Mennonite K Triple A bean
$4.00
(Phaseolus vulgaris)
This bean is an heirloom from Manitoba, and, as one would expect, is very early-maturing. It was grown by Katherine Thiessen who immigrated from the Black Sea area of southern Russia to near Winkler, Manitoba in 1890, when she was 14. Katherine’s daughter Anne grew her mother’s beans in her own garden after marrying in 1914 and moving to Springfield, Saskatchewan. She passed them on to her daughter, also Anne, who grew them into the 1970s and handed them on to her daughter, Betty A. Keeler. Betty named them for the initials of the women in her family who had grown them, and eventually gave some to Heritage Harvest Seeds, a local seed company. I received them from a fellow member of Seeds of Diversity Canada who, interestingly, did not know that I have Russian Mennonite ancestors!
This bean looks very similar to Vermont Cranberry bean, which makes me curious about its history before KatherineThiessen. Did Vermont Cranberry travel to Russia, or was it available in Manitoba in the early 1900s? I do not know.
In stock
Plant after last frost; soil must be warm or seed will rot. If growing on corn, wait to plant until corn is about 3” tall, or two weeks after corn is planted. Darker coloured seeds usually germinate better in cooler soil. Sow 1” deep. Space bush beans 2-4” apart and pole beans in pairs 8” apart, with 8” between pairs if climbing twine, or in groups of 3-4 around single poles 1’ apart. Pick green beans before seeds start swelling, shelly beans when seeds are full size but before pods dry, and 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.