I had heard about these beans before, but they are not widely available here in the UK, and I had quite a hunt to get some. The first place I ordered from belatedly told me (after they had despatched the rest of my order) that they were out of stock, so I had to re-order from another supplier. The pack I eventually bought came from Pennard Plants. It only contained 25 beans, but was very reasonably priced at £1.50 (including postage!)
I grew them in exactly the same way as all the other climbing beans, supporting them with 8-foot bamboo poles. As it happens, they were the smallest of the 7 types of bean I grew this year, and would have been happy enough with 6-foot poles I think. They also did not produce very dense foliage. The pods however were very attractive, mostly turning a dark purple as they ripened, though some of them were quite light-coloured with only splashes of purple.
As the pods ripened they shrivelled-up and became dry. This plant is one of those with the lighter-coloured pods.
I picked a few of the pods today, just to see if it was worth picking them all.
I judged that some of them were not 100% ready, (some of the pods were still slightly pliable, rather than "crispy"), so I will be leaving them on the plants for a few more days.
Next to the Cherokee beans, I planted a couple of "Mayflower". They seem to be a long way from ready still, but the pods look nice and plump.
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| Mayflower (green) and Cherokee Trail of Tears (purple) |
I also have lots of Borlotto beans ("Lingua di Fuoco"), and their pods are really stunningly beautiful.
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| Borlotto bean ready for picking at the Flageolet stage |
You can eat Borlotti in a number of different ways: if you harvest them really young, before any beans have formed inside the pods, you eat the pods just like Runner beans. You can harvest them at the "Flageolet" stage, when the beans are plump but not fully mature and the pods are fiery red; or you can leave them until the pods turn brown and then extract the beans and dry them completely indoors for cooking later on (you need to soak them in water for a few hours before cooking if you use them this way).
Nice looking selection of beans Mark - is there less foliage on the cherokee variety so as not to shade out the corn and squash when grown 3 sisters fashion?
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing just how many types of beans there are, and quite different tasting too. Just how big is you veg garden Mark, you seem to have so much growing.
ReplyDeleteDamo; Yes I think this variety would be very good for the 3 Sisters method. I'm going to have a go with that next year.
ReplyDeleteElaine; It's all an illusion! My garden is only about 10 metres square, and doesn't produce huge quantities of anything. I like to have a little of lots of things rather than the other way round.
Very interesting varieties of beans. I especially like the color of the ripening borlotto. Hope you'll share later how they taste :)
ReplyDeleteVery interesting information on the Borlotto. I might have to try that variety next year.
ReplyDeleteNice looking pod. Bush Beans didn't do well here this year, will try pole peans next year.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful beans! I've read about the Cherokee beans before; it's great to see pictures of them! I might have to try growing the Borlotto beans sometime, just because they are so pretty.
ReplyDeleteI planted these beans for the first time this year. I noticed that my vines also have some of the lighter colored pods. I can't wait until they are ready to harvest. They are so pretty!
ReplyDeleteLovely selection of beans, beautiful and I'm sure tasty too! We bought quite a few seeds from Pennards this year, including several of our squashes. I like that they sell packs with smaller amounts of seeds for a small price, rather than overpaying to end up with excess seed that you can't use!
ReplyDeleteI think you need a larger sturdier corn that we grow to support beans a la 3 sisters. We compromised when we had a go and placed teepees of cane in amongst the corn. Appropriate really for something the Cherokees used to do!
ReplyDeleteAll the pictures are great, but the first one is absolutely stunning. You have a great variety of beans.
ReplyDeleteSue; I like that idea. I will use it next year, I think. I've tried growing Sweet Corn before, but it wasn't brilliant, so the beans would probably need a bit more support than the corn could provide. I expect the Cherokees had a bit more space than me though (half of Oklahoma, maybe?)
ReplyDeleteSara; Yes, I agree with you about the small packs of seeds. Sometimes you get WAY more than you need. Ever buy from Seeds of Italy? Their packs typically contain literally thousands of seeds.
ReplyDeleteAre the cherokee usually eaten at pod or seed stage? Or perhaps they were used for other things? The seeds look stunning.
ReplyDeleteI wish to make it clear that I am no expert on the cultivation of Cherokee Trail of Tears beans! I'm just "having a go"... My view is that the pods (being very small) would not yield much in the way of food, but the dried beans will doubtless enhance any dish made with dried beans when we get to the depths of Winter.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great picture of Mayflower and Cherokee Trail of Tears together, they bring out each other's colours perfectly. I haven't grown any purple beans this year, but I've got some yellow dwarf French beans, they're delicious. You can't really beat borlotto beans for colouring though, wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark,
ReplyDeleteI have been growing Cherokee Trail of Tears for 5 years now. We eat them as a green "french bean" in the pod lightly steamed for a few minutes fresh from the garden but also save some for stews and winter soups. As you say they do need a good soaking before cooking, we leave ours overnight.