General information and discussion about cultivating beans, peas, peanuts, clover and vetch.
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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: CA
Posts: 410
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I'm perusing the E&R seed catalog trying to decide what to order but don't know much about beans. I'd like beans for fresh eating, and not your typical "every one has grown it" varieties. Help me pick?
![]() -- Green Pod Bush Beans -- 1. Advantage 2. Black Valentine 3. Blush Lake Bush #156 4. Bush Lake Bush #274 5. Burpee Stringless 6. Bush Romano #14 7. Commodore Improved 8. Contender 9. Dwarf Hort Taylor 10. Ferrari 11. French Garden 12. French Horticulture 13. Furano (Roma) 14. Jade 15. Jade II 16. Kentucky Wonder 125 17. Kentucky Wonder Bush 18. Landreth Stringless 19. Momentum 20. Prevail 21. Provider 22. Red Swan 23. Roma II 24. Roma Improved Bush 25. Slenderette 26. Spartan Arrow 27. Strike 28. Tendercrop 29. Tenderette 30. Tenderette Imp 31. Tenderpod 32. Tennessee Green Pod 33. Top Crop 34. Valentino -- Runner Beans -- 35. Red Peanut (Pink Hlf Rnr) 36. Scarlet Runner 37. Spartan Half Runner 38. State Half Runner 39. Tenessee Half Runner 40. White Emergo 41. White Half Runner -- Purple Pod Beans -- 42. Royal Burgundy 43. Purple Pod Pole 44. Royalty Purple Pod -- Pole Beans - Green -- 45. Blue Lake Pole FM1K 46. Kentucky Blue 47. Kentucky Wonder Pole 48. Missouri Wonder Pole 49. Oriental Wonder 50. Rattlesnake 51. Romano Pole 52. White Kentucky 191 -- Yellow Pod Wax Beans -- 53. Brittle Wax 54. Carson 55. Cherokee Wax 56. Dragon Tongue 57. Eureka 58. Goldcrop 59. Golden Butterwax 60. Golden Wax Imp (Top Notch) 61. Gold Rush 62. Kentucky Wonder Wax Pole 63. Pencil Pod -- Lima Beans - Bush & Pole 64. Bridgeton 65. Broad Windsor Fava 66. Burpee Imp. Lima 67. Eastland 68. Fordhook 242 69. Henderson Bush 70. Jackson Wonder 71. Christmas Lg Speckled - Pole 72. Florida Butter Speckled - Pole 73. King of the Garden - Pole 74. Thorogreen - Bush 75. White Dixie Butter Pea - Bush -- Soup Beans -- 76. Black Turtle 77. Calypso 78. Dark Red Kidney 79. Etna 80. Great Northern 81. Jacob's Cattle 82. Light Red Kidney 83. Marrow Fat (White) 84. Navy (Fleetwood) 85. Pinto 86. Small Red 87. Soldier 88. Vermont Cranberry 89. Ying Yang Last edited by Aerial; December 30, 2015 at 04:50 PM. |
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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If you only grow one bean it better be the Vermont Cranberry.
I am telling you it is a real must of a bean to grow. These bean types originated in the Americas went to Europe and came back home. They are nothing like you have ever had before I cannot say enough good about them. I dont care for dried beans but I love these. They are not a hybrid i dont think and you can save the beans to grow the next year. They cranberry beans I buy aren't. But they aren't Vermont cranberry and not a bush bean. Worth Last edited by Worth1; December 29, 2015 at 08:43 PM. |
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: CA
Posts: 410
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High Moving Seeds says,
Amazing Vermont heirloom with unsurpassed rich flavor. Can be used as a snap, shell or dry bean. As a dry bean, the variety stores exceptionally well. Maroon-colored beans are decorated with darker red, cranberry markings. This variety, dating back to the 1800s, is well-suited to short-season, cool summer climates. Versatile · Short-season · Bush habit Looks great! Thanks Worth. |
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#4 |
BANNED FOR LIFE
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 13,333
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Top Crop is a good bean, but it would fall under the category of "Everyone has grown it" It is a very simple good tasting bean. Plant it - water it - pick it - cook it - eat it. It even tolerates some weeds growing by them. (A few - not a lot)
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#5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MA/NH Border
Posts: 4,919
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A couple of years ago when I was trying to pick a bush bean to grow, a few of the more experienced bean growers here told me to avoid Contender and grow Provider. Not sure how popular it is, and haven't really grown many others to compare it to, but Provider is now a staple in my garden.
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#6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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Strike and Cherokee Yellow Wax are both great varieties, but too common to bother saving seeds.
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#7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Southern WI
Posts: 2,742
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For fresh eating I can't say enough about Dragon Tongue. They quickly become our go to bean and grow green beans for color to mix in with the Dragon Tongue. Compared to Blue Lake 274 Drangon Tongue is juicier, sweeter, with a nice snap and it looks awesome too.
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: CA
Posts: 410
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Awesome! Thanks everyone for your input. I'm getting Dragon Tongue from trade and excited to add more varieties.
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#9 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 313
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Of the beans listed, I can only comment on a few.
I concur with the recommendation for Vermont Cranberry, especially for use as a shelly bean... and I heartily recommend that you try them that way. For pole snaps, I grew White Kentucky 191 (a.k.a. KY Wonder White and Pole 191) when I lived in SoCal, and it was my favorite bean for many years. Very heavy yield, and rich beany flavor. That bean, in fact, was what got me started saving seeds, when Ferry Morse dropped it. Romano Pole is another heavy yielder, with really wonderful flavor... a must if you like making minestrone soup. I could also vouch for Rattlesnake, especially if you intend to freeze some. For limas, it depends upon whether you prefer bush or pole, and whether you prefer large-seeded limas or "baby" limas... I've always been partial to the larger ones. King of the Garden did really well for me in San Diego, a pole variety with large seeds and a great yield. Christmas did OK, not as heavy a yield, but the attractive red & white seeds are big enough for bragging rights. For bush limas, Burpee Improved and Fordhook 242 are both good large-seeded varieties. It is worth pointing out that limas can be short-lived perennials if you have frost-free winters. I was able to over-winter KOG twice when I lived in San Diego; although those plants bore earlier than direct-seeded, the seeds were smaller. The "runner bean" section of the list contains both true runner beans (such as Emergo and ScarletRunner), and half-runner common beans. True runner beans prefer cooler temperatures, so if your area has hot summers, they might not perform well... but they excel in cool coastal climates. Quote:
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#10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: CA
Posts: 410
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Thank you Zeedman, for the recommendations.
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#11 |
Guest
Posts: n/a
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Of a half dozen bush beans I grew last year, we liked the taste of Dragon Tongue best.
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#12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California Central Valley
Posts: 2,542
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Not on your list, but one of my favorites is Blue Coco, a flat purple pole bean. Purple beans are easier to pick because they show up better in the mass of green foliage. Very prolific! I originally got my seed stock at a local farmers' market from Coke Farms...they were $4 a pound!
Scarlet runner beans grow well here and will regrow from the root each year, but they're my least favorite snap bean. I didn't get around to planting beans at all this year, though, so runner beans were welcome. Last edited by habitat_gardener; December 30, 2015 at 01:00 AM. |
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#13 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Omaha Zone 5
Posts: 2,514
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Nebraska is a huge producer of soybeans . I'm not sure if any of the beans on your list are edamame. Those are supposed to be good and sweet.
Don't go bonkers buying stuff your first year, experiment and see what does well in your soil. You will soon figure our your needs and tastes. - Lisa |
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#14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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I have done some research on some of my favorite beans and have discovered something.
But let me start from the beginning. Some years ago at the HEB grocery store they sold cranberry beans but they dont anymore and I cant remember the name of the brand. I had to look on line to find out other names for the beans. Then I looked again at your list and see you have them in another section of your list but under a different name. Romano. Roma. Are of the same type of bean as the cranberry bean. It can also be found as a Roman bean. These are of a flat Italian type bean and when cooked green are fantastic. In this family of beans are the Cargamanto beans that originated in Columbia. In my possession right now I have. White Cargamanto that isnt really white. Red Cargamanto that is a dark red. Roman/romanas beans that look just like the cranberry beanand are the same thing. In other words on your list you have duplicates more or less of the same type beans. Red Cargamanto beans which isn't on the list is a bugger to cook correctly. They need to soak a good 24 hours and need to cook for a long time let cool and cook again they are very firm but very tasty. They do not break down into mush as is the case with other beans. All of the beans like this I have are distributed by the GOYA company and the seeds/beans are viable. You should be able to find them in the Mexican or international markets there. I will put some pictures up of them later. Worth |
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#15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Zone 6a Denver North Metro
Posts: 1,910
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Jade II sound likes a sneeze if you say it fast with emphasis. I could have fun with that, so I'd grow it for sure.
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