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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Feb 7, 2011 16:55:16 GMT -5
I'm starting to rediscover local heirloom beans. I was surprised that one variety (N.M. Appaloosa) we have might actually be endangered by now. I only found two small seed companies that carry it. Not even native seeds search carries it, from what i could tell. s1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/keen101/Beans/?action=view¤t=DSCF0217.jpgAnasazi beans, N.M. black Appaloosa, Red Appaloosa, Zuni Gold (Four Corners Gold Bean), and Rio Zape beans are all the ones i will be planting in 2011. All of these except Rio Zape are all related. I am excited most about the Rio Zape variety. Some sites claim it has hints of chocolate or coffee flavors, or at least a multitude of flavors one would never expect from a bean. It will be interesting to see if these heirloom varieties have hidden secrets long forgotten about. |
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Post by castanea on Feb 7, 2011 17:50:15 GMT -5
Rio Zape is a very tasty bean. I can't say that I noticed chocolate or coffee flavors but it is a very flavorful bean.
I don't care for the Appaloosa. It is a close relative of the kidney bean and gives me digestive problems just like kidney beans.
Zuni Gold is very good. It tastes better to me than the Rio Zape.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Feb 7, 2011 19:43:03 GMT -5
Wow. That's an awesome photo.
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Post by garnetmoth on Feb 7, 2011 20:05:58 GMT -5
Nice beans! I had some great limas and yardlong beans last year, and hoping for a great common bean year!
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Post by atash on Feb 8, 2011 14:41:52 GMT -5
A lot of dry beans are getting rare. I had a hard time collecting them for trials and growout this year (both: if I end up with a lot of it, that means it succeeded. If I don't, that means it failed  ). Then I'll have to grow them out even more to have enough for taste-tests. I'm up to maybe 20 varieties or so by now, 14 of them from Canada because I could not find many here that were suitable for northern states. |
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Post by galina on Feb 9, 2011 4:20:20 GMT -5
What please is the name of the black and white bean in the picture bottom right ?
I have been given seeds for this one and the packet was labelled 'New Mexico Cave'. But others who had been given the same bean have since expressed doubts over the name, because NMC is supposedly maroon and white. My beans are just like the ones in the picture bottom right.
These beans are very marginal in Britain. Like Four Corners Gold (Rio Zappe) I can grow them well in the greenhouse and ok outdoors in a good summer. I like them because they taste good and they also provide useful crop rotation in the greenhouse, which otherwise grows mostly solanums and a few cucurbita.
I would appreciate comments on the name please.
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Post by atash on Feb 10, 2011 13:11:09 GMT -5
Galina, I can't help with the name of the beans. There are too many beans that are "white with black splotches", and if there are subtle differences, I have not had enough close contact with them to notice. (some of them might be synonyms. It's been known to happen with beans, complete with competing colorful histories to explain their origins.  ) I might be able to help you with beans, however, after we have trialed and grown out the beans I've collected. Beans vary surprisingly in days-to-maturity. Washington State University did dry bean trials in Vancouver, WA, for several years not to long ago. They found over 50 varieties that consistently bore a crop. Vancouver isn't as far north as you are, and summers are warmer here in general anyway. This is probably true even as far north as Saltspring Island where Saltspring Island seeds has introduced a number of beans that do well in cool-summer climates. That said, the shortest season varieties are probably better bets than the types from the southern Rockies, where intense sun makes up for the cold nights and somewhat short growing season. In any case, probably a better bet having been bred and/or grown in a climate more similar to yours. Short, determinate plants, precocious blooming, smaller beans, and similar characteristics can help the situation. I'll keep track of days-to-maturity as that information might help. |
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Post by robertb on Feb 10, 2011 13:42:52 GMT -5
I think that sort of information would be extremely useful to anyone living in the UK, or anywhere else with a relatively short summer. Many areas of the US have a more continental climate, and a much warmer summer than us, which is bound to affect half-hardy veg much more than the winter temperatures that determine climate zones.
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Post by extremegardener on Feb 10, 2011 16:26:04 GMT -5
For the UK you might want to look for heirloom beans from northern New England (States of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, USA). They have been bred over the years to do well in a cold damp climate, and mature very quickly. Baked beans are a traditional food here. The earliest and one of the most widely grown here is the Jacob's Cattle (aka Trout), it's a beautiful and delicious bean and there are different strains with color variations. There are a few northern New England seed companies that carry NNE heirlooms - Fedco, Johnny's Selected Seeds, High Mowing. I don't know if they ship to the UK. Anyway, I have some info about some of the heirloom beans I have collected here theextremegardener.com/?tag=beans-variety-portrait |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Feb 10, 2011 17:01:57 GMT -5
galina, The name of the black one is called N.M. Appaloosa. That's the one that seems to be the rarest of this group that i have. I have only found 2 or 3 places that still sell it online, but with three or four different names. I have seen online it being given the names N.M. cave bean, Anasazi, Jacobs Cattle, etc.. but they really aren't all the same, even if they are relatives. And yes, from what i have seen online there is a lot of confusion and misnaming of lots of beans, not just these ones pictured here. There is another one online just called "Appaloosa", but is much thinner and has a slightly different pattern. From the stock we have, it is labeled "Vermont Appaloosa". www.purcellmountainfarms.com/black%20appaloosa%20beans.htmThis Orca bean is probably different, but looks very similar from the same seller: www.purcellmountainfarms.com/Orca%20Beans.htmIt appears to also be the same as "Rancho Gordo Vaquero Beans". |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Feb 10, 2011 17:09:38 GMT -5
That reminds me,
Has anyone tried "Bolita" beans? They are supposed to absorb flavors better, and taste creamier, while being very easy on the stomach. Anyone tried them by themselves, and can offer a review?
On a related note, the other day i mixed together equal amounts of Zuni Gold, Rio Zape, Bolita, and Anasazi, and put them in a crockpot on low overnight. The next day i had three bowls of them, because they were the best tasting beans i've ever had in my life. Very little seasoning required.
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Post by canadamike on Feb 10, 2011 21:57:50 GMT -5
As I am more and more sensitive to the fact that a lot of us are happily toying with various heirloom corns to adapt them locally, and the same goes with other vegetables that we fancy, and as I am more and more interested in getting my proteins from vegetables, call it ''the older the wiser syndrome'' ;D I am wondering how many of us here are trying to adapt , lets say, delicious southern beans to a more northern climate?
Since they mostly come from a pretty warm and sourthernly place with a short photoperiod and others did work on them in the past, how come we do not do more in that regard?
It is a matter of selection after all, and also of tiny subtle lil'mutations!
If we play the numbers game....
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Feb 10, 2011 22:11:49 GMT -5
One of these days I'd like to work with peanuts to adapt them to my cold-nighted short-season garden.... They are a great southern legume that would be popular and fetch a good price at market.
I have all the space in the world to play the numbers game for things that can be direct seeded. I'm feeling a bit grumpy about the 700 tomato transplants that I gotta grow this spring in order to do the numbers game in my attempt to get tomatoes to market a month earlier.
Adapting to shorter seasons is fairly straight forward... Plant lots of seed from lots of varieties. Collect seeds from the first plants that produce seeds. I had a 75% failure rate when I tried that with butternut squash. What that really means is that 25% of what I planted was a brilliant success, and next year the odds are much more in my favor for getting an early harvest.
Ciao,
Joseph
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Post by castanea on Feb 10, 2011 22:50:22 GMT -5
For the UK you might want to look for heirloom beans from northern New England (States of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, USA). They have been bred over the years to do well in a cold damp climate, and mature very quickly. Baked beans are a traditional food here. The earliest and one of the most widely grown here is the Jacob's Cattle (aka Trout), it's a beautiful and delicious bean and there are different strains with color variations. There are a few northern New England seed companies that carry NNE heirlooms - Fedco, Johnny's Selected Seeds, High Mowing. I don't know if they ship to the UK. Anyway, I have some info about some of the heirloom beans I have collected here theextremegardener.com/?tag=beans-variety-portraitGreat info. Thanks |
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Post by castanea on Feb 10, 2011 22:52:10 GMT -5
That reminds me, Has anyone tried "Bolita" beans? They are supposed to absorb flavors better, and taste creamier, while being very easy on the stomach. Anyone tried them by themselves, and can offer a review? On a related note, the other day i mixed together equal amounts of Zuni Gold, Rio Zape, Bolita, and Anasazi, and put them in a crockpot on low overnight. The next day i had three bowls of them, because they were the best tasting beans i've ever had in my life. Very little seasoning required. I've never had the plain bolitas but I have a friend who made refried beans from them. Best refried beans ever. |
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