Beans

Hope Seeds offers a wide selection of beans to suit all preferences.  Many of them are edible at more than one stage (eg. fresh snap bean, fresh shell bean, dry bean), making them multi-purpose and versatile.  General rule of thumb is to plant beans in warm soil (earliest we can get them in is about a week and a half before last Spring frost), and only pre-soak if you know there will be moist weather/soil for a few days.  Beans should be planted approximately 3-6" apart (the further distance is preferred for dry bean production to faciliate airflow).

Pole Beans
Bush Beans

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Pole Beans 

Back by popular demand!   The pole bean that surely inspired Jack to        climb to the clouds! MENNONITE PURPLE STRIPE                           (Pole - snap, shell, dry)   Certified Organic Ain't no taming the Purple Stripe!  Vigorous vines challenge any pole, producing pretty shades-of-purple flowers yeilding abundant pods with tasty beans.  Pods are green with deep purple streaks, and beans display the same purple streaks on a tan background (or reverse colouring).  The best part: beans are tasty at any stage, surpisingly juicy even at the "in between" point between snap and dry. Seeds of Diversity Canada lists this variety as extremely rare.   Product code: 1020-CO                               Price: 25g = $2.75, 100g = $8.00

PURPLE PEACOCK (Pole - snap, dry)                                         Certified Organic 72 days to snap stage.  This pole bean tolerates early plantings in cooler soil than other varieties.  Purple pods are delicious as a snap (fresh) bean, turning green when cooked. Left on the vine to ripen, dry beans are lovely in soups and stews. Product code: 1018-CO                                Price: 25 g = $2.75

CRANBERRY RED (Pole - dry)                                     95 days to dry stage.  The HSP strain comes from the Gilmore family of Keswick Ridge, but obtained by them from Gilmore Noble of Rusagonis, NB.  Seed is round and red resembling a cranberry, with lilac flowers and pods yielding 6-7 beans.  Seed advertisements in an 1808 edition of the early Fredericton, NB newspaper, The York Gazette, include Cranberry beans, but sources show it has been around since at least the 1700’s.  Some believe it is one of the original types grown by Native people, who shared it with colonists. Product code: 1016                                Price: 25 g = $2.75

INA'S WHITE (Pole, runner - dry)                                     90 days to dry stage.  This is one heckuva great dry bean!  Beans have a silky-smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture when cooked, none of that grit or pasty-ness that some beans have.  This strain is from Theodore Duguay of Cap-Pele, NB, who claims it came from Mrs. Ina Wheaton of Sackville, NB.  Ina claims it could have come from the lakes in Murray Corner, NB, and has been grown there for over 100 years.  Vines are approximately 8-10', white flowers and green pods.   Product code: 1017                                  Price: 25g = $2.75, 100g = $8.00

RED UNDERGROUND YARDLONG (Pole - snap)           70 days to snap stage.  The yardlong bean is also known as the long-podded cowpea, asparagus bean, snake bean, or Chinese long bean.  Grown for their strikingly long stringless fresh pods (about 18" - not quite a full yard!) which are commonly used in Asian cuisine. Product code: 1019                                 Price: 20 g =$2.50, 1/2 lb = $5.00, 1 lb = $7.50