Beka: Golden Brown Bean
Richard Hebda Our Heritage Bean Project searches for early varieties widely adapted to northern climates especially in Canada. The variety Beka with its beautiful golden-brown seeds appeared as a likely candidate on several seed websites. One colourful source “A Bean...
Tanya’s Pink Pod: A British Columbia Island Original
Richard Hebda and Dan Jason New bean varieties must arise somewhere. There are of course intentional crosses to improve characteristics such as productivity and disease resistance. Historically however bean varieties have arisen either by mutation of a common variety...
Drew’s Dandy Delivers!
In a previous article I described the characteristics of an early prairie bush bean called Drew’s Dandy and its value for dry beans (see https://heritagepotato.ca/heritage-beans/drews-dandy/ on this website). Drew’s Dandy is a common bean, Phaesolus vulgaris. This...
Frosty Beans: Unexpected extremes in a mild climate
Climate change is causing problems on our farms… droughts, floods, heat domes, fires, pests. 2023 is projected to be the first year that global mean surface temperatures exceed 1.5 C of warming. It may be getting warmer overall, but the transition to warmer conditions...
Blue Jay: Discovery in the Bean Patch
Few heritage beans receive much media attention, however the attractively coloured and named Blue Jay recently came to national notice through an article on in Canada’s Globe and Mail by Erin Anderssen...Potatoes In The News
Gardening and Climate Change
This video by professor and botanist Dr. Richard Hebda looks at ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change within your garden. He specifically focuses on water managed landscape techniques, techniques for preparing excellent soils, the advantages of diverse and dense plantings, and the (numerous) benefits of mulch!
For more great gardening resources: www.growingfood-together.com
How Peru’s potato museum could stave off world food crisis
Read the Guardian article here.
With a climate changing faster than most crops can adapt and food security under threat around the world, scientists have found hope in a living museum dedicated to a staple eaten by millions daily: the humble potato
This spud’s for you: A breeding revolution could unleash the potential of potato
Potatoes that are resilient in the face of climate change is more important forever. This article talks of some of the challenges of breeding and selecting climate-smart potatoes.
Unleashing the potential of the potato
News from the Blog
Starting with 2 potatoes, in two years, Scott Harris harvests 120 pounds!
Read about Scott's success growing Ozette-Nootka potatoes in Metchosin, BC.