Calling all ye beany sleuths!

[Guest]

^^^Your pea bean Inca came from Hazel who got it from HSL according to the label

Oh I lied, mine is saved by you (Nellie) 2014 and you got it from VSP (from Hazel). Doesn't say where Hazel got it.

Is it in a brown envelope with a white label and pink & grey print?

Mine is in a clear bag with a Nellie-m printed label. Can't check any others still waiting on me lil' man to bring 'em.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Ok - I am pretty sure that it was just down as 'pea bean' when I got it from HSL. Let me see what I can find - a lot of my 'unusual' beans that I only had a few of which I didn't think I'd grow again got popped in the jar for cooking when I did the Big Cat Deep Clean.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Not only regarding the appearance of the seeds, but Aunt Jean's also have pods with only three seeds while still being a heavy cropper.

These had far more than 3 seeds to a pod, Nellie - probably 6-8.

Yep my computer has a better memory than I, too, and I have them just down as 'Pea Bean' from HSL, and I wouldn't have skimped on the name as given by HSL.

[sparrow100]

Oh I lied, mine is saved by you (Nellie) 2014 and you got it from VSP (from Hazel). Doesn't say where Hazel got it.

Mine is in a clear bag with a Nellie-m printed label. Can't check any others still waiting on me lil' man to bring 'em.

Same here.

[veggiechicken]

I'm trying to get my head round the family tree of these Pea beans!

Hazel had some from HSL,, which went into the VSP and were sent to Nellie who grew them and sent seeds back to the VSP which have been grown by NG & Sparrow. Vixy has some of Nellie's and I probably have some of Hazel's.

Sparrow also has some from a Seedy Sunday

I have some from 2004 from Cottage Garden Society swap.

I don't know who called them "Inca" - maybe Hazel's HSL batch?

Some on sale at PEA BEAN Organic Seeds

[sparrow100]

Inca pea bean was what was on the envelope I had. So perhaps on Hazel's first batch too.

[Scarlet]

They are called inca elsewhere?

https://strictlymedicinalseeds.com/p...?specific=2865

[veggiechicken]

I'm pretty sure that Hazel's original seed packet is still in the VSP and is "Pea bean" on the VSP list.
All of Nellie's Inca beans have gone - think Vixy had the last packet.

HSL have several "pea beans" up for adoption:

Box
This pea bean will crop reliably and prolifically in the British climate. Seed Guardian Jane Few says, “the beans are tasty at whatever stage they are picked”. They will provide fresh, tender and delicious haricots when young, and are also perfect for shelling. As a dried bean they resemble pretty little bi-coloured bird’s eggs, ideal for winter storage and for use in soups and stews.

Jack Edwards
A vigorous pea bean with beautiful white flowers followed by lumpy-looking, but succulent, tender and stringless pods. Best cooked straight from the plant when young. However, the bicoloured white and brownish-purple dried beans store very well. If you are looking for quality of flavour, not quantity of yield, this is the one for you. A delicious bean!

Waley's pea bean
Our donor, Dr Rosemary Sassoon, believes that these beans were found in Spain and brought to Britain in the 1950s by her late father, Frank Waley, who was a plant hunter. Thought to perform best when sown later (May-June) and seem particularly well suited to dry conditions and drought. We have very little information on this variety.

Pea Bean Inca
Our donor, Sue Harris, acquired these seeds from a street market in Inca, Majorca that sold only local produce. The delicate, cream flowers precede large, flat pods containing white and burgundy bicoloured beans. The young beans are not stringy and have a mild flavour and when dried make an interesting addition to soups and stews. Seed Guardian Alec Powell “Highly recommends” them!

Now I'm curious - what is the difference between a peabean and a CFB?

[veggiechicken]

They are called inca elsewhere?

https://strictlymedicinalseeds.com/p...?specific=2865

Interesting that they ^^^ say they contain 3-5 seeds per pod but the photo is of 3
- which is how nellie desribed them - similar to "Aunt Jean".

[Scarlet]

Pea beans are always fat and round? CFB are always lozenge shaped?
Whe I searched just "pea bean" all the sites were in germany or Amsterdam?

[nellie-m]

Now I'm curious - what is the difference between a peabean and a CFB?

Pea beans are always fat and round? CFB are always lozenge shaped?

Climbing French Bean is the English name for all "Phaseolus vulgaris" beans with a winding growth habit (in the US they are also called "pole beans").

Within that botanical group people have found terms for subgroups to describe certain qualities, for example "sword beans" for all that have very broad and flat pods. My guess is that "pea bean" is the English equivalent of the German "Perlbohne" (pearl bean) a name for varieties with round seeds and thin-skinned pods so that the seeds become visible very early on like in pea pods. These terms are not botanical classifications but rather gardeners' expressions and are certainly not exact definitions with clear dividing lines. There are a lot of other CFBs with fat and round seeds as well, like Lazy Housewife or Major Cook's, that do not have this "string of pearls" look so early on in their development because their pods have thicker walls and are therefore not called Pea Beans.

University of Mainz - a student's page with a classification:
Phaseolus vulgaris <i>L.</i> / Garten - Bohne

"Schwertbohne" ("Sword Bean"): broad flat pods (not to be confused with Canavalia gladiata), examples: Hilda, Perle von Marbach

"Flageoletbohne": round long pods, examples: Hiltrud, Trebona

"Perlbohne" ("Pearl Bean"): Pea beans. Thin-skinned pods, small round seeds. Also called "Turkish type" beans on other sites.

"Speckbohne" ("Bacon Bean"): Pods with very thick walls (like the skin of a fat pig), examples: Forellenbohne, Mombacher Speck


Please note that all are grown for their pods to be used as green beans (except maybe for the "Pearl Bean" for which I don't know the use). CFBs were not commonly grown for shelling here. I have found a number of DFBs that were grown for shelling in this region but all in all green pods as a vegetable seem to have been a lot more popular in Germany for ages. (And those shelling DFBs are getting extinct, if still alive they are only kept going by very old gardeners because their younger family members don't want to eat them.)

When I searched just "pea bean" all the sites were in germany or Amsterdam?

Well, I think you need to dig deeper - there are US sites, too... like I said, "Aunt Jean's" have been in the SSE catalogue.
You can also try "turkish" or "sugar pearl" for searching. You'll come across a Dwarf French Pea Bean, "Zucker Perl Perfection", just to make things a little more complicated

[Guest]

Probably not very helpful but HSL offered

in 2011 - Pea Bean Inca
in 2012 - none
in 2013 - ?

[sparrow100]

The Incas I grew had up to 6 beans per pod, so perhaps that rules a variety or two out.

[sparrow100]

Interesting that they ^^^ say they contain 3-5 seeds per pod but the photo is of 3
[ATTACH=CONFIG]69984[/ATTACH] - which is how nellie desribed them - similar to "Aunt Jean".

Really interesting though that the photo is of both colourings, the horizontal and vertical bits. Other than mine usually had 5-6 beans per pod they look mighty similar.