr. Kelton wrote this incredible book to put a human face on the suffering of the Texas ranchers during that time, when many of them were driven out of the cattle business. It was because of the 1950s drought that Texas embarked upon an ambitious program to build reservoirs so they could stockpile water to avoid a recurrence of the Dust Bowl Years and the 1950 Drought years. When you read "The Time It Never Rained", you can just put yourself in Charlie Flagg's shoes and imagine how horrible it was to not even be able to feed your cattle or sheep and, eventually, yourself and your family. For Charlie, there were some things more important than 'saving the ranch at any cost'. He wanted to do things his way and maintain his independence. He didn't want to take a 'handout' from the government and he didn't want the government telling him what to do or how to do it. He just flat didn't want to compromise his own principles. That's part of what makes the book so fascinating---it wasn't just a struggle with nature, but an internal struggle to stay true to what he believed in. I had relatives who farmed and ranched in Texas in the 1950s and 1960s and they thought Elmer Kelton captured the reality on paper so well. "The Time It Never Rained" is a great classic western tale and it is one of the reasons the Western Writers of America named Elmer Kelton the greatest western writer of all time. For as hard as times are now, this novel is just such a chilling representation of one fictional man's life during some incredibly hard times, and that's why I like it. It reminds me how easy we have it much of the time, and it reminds me that when you make your living from the land, it can be a hard life with, perhaps, more downs than ups. Can you tell I love this book? Dawn