It's early, but the first of our climbing heirloom beans are drying on the vine and they are just so pretty I had to share snaps of the handfuls I've harvested thus far...
Painted Lady is a runner bean that's been cultivated in the US for over 200 years and originated in Central America. It's nearly identical on the outside to the traditional scarlet runner bean, with its gorgeous orange flowers that the hummingbirds and other pollinators adore...except the beans are this gorgeous chocolate and ivory combination.
Borlotti, also known as Cranberry, is so delicious...but as I discovered this year? It's actually not a traditional vining bean to climb up your trellis. I had assumed I'd killed it because it only got a couple feet tall, and ripped most of them out, only to learn after harvesting what had dried on the existing plants that they were bush beans. Dude, WTF. So many of this handful of heirloom Italian-via-South America beans will mostly be saved for planting in the spring - in our raised beds!
Scarlet Runner Beans, my long-saved seeds over many many years which have been around for centuries on American and Mexican farms, have always been ones that I wish I grew more of, not only because of their aesthetics (I do love an orange flower, particularly on a vine) but because they are tough as nails and nearly impossible to screw up. They were the first to climb my new DIY trellises and have always been super low maintenance as long as you give them something to climb. Let the pods dry on the vine and, boom, that's it. Pop 'em in a jar.
I've got one other bean that is known for getting a late start and currently going nuts on another trellis which I'll show y'all in a few weeks...
"Me, sexy? I'm just plain ol' beans and rice." ~ Pam Grier
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