Bean Seed Language

Some of the terms used in our descriptions of our bean seed.
Cut Short Beans  =  A type of bean where the seeds outgrow the hulls and lock the developing seeds against one another. This makes the bean seed appear square, rectangular, triangular, or even trapezoidal in form . 

Greasy Beans =  A name given to many heirloom bean varieties when the pods are slick and without the tight-knit fuzz of other beans. The slickness makes them appear to be greasy. Greasy beans are widely thought to be the highest quality beans and are by far the highest priced, bringing two to ten times as much as other beans.

Cornfield Beans  =  Any climbing bean . Corn patches traditionally served as the poles which beans used for climbing.

Crease Back Beans = A type of heirloom bean that has a crease in the outer portion of the bean hull.

Full Beans = This is a term used to describe a bean where the seed is fully mature within the hull and the bean is ready to harvest. Heirloom beans are traditionally harvested at the full stage whether they are to be used fresh, canned,

Pole Beans = Same as cornfield beans. When some gardeners stopped growing corn in their gardens, poles often substituted for corn stalks. They are often used in teepee style to give stability. More recently poles have given way to trellises which give more room and more sunshine to the bean vines.

Shelly Beans = This term refers to a bean shelled from a mature full bean before the hull and seed dry out. The beans are then cooked without the need for rehydration as would be the case with dry beans. Real green bean lovers always want lots of shelly beans in there green beans.

Snap Beans = At one time most any bean picked green for eating fresh or drying would be called a snap bean since, after being strung, they would snap or break quickly and cleanly. With most commercial beans now having been bred to be tough and stringless to withstand mechanical harvesting without breaking, the term snap bean is rarely used since the modern bean doesn't snap or break cleanly. This is also why so many are now canned and cooked as whole beans before the seed begins to develop. However, most heirloom beans picked at the green stage, even when full, are still snap beans.



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