Pictures and words on websites are great for attracting attention and providing a bit of guidance to the choice of varieties. Perusing the well-known and highly reliable Rancho Gordo’s website (https://www.ranchogordo.com/collections/heirloom-beans ) from California I came across an alluring pole bean highly recommended for its flavour. Despite a late sowing the first year, I was rewarded with remarkable yields. Here is a pole bean with a reasonable growing season that deserves the recommendation it has gotten.
Good Mother Stallard grows into a robust and tall pole bean. Unlike many pole beans of the scarlet runner species (Phaseolus coccineus), its growth seems to terminate at the end of the season and the plants die and dry like many bush beans. Typical plants reach 3-3.5 m (10-11.5’) tall though you can keep them shorter if you train them on a 2 m (6.5’) high fence. White to faintly pink flowers are produced first toward the base and then all along the stem to the tip.
Good Mother Stallard’s dry pods are firm, markedly wrinkled and they split easily. The pods are relatively short for a common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) variety, typically 8-9cm (3.5”) long. The point is straight to curved and short, about 1 cm (2/5”) long. At maturity the pale beige to faintly yellow pods appear swollen and constricted around the seeds. They are generally round in cross section and about 1 cm (2/5”) across.
Three to five seeds typically occur in each pod. The striking seed colour consists of a swirl and spatter of maroon on a white to pale beige background. The outline is oval, and the seed slightly flattened. The prominent white scar may be slightly raised and is usually offset toward the attachment end of the pod. A maroon ring often surrounds the scar, unless the ring is not complete when the underlying ring colour is yellow. The maroon surface ornament often extends in a straight line toward the pointed end of the pod. Typically seeds are 1.2-1.3cm (1/2”) long, 1 cm high (2/5 “) and about 0.7cm (1/4”) thick.
I have successfully raised dry seeds from both a normal and late sowing. The first year I grew them I sowed seeds on June 28 a month or more later than is normal. All seeds sprouted within 10 days. Vines reached 40 cm (16” tall) by July 27, at which time I installed poles. The vines climbed rapidly to 3m (10’) by August 7 when the first flower buds showed. Within a week the plants had numerous open flowers and were loaded in buds distributed all along the stalk. First tiny 1 cm (2/5”) pods appeared August 28 while plants were still loaded in blooms. On September 8 flowers remained abundant and 4-5 cm (2”) long flat pods were present from top to bottom of the plants. Pods began to yellow by September 19 with most having turned by September 26. Drying happened mostly October 1-5, and I harvested many dry pods October 13. The remainder was harvested October 29 with about 10% left unpicked. The sowing to main harvest interval was 103 days, though the earliest pods could have been picked at about 95 days.
The year 2023 had a more typical planting season beginning late April (30th) with pre-soaked (18 hrs) seeds sowed under a plastic sheet cover. In this case, plants took longer to develop not reaching the first flower, full-height stage until July 8 almost two weeks longer than in previous year. By July 31, tall and vigorous plants were in full bloom and had many tiny to full-sized pods. Flowering and pod production continued to August 13 when the first leaves had begun to yellow. The first dry pods appeared by August 31, 124 days from sowing. The main harvest was on September 6 with 90% of the pods picked by September 20. Based on these dates it took 130 days to main harvest, much longer than from a late June sowing. Interestingly at least one website suggests that pods be harvested progressively to keep the yields coming and I would agree with this.
Various sources on the web suggest a days-to-harvest interval of 85-95 days, the shortest time observed here on the Saanich Peninsula and certainly shorter than my main harvest. It also looks like there is little advantage to sowing early and even into mid May. This is one bean that likes warm weather and will ripen from a late May (typically Canadian) date and mature before the onset of fall.
Concerning yields, the first year I grew the yield was excellent, 0.42 kg/m (0.28 lbs/foot) over two harvests. Last year the yield was much less at 0.20 kg/m (0.13 lbs/foot) from an open field. Then this year despite early rabbit attack and a fair degree of shade I again got 0.42 kg/m. Interestingly Rancho Gordo have grown this bean on the West Coast with some disappointing harvests, suggesting the variety is sensitive to the variations in our climate. The yield is modest to excellent, considering this bean can be run up a wall trellis or at the back of a bed and can tolerate shade.
Mother Stallard’s history is recorded by Seed Savers Exchange (https://shop.seedsavers.org/good-mother-stallard-bean). They received it from the John Withee’s (of Massachusetts) huge collection in 1981. It is named for Carrie Belle Stallard of Wise County, Virginia and dates to at least the 1930s.
I was attracted to growing Good Mother Stallard by Steve Sando’s comment on the Rancho Gordo website. “I hate when anyone asks me to name my favorite bean. Can you name a favorite child? No! But if I had favorites, I’d certainly have to consider Good Mother Stallards.”
I have yet to eat my Good Mother Stallard except in a soup where it was very tasty. Steve Sando notes that it has… “a deep rich flavor, velvety texture and an addicting bean broth”. Seed Savers Exchange notes the variety is suited for baking and soups. They suggest these beans liked to be cooked long and slow at low heat to keep their texture and flavor at it’s peak. Recommended pairings include; a side for roasted sausage or mushrooms, or in ham and kale soup and in chili.
Personally, considering how tasty they apparently can be, I must try them for a main dish prepared from an Instant pot. In view of their modest growing season requirements, capacity to grow tall and yield lots of beans, this might just be the common pole bean for many of us to grow. In any case they sure would look beautiful on display in a jar.
