Comments on: A Bean, By Any Other Name, Wouldst Taste As Sweet?

Comment on A Bean, By Any Other Name, Wouldst Taste As Sweet? by: Nancy

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:40:44 +0000

We live in Missouri and what would a garden be without horticulture beans? Granny always referred to them as “bird egg” beans and we still call them that today. Just finished two days of “beaning” and have 88 pints of those little rascals in my freezer..but..oh my aching thumbs!!! Nothing better in the winter then bird egg beans and cornbread..pintos can’t hold a candle to these brown beans! My brother, his wife, my 86 yr old mother, my husband and me..shelling beans, laughing and remembering good times! Heaven!!

Comment on A Bean, By Any Other Name, Wouldst Taste As Sweet? by: Linda

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:18:59 +0000

Thanks for the story and recipe. I have a great crop of horticulture beans in my garden this year (my parents always called them fresh pintos) and I googled the see how other people cooked them. I certainly intend to try a similar version of your recipe. In Arkansas we cooked them much like you did in Appalachia. They are usually available at our farmer’s market in
Fayetteville, Arkansas along with many other heirloom and ethnic vegetables.

Comment on A Bean, By Any Other Name, Wouldst Taste As Sweet? by: Sheri

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:00:00 +0000

OH, I wanted to add: The horticulture bean seed was my grandfather’s, and it had been in the refrigerator for 20 years when my uncle planted them this spring! He had a marvel harvest.
While our family sat and shelled the beans, a fawn and her mother walked along our creek and into the woods.

Comment on A Bean, By Any Other Name, Wouldst Taste As Sweet? by: Sheri

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:55:03 +0000

Barbara,
My bachelor uncle lives in a cabin and learned to garden from his Arkansas-born father. This weekend he gifted our family of 5 with 2 bushel of horticulture beans. As we sat in the shade and shelled the beans, we enjoyed each other’s company. Shelling the beans was already having a magic work, but I wondered how I’d preserve them and exactly how I’d fix them. I remembered eating a pale, sweet and creamy mixture as a child and wondered how to replicate that for my family. I googled “horticulture beans” and found your wonderful food blog! Thanks so much for the education, the clarification and the delicious recipe. Now I know what we’ll eat for supper; I have all the ingredients but the ham on hand. One question about preserving–do you recommend blanching the beans before freezing?

Comment on A Bean, By Any Other Name, Wouldst Taste As Sweet? by: Kathy

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 22:57:55 +0000

Thank you for the very nice article. I have not had these beans in years. Here in Western KY we call them Horticulture beans. The pasta recipe looks very good. I’ll have to ask my new daughter-in-law of Italian descent and whose family is from RI if she has ever had it.