Tepary Beans

[oxbowfarm]

My mother-in-law said in the Azores they boiled them and then left them in a bowl with a trickle of water running into it for a day or so and then they were edible. They at them as snacks on feast days. Primarily they were for green manure, it wasn't an everyday food item.

[oxbowfarm]

Received my pack of Mitla Black today from Peace Seedlings, I figured Carol Deppe most likely got hers from AMK so that would be almost certainly the same germplasm source in case there are different types out there. It's difficult to see any obvious differences between the two beans, possibly Joseph's tepary has a slight protrusion around the hilum.

I took some pics which I will try and upload tomorrow. It is very difficult to photograph a black bean and an essentially grayish white bean in the same photo and get good detail on both.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

One trick that I often use for closeup photos is to put a small color wheel, (or equivalent such as little pieces of confetti), in the frame of the photo, and then crop it out before posting. That can help with color balance and focus.

[oxbowfarm]

Well, here is an early attempt. Image quality is not the greatest. If I can come up with a better picture I'll switch it out for this one.

[12540dumont]

I found an awesome site today:

herb.umd.umich.edu/

Go here. This is fascinating. It's a database of food, drugs, dyes and fibers of Native American Peoples.

I typed in Phaseolus (of course) and the first thing that comes up is tepary beans.

Tepary Bean; Fabaceae
Papago Drug (Toothache Remedy)
Plant bitten and held between teeth for toothache.

Proof positive Joseph, that it's the plant you eat raw....not the bean!

[Joseph Lofthouse]

I planted beans on Friday... First thing I did was plant rows of 10 seeds each of every type of bean that I could recognize as a separate cultivar. They were mostly common beans. There was also a cowpea, and a tepary bean. Because I planted them type to row I'll be able to evaluate them for productivity. These are intended mostly as next year's seed crop.

Then I planted a 50' row of the tepary beans that were inter-grown with the common beans last summer: Just to see if any inter-species hybrids show up. I'm not expecting any, but it would be interesting if they did.

Then I planted the descendants of Carole Deepe's Resilient Bean Breeder. (Thanks Holly.) I sorted them by color, and planted each color type-to-row, so that I monitor how they are segregating.

Then I planted the seeds from the first 3 bean plants that produced dry seed last summer.

Then I planted about 500 row feet of landrace dry bush beans.



I ran out of daylight before I could plant the runner beans or the tarajumara beans. There are a few other species that I'd like to plant such as soy, mung, and cowpeas.

The fava, lupini, and garbanzo have been in since early spring and are growing fine.

I planted a 250 row of green snap-beans.

[zeedman]

"There are a few other species that I'd like to plant such as soy, mung, and cowpeas."

About soy... PM to follow.

[12540dumont]

Joseph, the row in front is your beans. And once again the photos won't load

[oxbowfarm]

Got these planted finally. Hope the blue speckled will like it enough to grow.

[oxbowfarm]

Both beans are up and I must say at this point they look almost identical. Both have lots of anthocyanin pigments in the stem and underside of the first true leaves. There are also identical purple streaks on the exterior and interior of the cotyledons. From a few feet away there is absolutely no visual difference in phenotype.

They both germinated pretty rapidly and completely. I also see very little (if any) sign of cracked cotyledons, missing first leaves, etc that would indicate damaged seed. I see that kind of thing a lot in larger seeded beans.

[steev]

My BSteparies are running and blooming; yay!

[oxbowfarm]

Well... I can no longer say they look identical. Now that they are fully up and open they are exhibiting some different phenotypes, mostly in leaf shape and position. Joseph's Blue Speckled tepary has long narrow very pointed leaves that are held very parallel to the soil. Here's a pic.



The Mitla Black has leaves that are broader and much more heart shaped. The Mitla leaves are held to parallel to the stem and perpendicular to the soil, almost the exact opposite from the Blue Speckled as you can see here.



In the pictures the Mitla Black looks a bit bigger than Blue Speckled but that's just from different camera angles, they are about the same size.

[steev]

I never thought Mitla Black seed looked like a tepary; your pictures of the plants confirms it, in my view. I wonder why anyone ever thought Mitla Black is a tepary. Those pointy-leaved BS that I sent Joseph are what any tepary I've grown looks like.

[paquebot]

Jun 17, 2013 21:14:22 GMT -5 steev said:

I never thought Mitla Black seed looked like a tepary; your pictures of the plants confirms it, in my view. I wonder why anyone ever thought Mitla Black is a tepary. Those pointy-leaved BS that I sent Joseph are what any tepary I've grown looks like.

Mitla Black IS a tepary bean, Phaseolus acutifolius. That family isn't very big but quite varied. The 3 which I have grown were quite different from each other. Black wanted to climb, Blue Speckled wanted to become a bush 3' wide, and Sonoran Gold just didn't want to do either. Instructions for planting them are usually about the same as bush snap beans. Try giving the blacks and blues at least a foot spacing for best results. Blue Speckled is capable of producing a plant 3' wide with 300 or more pods if given room and nutrients. I've seen it! I've got both of them planted 8" spacing beside a fence this year to test their climbing abilities.

Martin

[steev]

Well, my BS are fighting it out with Tarahumara Popping sorghum, this year. May the best plant win! I expect a decent harvest of seed from each.