Arikara Yellow bean
$4.00
(Phaseolus vulgaris)
Bush; grown by the Arikara along the Missouri River in what is now North Dakota, so it matures in a short season. Large seeds in long straight pods look like yellow kidney beans. Included in the Slow Food Foundation’s Ark of Taste, this variety was collected by Lewis and Clark in 1805, and grown by Thomas Jefferson (who called it “Ricara”) in his famous garden at Monticello. By 1815 it was being sold by his friend Bernard M’Mahon. The Arikara also continued to grow it, and it was “reintroduced” for sale in the 1880s by Oscar H. Will, a Dakota seedsman who admired the Arikara and the related Mandan and Hidatsa peoples and introduced many of their seeds through his company. 95 days to maturity. 25 seeds/packet.
In stock
Plant after last frost; soil must be warm or seed will rot. Sow 1” deep. Space bush beans 2-4” apart. Pick dry beans when pods are fully dry; seed must be dry enough to not dent with a fingernail for storage. Dry beans can be further dried on a tarp, then threshed by dancing on them and winnowing away the chaff.