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Seed Catalog for 2012 including Beans, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peas and Candyroasters Ordering instructions are found at the end of the catalog For those who are new to heirloom beans we would recommend that you read a part of our web site entitled: Southern Appalachian Heirloom Bean Terminology before placing your order. While most of this terminology has been in use for hundreds of years, it is not a part of the gardening language of most people today, especially those who are new to gardening. For the year 2012 we have seeds of 72 varieties of heirloom beans, 22 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, one heirloom candyroaster variety, one heirloom pea variety and one heirloom cucumber variety. Despite weather extremes again this past summer, we are able to have seeds of most varieties people have enjoyed in the past along with several new ones which will be noted. We thank Randy Dodson, Tennessee Tech horticulturalist, for growing several varieties for us and Michael Best, agricultural economics professor at Tennessee Tech and daughters, Sarah and Anita, who also grew several varieties as they have in years past. We thank Jim Kerr of Indiana for growing Dade Beans for us this past summer. We continue to increase the number of heirloom beans and tomatoes in our collection but can only grow so many each summer. We are thankful for those who volunteer to grow for us. People are becoming increasingly aware of the superiority of heirloom beans and tomatoes while at the same time many of the best traditional commercial varieties are being withdrawn from the market by seed companies. The focus of most companies is still on varieties bred for shipping and shelf life, not flavor, texture, and nutrition. Our seeds are listed and described, by type, in alphabetical order. Most are limited to one pack per variety per order since we want to spread our heirlooms as far and wide as possible. Some bean 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 in 1998. Bean and tomato varieties listed for the first time will be noted as such. Bean seeds for 2012 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 heirloom half runners that have never been part of the commercial seed business and which still maintain the productivity, flavor, and tenderness that made this type of bean so popular in decades past. Bill Stumbo Half-Runner: From Bill Stumbo of Floyd County in Eastern Kentucky, this white-seeded half-runner has shorter runners than some others but performs best if supported in some way. It is very tender and tasty. One packet per customer Georgia Half-Runner: From the mountains of North Georgia, this white-seeded half-runner is smaller than some others but has excellent texture and flavor. It also needs to be grown on poles or trellised in some fashion. 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. It is our best selling bean and excellent for eating fresh, for canning, and for making shuck beans. It has large seeds and is a heavy yielder. NT Half-Runner (Organic Seed): Also available this year. Grown by Randy Dodson, Tennessee Tech horticulturalist. 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 in 2008, was simply called “cut-short”. It is 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 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 about three feet of vertical support for the vines. It is very flavorful. One packet per customer *Seay Cut-Short: This is a white-seeded cut-short from Buncombe County, NC. It was given to us many years ago by Mary McLaughlin of Berea, KY whose husband’s family grew the bean for many years. 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 to be shiny instead. They look “greasy”. People who know them usually think they are the best of all beans and they routinely sell for several times as much times as much as commercial beans at markets. They are so prevalent in some communities that the term greasy isn’t used since almost all beans grown in particular areas are greasy beans. *Bertie Best Greasy: Grown in the Rogers Cove section of Upper Crabtree in Haywood County, NC, this greasy bean comes in three colors—white, tan, and black. It has been grown this way for at least 150 years with no attempts to separate out the colors. Big Greasy: Sold Out As the name implies, this white greasy is large seeded. One packet per customer Cherokee Long Greasy: Sold Out From the Cherokee in Western North Carolina, this is an excellent white seeded greasy bean. 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 section of Haywood County, NC. One packet per customer Fox Family Greasy: From Madison County, NC, we know that this white-seeded greasy bean goes back to the American Revolution. One packet per customer Hill Family Greasy: From the Upper Crabtree community of Haywood County, NC, this bean was given to us by Ben and Clarine Best to grow during the summer of 2008. Grown for well over 100 years by the Hill Family, it is also the first bean I remember as a child, over 73 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 eight distinctive shapes and colors. One packet per customer Lazy Daisy Greasy: This is one of the most striking of the greasy beans being very uniform in size with white seeds evenly spaced. It was given to my mother, Margaret Best by our cousin, Luther Best, when both were in their eighties. 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. One packet per customer North Carolina Long Greasy: This is one of the more well known greasy beans from North Carolina. One packet per customer Phil Fox Greasy: Given to me by Phil Fox of Madison County, NC, this white seeded bean 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 Small Lazy Wife: Smaller than the Lazy Wife Greasy, this white-seeded bean is also from Madison County, NC. One packet per customer Whitey Swanger Greasy: This bean was developed by Whitey Swanger of Haywood County, NC. Grown by Lynden McCracken of Bald Creek in Haywood County, NC and also by Yolanda Ferguson, both in the Upper Crabtree Community, this bean has a long and intriguing history too long to be told here. It is an excellent large type greasy bean. One packet per customer GREASY CUT-SHORTS: Greasy cut-shorts combine the best characteristics of both greasy beans and cut-short beans—very slick and tender hulls with tightly packed seeds. Breathitt County Speckled Greasy Cut-Short: From the collection of Frank Barnett of Georgetown, KY this bean is tightly packed in the hull. One packet per customer *Doyce Chambers Greasy Cut-Short: Grown for many years by Doyce Chambers, this long white greasy cut-short is our best selling greasy bean. One packet per customer *Grady Bailly Greasy Cut-Short: This white-seeded greasy cut-short is from Polk County, NC and also one of our best selling beans. One packet per customer Long Greasy Cut-Short: This is a thin pod long white-seeded greasy cut-short bean One packet per customer North Carolina Long Speckled Greasy Cut-Short: This is a highly regarded speckled seeded cut-short greasy bean. One packet per customer Ora’s Speckled Bean: This brown speckled greasy bean is from Jackson County, KY. It is a short bean with seeds tightly packed into 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 tightly packed seeds. Given to me by Lothar Baumann whose brother obtained it while working in West Virginia, this bean is short but highly productive. One packet per customer *Striped Hull Greasy Cut-Short: From Jackson County, KY, this is a tightly packed greasy cut-short with white seeds. Many hulls have light green streaks of them. This is one of the first beans of my collection and a favorite of many 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 varieties such as Hickory Cane (known as Hickory King in some areas.) *Anna Robe Terry Bean: From the late Anna Robe Terry in West Virginia, this white cornfield bean is very tender and comes in two variants, one slightly longer than the other. *Barnes Mountain Cornfield Bean: From Barnes Mountain in Estill County, KY, this white cornfield bean is large and has very tender hulls. It is a favorite at the Lexington Farmers’ Market in Kentucky. One packet per customer *Big John Bean: A favorite of many people in Eastern Kentucky, this large white-seeded bean is very tender. One packet per customer Bently Bean: This bean is from Lee County, VA and has deep brown seeds. One packet per customer Bren Steven’s Bean: This is a very tender white-seeded bean. One packet per customer Brown Stick Bean: This is a very tender brown-seeded bean. Brown Tobacco Worm Bean: This light brown seeded bean was originally given to me by Sam Baker of Dry Branch in Estill County, KY. One packet per customer Brown Tobacco Worm Bean: Organically grown seed One packet per customer Case Knife Bean: This is a white seeded variant of a very old bean. One packet per customer Country Gentleman Bean: This red and white mottled bean may have been a commercial bean at one time. One packet per customer Dade Bean: This is a large white-seeded very tender cornfield bean that at one time was a very popular commercial bean. It is sometimes from ten to twelve inches long and very tender. Our seed stock originally came from six seeds from Billy Prichett near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Seeds grown in 2011 for us by Jim Kerr of Indiana. Limit three packets 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: This is a very productive white seeded pink tip bean. One packet per customer Fat Man Bean: This white seeded cornfield bean is well known and very popular in West Virginia. Larger than most beans, it is also very 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 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. One packet per customer Grandma Barnett Bean: From Frank Barnett of Georgetown, KY, this large mottled bean was grown by his grandmother in Floyd County, KY. One packet per customer. Granny Brown Bean: From Rudy Thomas of Albany, Kentucky, this early brown cornfield bean has been grown by the Thomas and Derossett families for generations. Hastings: This is a white seeded tender cornfield bean. It is quite productive and may have been sold by the old Hastings Seed Company. One packet per customer Johnson Stick Bean: This is a very tender white seeded running bean. One packet per customer Logan Giant: The Logan Giant is very popular in much of West Virginia and other places as well. It is a large and highly productive bean. One packet per customer *Myers Family Bean: From the Myers Family in Greene County, TN, this is a long and slender bean with white seeds. First given to us by a student intern from Berea College, we have grown it for many years. *Nickell Bean: From the Nickell family in Elliott County, KY, this been has excellent 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 that way. Partridge (Paterge) Head Bean; This mottled bean is widely grown in the south-central part of Kentucky and the Cumberland Plateau area in Tennessee. It is used as a green bean, as a canning bean and as a shelly bean. It is especially popular in Clinton County, Kentucky where almost all gardeners grow it. Preacher Bean: From Lee County, Virginia, this is a white seeded bean of excellent quality. One packet per customer *Robe Mountain Bean: This is a large white seeded cornfield bean that originated as a true breeding mutant over 25 years ago in a row of short brown greasy beans. 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 25 years ago. This brown-seeded bean is quite good for eating fresh, canning, or making shucky beans. *Tobacco Worm Bean: From the Estill and Lee County area of Eastern Kentucky, this white-seeded bean gets its name from its large seeds 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 bean in an area within a hundred mile radius of Cumberland Gap where the states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee join. Brown on one end and buff on the other, it is grown by many gardeners and often sold at farmers’ markets and roadside stands. Turkey Craw Variant: Given to us by Steve Todd of Knoxville, TN, this Turkey Craw variant is deep beige in color and heavy yielding. One packet per customer Victoria’s Pole: This is our only black colored bean. 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 happened with this bean. One packet per customer Bush Fall Bean: One of only two bush beans we have, this fall bean from Eastern Kentucky is light yellow with red streaks. It is very flavorful as a shelly bean and can also be eaten as a dried bean. It is tough hulled and not suitable as a green bean. One packet per customer Cream Colored Fall Bean: Grown in many Eastern Kentucky gardens, this fall bean is both stringless and tender hulled. This is our first year to grow it. One packet per customer Noble Fall Bean: Down to one plant as recently as 2008, this fall bean is now safe from extinction and is being offered for the first time in 25 seed packets. Taken from West Virginia to Oregon in 1898, this bean was grown for generation by the Noble family but nearly became extinct a few years ago. It is offered for the first time in 2012. Pete Ingram Fall Bean: This is a deep red fall bean originally from Knott County, Kentucky; this fall bean is stringless and tender. One packet per customer Randy Newsome Fall Bean: A speckled tender-hulled fall bean, this one is also thought to have originated in Floyd County, Kentucky. One packet per customer BUTTER BEANS: Butter beans are not grown as much in the Southern Appalachians as they are in the Deep South but many families have maintained particular varieties for generations. Conover Family Butter Bean: This bean traces back to the Civil War when Conover was in New Orleans at the end of the war and gathered butterbean seeds in gardens as he walked back to Kentucky. These are very flavorful beans of many colors. One packet per customer Jack Kelly Butter Bean: This is a white-seeded butter bean from Eastern Kentucky, One packet per customer Minnie Butter Bean: From the Minnie Tallent family of Clinton County, Kentucky, this bean is almost too beautiful to eat with seeds of five different colors. FIELD PEA: Our only pea this year is the whippoorwill pea. One packet per customer TOMATO SEEDS FOR 2012 This year we are offering 22 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, all but one, the Black Pear, from the Southern Appalachians. Tomato seeds are listed by color and/or type. Black tomatoes: 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. Blackberry: From John Allen of Cartersville, Kentucky, this black tomato is one of the best of the black tomatoes and with many tomatoes weighing close to a pound. Yellow Tomato: Claude Brown’s Yellow Giant: Seeds of this tomato came from Claude Brown of Pike County, KY some 25 years ago. He had worked on improving his tomato for decades. This deep yellow tomato has an excellent flavor and can weigh three or more pounds. Red Tomatoes: Judge Jack Miller Australian Heart: This is an oxheart type tomato with few seeds and very good flavor. Mary Rose McMurray tomato: This is a large heirloom roma type tomato with excellent flavor. It is from Harlan County, Kentucky. Worley Red: This is also a large oxheart type tomato with excellent flavor. Zeke Dishman: This tomato was developed over many years by Zeke Dishman of Windy, Kentucky in Wayne County. The tomato often weighs more that two pounds and is deep red in color. Bi-color tomatoes: All of our bi-color tomatoes are of the Yellow German type where the fruit is yellow with red streaks and smudges appearing as ripening occurs. This type of tomato is unusually sweet in taste. John Allen Yellow German: Smaller than most other bi-color tomatoes, this one is about four to six ounces with the same sweet flavor of other yellow German tomatoes. Boyd Smith: An excellent Yellow German variant from Boyd Smith in Western North Carolina, we have grown this tomato for many years. Willard Wynn: Grown in Rockcastle County, KY for decades by Willard Wynn, this Yellow German variant is well adapted to the Southern Appalachians. Williams Striped: Grown on our farm for the first time this summer, we found this Yellow German variant to be a good one. Yellow German Dunham Variant: From the Dunham family in central Tennessee, this Yellow German variant also has excellent flavor. Pink tomatoes: We have found pink tomatoes to be the color of choice for most people who prefer heirloom tomatoes. Most pink varieties are high in both sugars and acids and typically have what many people refer to as “old fashioned flavor.” Grant County Pink: Grown by us for the first time this past summer, we found this potato leafed variety to be very vigorous and good yielding with excellent tasting tomatoes. Madison County Pink: Grown for over a hundred years in the Poosey Ridge and Kirksville area of Madison County, KY, this tomato is grown by a lot of gardeners in those areas. It is a very smooth excellent tasting tomato. Pink Plum: From Buncombe County, NC, this plum shaped tomato is excellent for salads. It is also heavy yielding. Vinson Watts Tomato: Offered for the first time in 2006, 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 52 summers. The original seed was from Lee County, VA and was given to him by his work supervisor at Berea College, Wilson Evans. Those interested in the story of this 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 also the most disease resistant tomato I know of—the result of all those summers of selection for flavor, texture, and disease resistance. Vinson Watts Tomato: (Special Order) This year we have a limited number of seeds grown from plants from original seeds grown and gathered by Watts himself. While packets of our tomatoes will normally have from 30 40 forty seeds, seeds from this group will have from 15 to 20 seeds. Tommy Toe Tomatoes: In the Southern Appalachians one often hears gardeners talk about their tommy toes. By this they mean the small tomatoes that grow in many different areas outside of their gardens. Unlike the modern cherry tomato which has been bred for sweetness, the traditional tommy toes have a rich tomato flavor and smell and many individuals and families continue growing their favorite heirloom varieties. Most are quite disease resistant and continue bearing long after larger tomatoes have disappeared from the garden. Coyote: This is a good tasting whitish tommy toe from Lee County, Virginia Charles Davis Yellow Pear: From 98 year old Charles Davis of Otto, North Carolina, this short necked yellow pear produces well and has an excellent flavor. Margaret Best Tommy Toe: This tommy toe was grown by my mother for decades and is a heavy producer of light yellow tomatoes about a half inch in diameter. Robe Mountain Tommy Toe: An apparent mutant from the Vinson Watts tomato discovered in a row of Vinson Watts tomatoes four years ago, this inch-in-diameter pink tommy toe has bred true so far. It has an excellent flavor. Virginia’s Yellow Tommy Toe: From Lee County, Virginia, this somewhat oblong tommy toe is a heavy yielder with a good flavor. Yellow Pear: From Buncombe County, NC, this yellow pear tomato is larger than most variants and more disease resistant. It also has a heavy yield. HEIRLOOM CUCUMBER: Many people give us gifts of heirloom seeds from their families and not all are beans, peas, and tomatoes. This year we will be offering seeds of a nearly white heirloom cucumber that dates to the Civil War. Fred Beddingfield of Zirconia, NC (Henderson County) gave us Grandma Rosie Queen’s White Cucumber seeds. The seeds were passed to him by his mother who had received them from his Grandmother Staton. HEIRLOOM CANDYROASTER: Many people growing up in the mountains of North Georgia and Western North Carolina never ate pumpkin pies. Their families grew pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns or for animal feed, but they themselves ate candyroasters. Candyroasters are an excellent winter squash most likely from the Cherokee Indians. The candyroster seeds we have for sale were grown this summer from seeds provided by C.E. Holder and Lynden McCracken of the Upper Crabtree community in Haywood County, NC and do not bear the name of any particular individual or community. Many people consider candyroasters a delicacy. They can weigh up to fifty pounds and more and can be over four feet long. SPECIAL BEAN SEED OFFERING Each winter and spring we do numerous germination tests to make sure the bean seeds we are mailing out to growers are still germinating well. We usually plant those plants in rows and sell the beans grown that way at farmers’ markets. This medley of beans is very appealing to many customers who like the mixture of sizes and colors. This year we will again be selling a medley of seeds to seed customers as well. Customers who order six packets will receive one free medley packet and those who order twelve will receive two packets and so on. The bean medley packets will contain over 100 seeds of several varieties of beans. The medley packet may also be ordered as part of a regular order if desired. ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS: Send us a list of the bean, tomato, candyroaster, and cucumber seeds you wish to purchase along with your return address. We require payment before the seeds are shipped so please include a check or money order with your order. (Sorry, we don’t accept credit cards.) Mail your order to the following address: SMAC Beans are $7.00 if only one packet is ordered. Any packets beyond the first packet are $6.00 per packet. Packets of most bean seeds will contain 100 and more seeds except for Goose beans which will contain at least 50 seeds and Noble Beans which will contain 25 seeds. These prices include packaging and postage. Tomato seeds are $4.00 per packet of 30-40 seeds except for the special collection of Vinson Watts tomato seeds which is $4.00 for 20-25 seeds. While supplies last we will also include a packet of ten candyroaster seeds with orders of $50.00 or more and an additional packet of heirloom cucumber seeds with orders of $75.00 or more. Those wishing to order packets of cucumber and candyroaster seeds with smaller orders can do so. Packets of 10 candyroaster seeds will be $5.00 if ordered as part of a larger order. Packets of approximately 50 cucumber seeds will be $5.00 if accompanied by another order. 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 substitution or refund. 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 interns working for us each summer. If you have questions or comments, please call me at 859-986-3204 after 8 p.m. eastern time or e-mail me at bill_best@heirlooms.org My mailing address is: IMPORTANT INFORMATION: We have been collecting heirloom bean seeds of the Southern Appalachians for decades. Many of them are regional beans and fairly well known, but the vast majority are family heirlooms 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 certainly hope that 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 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, seeds might become infested with bean weevils, and this can become a serious problem quickly. 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 a bean blossom 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. Lastly, for those who are so inclined and like to plant by the signs, we would recommend that beans be planted when the sign is in the arms if possible. This is the common practice in our area and seems to work well for most who practice planting by the signs. I happen to be one of those who plants beans by the signs.------Bill Best
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