Discovering Tepary beans; Anyone Grow?

[GoDawgs]

While reading the Market Farming article I previously posted about, (https://www.sustainablemarketfarming.co ... er-season/) I also followed the link to an interview called "Food in Uncertain Times..." with author Carol Deppe.
https://www.caroldeppe.com/Food%20in%20 ... Times.html

One of the five essential food categories she spoke about was grain legumes and one of the seven she specifically mentioned were teparies. I knew beans, peas, garbanzos, cowpeas, lentils, etc but I'd never heard of teparies so I looked it up. A tepary is a type of very drought resistant bean grown in the Southwest and South America, especially in desert areas. They're usually grown for use as dry beans but a few can be eaten as green beans.

Hmmm, drought resistant, heat tolerant. It sounds like something I might want to play with; one of next year's garden toys. Down the rabbit hole I went, searching for sources of which there were few. I ended up at Native Seeds who has arid-adapted heirloom seeds from the southwest, They had a good assortment.

"Native Seeds Search is a non-profit that conserves and sells heirloom seeds, foods and Native American art and jewelry from the Southwest."
www.nativeseeds.org

I ended up ordering two varieties of tepary beans (Pinacate and S'oam Pawi), staying away from ones that said they were for the high desert because they couldn't take the heat of the low desert areas. If they can deal with low desert heat they sure should be able to happily live in Georgia!

There was also a cowpea (U'us Mu:n) that was supposed to be eaten as a green bean. Wow, maybe I can have green beans in the middle of summer when the usual green beans refuse to live! So I ordered one of those too. They're also really pretty black and white seeds. This should be interesting. The only problem might be any effect the humidity here might have on plants that thrive in very dry air.

Have any of you who live in the US Southwest ever grown tepary beans? I'd love to hear about your experience with them.

[Tormahto]

The only problem might be any effect humidity might have...

I trialed them once, here in the northeast. It was a fairly dry hot summer,and they grew fine. I didn't eat any.

That was before I read that they can be quite disease prone in humid conditions. I haven't grown them since. Zeedman won't grow them. I've had about four varieties, including a couple from Joseph Lofthouse. I don't know if what I received was his work on a cross breeding project. If I still have seed, it must be getting quite old.

If you want green beans in the middle of summer, as well as early and late summer, bush Asian long beans is the way I would go.

[PlainJane]

Haven’t grown them but it’s always fun to experiment. Looking forward to your feedback.

[DriftlessRoots]

I grew them once, or at least tried to. Planted a couple rows in between rows of other bush beans. The turkeys or some other varmint ate off every single seedling and didn't touch the other beans. So, I guess the leaves are tasty, at least.

[rdback]

Yep, I grew the "cooler climate" Blue Speckled and Brown Speckled in 2013. Then I grew Paiute Yellow in 2014. Like Gary, I didn't eat any of them. More of an experiment.

Notes say: Vines are very delicate, if not fragile. Thin and wispy. Almost totally resistant to climbing - more of a sprawler. Vines up to 6-8 feet. Average yield.

Not much help, but as I recall, not my type of bean. Haven't grown it since. ymmv.

[GoDawgs]

@Tormato , in '20 and '21 I grew 'Stickless Wonder', which is a bush type long Asian bean. They were OK but not as satisfying as regular old green beans. I've also grown the climbing Asian beans too, Red Noodle and Long Green. Some summers they do OK and others they don't.

[Tormahto]

@Tormato , in '20 and '21 I grew 'Stickless Wonder', which is a bush type long Asian bean. They were OK but not as satisfying as regular old green beans. I've also grown the climbing Asian beans too, Red Noodle and Long Green. Some summers they do OK and others they don't.

Did you grow "Stickless Wonder" from a commercial source, or the "Stickless Wonder type" that I've been sending out?

And, how did you cook them?

[GoDawgs]

Did you grow "Stickless Wonder" from a commercial source, or the "Stickless Wonder type" that I've been sending out?
And, how did you cook them?

The seed came from Southern Exposure and some I collected from those. The young pods I cut up like green beans and steamed them. Older pods were treated as shellies and simmered in some water or stock. Of course, sometimes both were combined in the pot as "peas and snaps".

[Tormahto]

Did you grow "Stickless Wonder" from a commercial source, or the "Stickless Wonder type" that I've been sending out?
And, how did you cook them?

The seed came from Southern Exposure and some I collected from those. The young pods I cut up like green beans and steamed them. Older pods were treated as shellies and simmered in some water or stock. Of course, sometimes both were combined in the pot as "peas and snaps".

For me, cutting the raw beans into shorter lengths and pan frying them to a golden brown is the way to go. How much postage would you like for a sample of the Stickless Wonders?

[GoDawgs]

@Tormato , no postage at all. I packed up zinnia seeds to send you yesterday and will be mailing it out tomorrow. I can re-open it and stick the Stickless Wonders in there for you. No problem!