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For the year 2010 we have seeds from sixty-six varieties of heirloom beans and seeds from eleven varieties of heirloom tomatoes. We have one field pea variety and are offering a "bean medley" packet which has bean seeds from several varieties. Because of bad weather during the summer of 2009 and an early killing frost, we do not have some of the varieties offered previously but hope to be back with them next year. Varieties not offered in 2010 are the North Carolina Speckled Long Greasy Cut Short, the Logan Giant, the Bertie Best Greasy, and the Dade Bean. Our number of heirloom bean varieties continues to grow, now totaling over 450 which is up from thirty varieties only twelve years ago. The total now includes over thirty greasy bean varieties. The increase in numbers is due to an increasing interest in heirloom varieties by both home and market gardeners and the desire of many heirloom growers to share their seeds with a public increasingly becoming aware of the poor quality of commercial seeds. We specialize in Southern Appalachian heirlooms, but many of our best and purest seeds come from many states where Appalachian people have migrated for work. Many individuals living far from where they were raised held on to their family beans and regional beans as well and are often anxious to share them. Some states from which we have received beans include Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Oregon, Idaho and Washington. We now have about thirty Appalachian heirloom tomato varieties and are getting more each year. There are not nearly as many heirloom tomato varieties as there are bean varieties, but some of the best tomato varieties in existence are from the Southern Appalachians, usually the product of dedicated individuals who, for decades, saved seeds from their most tender, flavorful, and disease resistant plants. An heirloom tomato improved over a period of fifty years by one person usually has much more going for it than a hybrid tomato bred for three or four years, largely for shipping and shelf life purposes which is now the case for most hybrids. Our seeds are listed and described, by type, in alphabetical order. Many are limited to one pack per order since we want to spread the beans as widely as possible, and we have very few beans of some varieties. Some varieties, marked with an asterisk*, can be seen in photos in an article on our web site under the title: "Heirloom Beans" which was published twelve years ago. This year our beans are listed by types to make it easier for customers to determine which beans they wish to order. All beans are climbing beans except the one listed as a bush bean. We have 64 climbing bean varieties, one climbing butter bean, one fall Bush Bean and one pea variety this year. Cost and ordering instructions are found at the end of the catalog. Bean seed offerings for 2010 include: HALF-RUNNER BEANS: Many people have been forced to stop growing half-runners in recent years because poor quality control among commercial growers has led to more than half of the beans harvested being too tough to eat. We have worked for many years to find half-runners that have never been part of the commercial seed businesses and which still maintain the productivity, flavor, and tenderness that made this type of bean so popular in years past. Bill Stumbo Half-Runner: Sold Out. From Bill Stumbo of Floyd County, Kentucky, this is one of the traditional mountain half-runners with runners three to five feet long. It is white-seeded, very tender, and best if staked or trellised. One packet per customer Dutch Half-Runner: From Jesse Israel in Candler, NC, this white-seeded half-runner is very tender having none of the toughness of commercial half runners. It is also a heavy yielder. One packet per customer Gwyn Campbell Half-Runner: From Gwyn Campbell of Ashe County, North Carolina, this half-runner is also an excellent, tender, white-seeded half-runner of the old type grown in the mountains of North Carolina. One packet per customer NT (Non-Tough) Half Runner: Stabilized over several years by Bill Best, this white-seeded half-runner is one of the most tender and flavorful beans available. This is our best selling heirloom bean and an excellent choice for eating fresh and canning. Excellent for making shuck beans because of its tender hull and large seeds, it is also a heavy yielding bean. CUT-SHORT BEANS: Cut-Short beans are favored by people who want a bean that "sticks to your ribs". Cut-short beans are noted for their tenderness and squared-off seeds that are sometimes completely square because of overcrowding within the hulls. They are a very old type of bean which most people, except for traditional gardeners who have saved their own seeds, have never heard of nor seen, not to mention grown. Cut-Short: This bean, sent to us during the past year, was simply called "cut-short". It is white seeded and very tender. One packet per customer * Seay Cut-Short: An heirloom white-seeded cut-short from Buncombe County, NC. It was given to me many years ago by Mary Ellen McLaughlin whose husband's family grew the bean for many years. One packet per customer John Allen Cut-Short: This is an excellent speckled cut-short with seeds tightly packed into the hulls. It has shorter runners than most other cut-shorts but still needs support for the vines. It is very flavorful. One packet per customer Frank Barnett Cut-Short: A mutant bean from the River Bean of Ed Meece of Somerset, Kentucky, this cut-short is a true breeding deep beige bean. Grown originally by Frank Barnett of Georgetown, Kentucky, this bean is a good producer and a very flavorful and tender bean. One packet per customer GREASY BEANS: Greasy beans have been grown in the Southern Appalachians for many generations and are especially prevalent in parts of Southeastern Kentucky and Western North Carolina. Greasy beans do not have the tight knit fuzz like that on the hulls of other beans and appear shiny instead. They look "greasy." People who know them usually think they are the best of all beans and they routinely cost several times more than commercial beans at markets. They are so prevalent in some communities that the term greasy has been dropped since almost all beans grown in particular areas are greasy beans. Big Greasy: As the name implies, this white greasy bean is large seeded. One packet per customer Cherokee Greasy: This is an excellent white greasy bean from the Cherokee in Western North Carolina. One packet per customer Cherokee Long Greasy: Sold Out. This is another excellent white greasy from the Cherokee. One packet per customer Earl Thompson Greasy: This is a brown speckled greasy bean. One packet per customer Edwin Bryson Greasy: This is a family white greasy bean originally from the Fines Creek area of Haywood County, NC. One packet per customer. German Greasy: This is an excellent white greasy bean from Jesse Israel in Candler, NC One packet per customer. Heirloom White Half-Runner (greasy) This is an excellent white greasy bean sent to us as a white half-runner which turned out to also be a greasy bean. One packet per customer Hill Family Greasy: From the Upper Crabtree community of Haywood County, NC, this bean was given to me by Ben and Clarine Best to grow during the summer of 2008. Grown for well over a hundred years by the Hill family, it is also the first bean I remember as a child, over 70 years ago, because of its many colored beans which I picked from the bottoms of corn stalks while my mother picked the ones higher up. The seeds contain 8 distinctive shapes or colors. One packet per customer * Lazy Wife Greasy: This is one of the largest of the greasy beans. From Madison County, NC, this bean is very tender and flavorful. Lazy Daisy Greasy: This is one of the most striking of the greasy beans, being very uniform in size with white beans evenly spaced. It was given to my mother, Margaret Best, by our cousin, Luther Best, while both were in their eighties. One packet per customer Phil Fox Greasy: Given to me by Phil Fox from Madison County, NC, and white seeded bean, it was grown by his wife's family for generations. One packet per customer Pink Tip Greasy: One of many pink tip varieties of beans, this is the only pink tip greasy bean that I know of. From the Bethel area of Haywood County, NC, this white-seeded bean is excellent for many uses. One packet per customer Snowball Greasy: White seeded and similar to the Lazy Wife greasy bean From Buncombe County, NC One packet per customer Small Lazy Wife: Smaller than the Lazy Wife Greasy, this bean is also from Madison County, NC One packet per customer
GREASY CUT-SHORTS: Greasy Cut-short beans combine the best characteristics of both greasy beans and cut-short beans-very slick and tender hulls with tightly packed beans. Breathitt County Speckled Greasy Cut-Short: From the collection of Frank Barnett of Georgetown, Kentucky, this bean is short and tightly packed in the hull. One packet per customer * Doyce Chambers Greasy Cut-Short: This is a long white greasy cut-short bean grown for many years by Doyce Chambers on Bethel in Haywood County, NC. This is our best selling greasy bean. *Grady Bailly Greasy Cut-Short: This white seeded greasy cut-short is from Polk County, NC and is also one of our best selling beans. Long Greasy Cut-Short: This is a thin pod long greasy white-seeded cut-short type of bean. One packet per customer * Margaret Best Greasy Cut-Short: Grown by Margaret Best of the Rogers Cove section of Haywood County, NC, this bean is full and tender with white seeds. One packet per customer Ora's Speckled Bean: This brown speckled greasy cut-short is from Jackson County, Kentucky. Seeds are tightly packed in the hull. One packet per customer Small Speckled Greasy Cut-Short: From West Virginia, this bean is a small brown-speckled greasy cut-short with seeds packed tightly. Given to me by Lothar Baumann whose brother obtained it while working in West Virginia, this bean is highly productive. One packet per customer. * Striped Hull Greasy Cut-Short: From Jackson County, Kentucky, this is a tightly packed greasy cut-short with white seeds. Many hulls have light green streaks on them. This is one of the first beans in our collection and long a favorite of many of our customers. CORNFIELD BEANS: Also known as pole beans, stick beans, and trellis beans, these are climbing beans that need vertical support in order to produce well. Historically grown in corn with the corn stalks providing vertical support, many people later started providing support in other ways. Hybrid corns are typically too weak to provide support. Anyone wishing to use corn stalks for support could use some of the heirloom open-pollinated corn varieties such as Hickory Cane (known as Hickory King in some areas.) * Anna Robe Terry Bean: From Anna Robe Terry, this white cornfield bean from West Virginia is very tender and comes in two variants, one slightly longer than the other. * Barnes Mountain Bean: From Barnes Mountain in Estill County, Kentucky, this large white bean has very tender hulls. It is a favorite at the Lexington Farmers' Market in Lexington, KY. Bentley Bean: This is a climbing bean with deep brown seeds. It is from Lee County, Virginia. One packet per customer * Big John:Sold Out. This white seeded bean is from the Harlan/Letcher County in Southeastern Kentucky. It is well known in that area as an excellent fresh bean, canning bean, and shuck bean. One packet per customer Bren Steven's Bean. This is a very tender white seeded bean grown by us for the first time this summer. One packet per customer Brown Stick Bean: This is a very tender brown bean grown by us for the first time this summer. One packet per customer. Brown Tobacco Worm Bean. This light brown bean was originally given to me by Sam Baker from Dry Branch in Estill County, Kentucky. One packet per customer Case Knife Bean: This is a white-seeded variant of a very old heirloom bean. One packet per customer. Country Gentleman Bean: We grew this red and white mottled bean for the first time this summer. I suspect that it may have been a commercial bean at one time. One packet per customer * Edwards Bean: From the Edwards family in Jackson County, KY, this light brown bean with darker brown stripes is very flavorful and tender. Evelyn Wheeler Pink Tip Bean: Another bean grown by us for the first time this summer, this bean is white-seeded and very productive. One packet per customer Fat Man Bean: This white cornfield bean is well known in West Virginia. Larger than most beans, it is quite tender. One packet per customer Flynn Bean: This is a medium sized white cornfield bean with a good yield. One packet per customer German Bean: This is a deep beige climbing bean from Steve Todd of Knoxville, Tennessee. One packet per customer * Goose Bean: A deep beige bean grown throughout the Southern Appalachians, the original seeds were supposedly taken from the craw of a wild goose shot by a hunter. This large and tender bean is one of the most popular Appalachian beans. It is also known as the Goose Neck Bean and sometimes as the Goose Craw Bean. Grandma Barnett Bean: From Frank Barnett of Georgetown, Kentucky this large mottled bean was grown by his grandmother in Floyd County, Kentucky. One packet per customer Johnson Stick Bean: This is a white seeded running bean we grew for the first time this summer. One packet per customer
* Nickell Bean: This is a slender white cornfield bean from Elliott County, KY. It has excellent texture and flavor and is one of the first twenty beans in our collection. Old Joe Clark Bean: This bean is sometimes known as the Pink Half-Runner and the Peanut Bean. It is an early bean with short runners and is more productive if supported in some fashion. Some people grow it as a bush bean, but it is less productive grown that way. Partridge (Paterge) Head Bean: This bean is widely grown in the South-Central part of Kentucky and in the Cumberland Plateau area of Tennessee. It is used as a green bean, as a canning bean, and as a shelly bean. It is especially popular in Clinton County, KY where almost everyone grows it. Preacher Bean: From Lee County in Virginia, this is a white-seeded bean of excellent quality. One packet per customer. Ram's Horn Bean: Striking in appearance with its distinctive hook on the end, this slender white-seeded bean is very tender. The seed is canoe shaped. One packet per customer. * Robe Mountain Bean: A large cornfield bean, this bean originated over twenty-five years ago in a row of short brown greasy beans as a large white-seeded mutant which bred true. One packet per customer * Rose Bean: A very large blue speckled bean, this bean comes from the Rose Family in Panola, Madison County, Kentucky. One packet per customer *Tennessee Cornfield Bean: From the Putnam County area of Tennessee, seeds of this bean were given to me by Harold and Bernease Wallace of Lexington, Kentucky over twenty years ago. This brown-seeded bean is quite good for eating fresh, canning, or making into shuck beans. * Tobacco Worm Bean: From the Estill and Lee County area of Eastern Kentucky, this white-seeded bean gets its name from its large beans and thin hull. When fully mature its shape is often distorted and it begins to resemble a large tobacco worm. It has long been a favorite in areas where it is raised. Turkey Craw Bean: This bean is the dominant heirloom bean in an area within a hundred mile radius of Cumberland Gap where the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia join. Brown on one end and buff on the other, it is often sold at farmers' markets and roadside stands. One packet per customer. Turkey Craw Variant: Given to us by Steve Todd from Knoxville, Tennessee, this Turkey Craw variant is deep beige in color and heavy yielding. One packet per customer White Bunch: Sent to us as a white bunch bean, this one turned out to be a high-quality running bean. At one time, some gardeners had a practice of removing the runners from their beans, thus producing bunch beans. I suspect that this might have been what happened with this bean. One packet per customer. Victoria's Pole: This is our only black colored bean and we have only a few to sell. One packet per customer. Hastings: This is a white-seeded cornfield bean that is very tender and produces well. It is possible that this bean may have been sold by the old Hastings Seed Company. We have been unable to verify this. One packet per customer
Pete Ingram Fall Bean: From Pete Ingram in Indiana but originally from Eastern Kentucky, this fall bean is a deep red color. It is a climbing bean with an excellent flavor. One packet per customer Hazard Fall Bean: From Hazard, Kentucky, this is a white-seeded, dark-eyed, climbing Fall Bean. One packet per customer Bush Fall Bean: Our only bush bean, this fall bean from Eastern Kentucky is light yellow with red streaks. It is very flavorful as a shelly bean and can also be used as a dried bean. It is not suitable as a green bean. Butter Bean: Sold Out.Our only Butter Bean this year is the Jack Kelly Butter Bean which is from Eastern Kentucky. One packet per customer.
Black Pear: One of the best of the black tomatoes, this tomato is pear shaped with a complex flavor and six to eight ounces in size. It does extremely well in high tunnels. Boyd Smith Yellow German: An excellent Yellow German variant from Boyd Smith in Western North Carolina, we have grown this tomato for many years. This is our second year to have seeds available. Claude Brown's Yellow Giant: Seeds of this tomato were given to me by Claude Brown of Pike County, Kentucky more than twenty years ago. He had worked on improving it for decades. An excellent tasting deep-yellow tomato, this is our second year to offer seeds. John Allen Yellow German: This small yellow German tomato has the yellow color and red stripes of its larger cousins but weighs only five to six ounces on average. It has the sweet flavor of the other Yellow German types but is small enough to eat without having to keep part of it for another meal. It is thought to be an Amish heirloom. Margaret Best Yellow Tommy Toe: Grown for many years by Margaret Best of Haywood County, NC, this yellow cherry type tomato is more acid than most modern hybrid yellow cherry tomatoes. It will dominate a salad and is also good for snacks. Mary Rose McMurray Tomato: Grown for many years in Harlan County, Kentucky by Mary Rose McMurray, this large paste type red heirloom tomato excels in flavor. Paste tomatoes are usually not known for being flavorful, but this one is an exception. This is our first year to sell seeds of this tomato. Pink Plum: This is an excellent plum type tomato from Western North Carolina. It is flavorful and has good yields. Willard Wynn Tomato: Grown in Rockcastle County for many years by Willard Wynn, this Yellow German variant is well adapted to the Southern Appalachians and is a high yielding tomato. Fruits are smooth but sometime not completely round. Vinson Watts Tomato: Offered for the first time five years ago, this tomato has proven to be quite popular with many people. Prior to his death in March, 2008, Vinson Watts had improved his namesake tomato for fifty-two summers. The original seed was from Lee County, Virginia and given to him by his work supervisor, Wilson Evans, at Berea College in 1956. Those interested in the story of his tomato can look it up on the internet since several articles in newspapers and magazines have been written about Watts and his tomato. The tomato is a large pink tomato flavored with an excellent balance of sugars and acids. It is the most disease resistant tomato I know of-the result of 52 summers of careful selection for flavor, texture, and disease resistance. Yellow Pear: This is one of the old-time favorites for preserving, (canning or pickling) and has a good flavor in salads or when eaten raw. It is larger than most yellow pear tomatoes. Zeke Dishman Tomato: Offered for the first time this year, Zeke Dishman has grown this tomato for decades and continues to grow it at his home in Windy, Kentucky which is in Wayne County. It is a large red tomato, often weighing two or more pounds, with few seeds. It is the best tasting heirloom red tomato I have grown. It grows exceptionally well in high tunnels. SPECIAL BEAN SEED OFFERING Each winter and spring we do numerous germination tests to make sure the bean seeds we are sending out to growers are still germinating well. For the past three summers we have planted the resultant plants in rows and sell the beans grown that way at farmers' markets. This medley of beans is very appealing to a lot of customers and many prefer the mixture of sizes and flavors. This year we will again be selling a medley of seeds to seed customers as well. The packets will contain from 100 to 150 seeds. The bean medley packet might be appealing to growers new to heirlooms to give them some idea of the diversity of heirloom bean varieties. Those ordering six packets of seeds will receive one free bean medley packet while those ordering twelve or more will receive two free packets. The medley packets can also be ordered as part of a regular order when fewer than seven packets are ordered. Ordering Instructions: Send us a list of the varieties of bean and tomato seeds you wish to purchase along with your return address. We require payment before the seeds are shipped so please enclose a check or money order made out to SMAC. (Sorry, we don't accept credit card orders.) Mail your order to the following address: SMAC Beans are $7.00 if only one packet is ordered but $6.00 per packet for two or more packets of any varieties. This includes postage and packaging. Packets of most varieties of beans contain approximately 100 seeds while packages of Goose beans contain at least 50 beans and packets of the Rose Bean contain at least 75 seeds. Packets of the Bean Medley contain 125 to 150 seeds. Tomato seeds are $4.00 per packet of 30+ seeds which includes packaging and postage. In case we are out of a particular variety of bean or tomato, please include a phone number or e-mail address so that we may contact you to see if you want a refund or a substitution. Please note that we are a not-for-profit organization and all of the money made from our seed distribution goes to help pay for college student and other interns working for us each summer. If you have questions or comments, please email me at bill_best@heirlooms.org or call me at 859-986-3204 after 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. My mailing address is: Bill Best IMPORTANT NOTE: We have been collecting heirloom bean seeds for over thirty years. Many of them are regional beans and fairly well known, but the vast majority are family beans that have been in extended families for generations. We do not always acquire them in a pure form so you might find some beans in your garden that do not appear to be true to form. When you are saving seeds to plant the following summer (and we hope you do), try to save the seeds of the plants that are most true to form. On the other hand, if you have a plant that is notably different from all the others, you might wish to save it separately since it might be a true breeding cross or a mutation. Such is the way new varieties come about. (I am always on the lookout for such plants.) We have found it best to store seeds in a refrigerator or freezer in airtight containers. If allowed to become too warm, the seeds might become infested with bean weevils and this can present a serious germination problem. Beans are not supposed to cross since pollination occurs prior to the bloom opening. And bumblebees are not supposed to be able to fly because of the way their bodies are constructed. However, bumblebees do fly and can rip open bean blossoms while pollination is taking place and cross pollination can and does occur. We have found that Goose Beans in particular are prone to cross, and we would recommend that they be grown in as much isolation as possible if you intend to save seeds of this variety.
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