Plant-based proteins from Canadian Heritage Beans
Edible legumes such as beans and peas are a reliable source of high quality protein. Food self-sufficiency and sustainablility are vital during this time of highly varying climate and weather extremes. Beans can be an important contribution to climate resilient diets and are easily grown across Canada.
Heritage Bean Varieties
Bean diversity, like that of potatoes, is great and much of it is maintained by backyard gardeners and small-scale growers in Canada and traditional farmers around the world.
Explore the amazing varieties of beans grown in Canada. We regularly add descriptions of our favourite varieties here, with tips on how to grow and use them.
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...
Costa Rica Red Bean: Traditional, productive and easy to grow.
More and more folks are enjoying the ecological and cultural diversity of Central America. These daysCosta Rica seems to be the place to visit with its peace-loving people, relaxed lifestyle, and ecologicalattitude the country is particularly attractive to Canadian...
Calypso: a pretty and early dry bean
There are many attractive-looking dry beans to grow such as the beautiful red- or maroon-spotted “Borlotti” or Cranberry types such as La Pinta and the gold hued red marked Tiger’s Eye (see articles on our site). I am particularly attracted to seeds that have black...
Drew’s Dandy: An extraordinary northern bean
Our Crop Climate project aims to investigate beans that might thrive in Canada’s largely northern climate with its short growing season. We have found one that fits the bill! Drew’s Dandy hails from the Carrot River area of east central Saskatchewan. Carrot River is...
Aura: An extra early Polish bush bean
Our crop climate project aims to preserve and test a diversity of varieties especially for northern climates with short growing seasons. My rather eclectic approach to the bean component of our project was to trial whatever we could find. A few years ago, I purchased...
Kashmir Bean: Mountain Bounty
Kashmir conjures up visions of monstrous mountains covered in snow at the top of the world, and certainly does not call up a picture of beans. Yet according to one source Kashmir heritage beans are the most widely used variety in India! Who could resist trying this...
Xico – Black Bean Bounty
Part of a series on growing heritage bean varieties for local food sustainability. Figure 1. At centre, a row of closely planted Xico bushes with pink flower (bottom of photo), Edamame (soy beans) to the left and various pole beans to the right. Dense planting...
Spanish Pinta: one early bean
Several years ago, I bought an attractive speckled bean in a local grocery store in Villanova, in Catalunya (Catalonia, Spain). Villanova is a small rural and vacation town about 45 minutes along the coast from Barcelona (Figure 1). When I asked the shop attendant if...