Beans and Herbs
       
 
 
Unusual and Heirloom Varieties of Beans
                 
CLIMBING FRENCH BEANS
(Pole Beans)

£1.50 per packet (This is to cover handling. Postage is extra at £1.50 per total order)

The varieties here are for Bean Club members. You can become a member simply by requesting any of these seeds. Thereafter we will send you an annual members' newsletter to keep you up to date with the varieties we are trialling each season. We prefer to send this by email so please put your email address on the order form. Thank you.
   

Our Main Catalogue contains only Organic Seed. This extra list shows beans that we are unable to obtain as organically grown. These have been grown without the use of artificial fertilisers or pesticides, but have not been certified as organic seed. Please contact us if you wish to find out about the production of a particular variety. Please request at the same time as any requirements from the Main Catalogue using the same Order Form. Some of the varieties on offer below are available in limited quantities so PLEASE GIVE US ALTERNATIVES YOU WOULD BE HAPPY WITH. Growing intructions are on each packet.
IF WE HAVE SOLD OUT, WE WILL SEND YOU THE NEAREST TO YOUR CHOICES, OR SEND YOU A CREDIT NOTE.
NB. If you are looking for a particular variety not mentioned here, please ask as we hold stock of many more beans in small quantities.
What's in a name? We have noticed that some beans do not seem to have particularly attractive names. Do not be put off trying them - they have often proved to be the tastiest of all! Examples are SABO, TUNG, CELINA'S FLAT WIDE, MEUCH, BRITA'S FOOTLONG, SUGAR PEARL PERFECTION, OSTERREICH LAND HELL !!
ST. ANNE
Green pencil bean. Really delicious flavour and very good texture. Eat pods up to 10cm. Strong growing bean.
BIRD'S EGG HORTICULTURAL Extremely prolific horticultural bean (for shelling out). Eat fresh shelled or dry the large bean seeds for later use. Attractive maroon mottling.
BRITA'S FOOTLONG

Very very long green bean, tender even when swelling with seed. Very good yield. Large white seeds delicious cooked from dry. Cook lightly – longer and they mush so are then good for thickening soups.
SUGAR PEARL PERFECTION Medium-sized pencil green bean, tender and of very good sweet flavour. Pick small, then leave for dry seed for winter use. Produces a great many pods. Good texture for cold green beans in vinaigrette.

CASEKNIFE

Large, flat, mid-green pods. Very good cropper for eating as a fresh bean. Save for winter use too. Always a reliable harvest.
BLUE QUEEN
Very tender bean. No strings even when quite large. Pink flowers and flat, dark purple 18cm pods.
KEW BLUE Delicious dark purple pods and lots of them. Vigorous and attractive.
SIGLINDE Pale green pods and lots of them. Nice and tender. White seeded variety. Bean donated to HDRA.

ORO

Superb bean for all-round performance. Large mid green pods slightly curved. Delicious with delicate flavour eaten as a green bean, or large pink-tan seeds for shelling out fresh and cooking, or for leaving on the vine to dry.
BLUE COCO Pick young for tender blue beans. Vigorous climber.
BRIENZER Flat green pods. Melt-in-the-mouth beany flavour.
RATTLESNAKE Slim bean with stunning markings. Pick when young and tender.
CELINA'S FLAT WIDE Long flat pods and lots of them. Very tender and succulent. Average vigour.
DINAH'S CLIMBING BLUE Crunchy purple pods. Holds its shape well, so also good cold in vinaigrette. Nice and tender. Decorative bean, vigorous in growth . Good cropper. Bean donated to HDRA.
RUTH BIBLE Earthy brown seeds for drying for winter survival (in casseroles, soup, etc.). Quite small but loads of them. Medium to vigorous growth.
MEUCH Green pods with magenta markings. Very delicious bean.
JULY Lovely flavour as a green bean.
TUNG Long bean, 14cm, oval in cross section. Sweet flavour. Vigorous growth. Beautiful long shiny brown seeds and lots of them.
CHEROKEE TRAIL OF TEARS Pods need only light cooking. Eat when small. Smallish black seed usually saved for winter use. Vine survives well in a dry summer. Green pods turn to purple. A landrace.
MADEIRA MAROON
 Vigorous bean with pale pink flowers. Large bean pods with big mottled maroon seeds. A pleasure to shell out. Eat freshly shelled seeds, or leave to dry for a baking bean for winter.
OLD HOMESTEAD Absolutely delicious. Green pencil pods, slightly flattened. Very prolific. Vigorous growth.
MARVEL OF VENICE For the warmer counties of the UK. Vigorous late crop. Harvest September and October. Broad, flat yellow pods for eating whole as snap beans. Delicious and worth waiting for.
COSSE VIOLETTE Strong growing purple podded type that can be harvested over many weeks. Good flavour. Pods 26cm in length.
YARD LONG OR
ASPARAGUS
BEAN 		Very vigorous. Best for polytunnels. Long thin beans like green spaghetti. Very tasty and stringless. Mid to late season. Pick at 30cm for best flavour and texture.
CORONA D'ORO Golden yellow pencil podded type,and virtually stringless. An excellent cropper with fine flavour.
ASPARAGUS PEA Actually a pea, rather than a bean, with very attractive winged pods. Pick young and tender pods for eating whole.
GOLDFIELD Much sought-after bean. Lots of people talk about it and have not been able to find a supplier. Now we have it! High quality bean with tender stringless flat yellow pods, 27cm in length. Long harvest period.
PEA BEAN Shell out and eat as ‘peas’ or leave to dry for winter casseroles or soup.
HYACINTH OR
LABLAB BEAN		 Very decorative bean. Start under glass end April/beginning May and plant out as soon as no danger of frost. Can grow up to 2m. Pods flat, blunt and slightly curved, about 10cm long. Young pods are cooked and eaten whole, or left for shelling out fresh, or dry.
DWARF FRENCH BEANS
 (Bush Beans)
£1.50 per packet.
Growing instructions on each pkt.

 
MR. BROOK'S BLUE BEAN Pink flowers and dark leaves. Flat dark purple 18cm pods. Very tender bean. No strings even when quite large. Delicious flavour.
BLACK CANTERBURY Delicious green bean. Tender 16cm pods. Quite large shiny black seeds. Plants nearly one metre in height.
SABO Really tasty bean with green cylindrical pods. Well worth growing.
EMPEROR OF
RUSSIA 		Eat small, then leave for seed for winter use. Lots of very beautiful mottled oval red seeds.
SHROKOSTRUCZKOVNIA Many flat mid green pods for eating fresh. Early maturing.
IRELAND CREEK ANNIE Lots of medium sized beans for winter soups or casseroles. Seed colour is unusual - light brown/lime green.
BLACK TURTLE For dry shelling. Black shiny beans that look good in casseroles. Very prolific. Crops quite late so perhaps better for south UK. Small seeds with unique taste, great for soup.
YING AND YANG
 Known also as Staragorsky or Orca. A shelling haricot bean possibly from Greece with beautiful half black/dark maroon and half white seeds.
PINTO Classic drying bean with mottled seeds. Big harvest. Good flavour and texture for baking.
PURPLE TEPEE This variety of Dwarf French Bean is an intermediate type - it produces its purple pods at the top of each plant, above the foliage. Pods keep clean as they are well above soil level. Suitable for later plantings. Superb flavour.

WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING IN SMALLER QUANTITIES

BUSH VARIETIES for dry beans - RED KIDNEY, BRIGHSTONE, WILD PIGEON, PROVIDER, EARLY WARWICK, SNAKE, CONTENDER, JERSEY,
BUSH VARIETIES for green pods - PINK PIONEER
CLIMBING VARIETIES for dry beans - GRAMMA WALTERS
CLIMBING VARIETIES for green pods - B & B, BLACK CROATIAN

RUNNER BEANS
£1.50 per packet
Growing instructions on each packet
Painted Lady Old variety with top quality beans. Attractive red and white flowers.
Czar Fine old white-flowered variety. Long tender beans over a long period. Seeds can be left to swell as 'butter beans', or dried for winter.
Hestia A dwarf variety suitable for open planting or in containers. Attractive red and white flowers . Slim stringless 20cm runner beans. Early cropping.

NOTE If there is a bean variety you are looking for, please feel free to ask us as we have a large number of varieties in our collection and will try to help.

Bean Recipes!