I planted a row of purple queen beans on 4/22/10. The package said it was a bush bean, but when looking at the beans today it seems as if they are more like pole beans than bush beans. The plants are about 18-24 inches high and have grown 6-9 inch tendrils. Could these possibly be a type of pole bean? Has anyone had their beans do this before?
Purple Queen Bean
Purple Queen is a bush bean and a very good purple podded snap bean. Some bush beans do grow short runners. You must have very fertile soil tho, mine do not get that big.
Oh, yum, FD! Them's lookin' mighty good!!!
Thanks Farmerdill. Those are very good looking. We are looking forward to seeing beans, no blossoms yet. The soil is pro-mix from last years grow bags mixed with topsoil and clay. Not sure how fertile it is. We are going to side-dress with 10-10-10 after some intense weeding.
Beautiful, FD. I can hardly wait for mine to be ready. I love Purple Queen because they're prolific and hard to miss!
I have 2 other varieties, but these look especially yummy! Will have to give them a go. Do these stay purple or turn green when cooked?
They turn green as soon as you blanch them.
The Purple Bush Bean that I have does, too, but the purple podded peas do not. They look very cool on a plate with mashed potatoes and cauliflower. This year I am growing blue potatoes, too, so my platters should be looking very other worldly!
Purple podded peas, Sequee? Please do tell. I have not seen these before. I love growing purple veggies!
I got my seeds from Hudson Valley Seed Library, info following...
Purple Podded Pea
Peter Piper pipes in, "Paars-cabines zijn eenvoudig te herkennen en perfect te laten."
Currently on backorder.
Library Pack : Grown by the Hudson Valley Seed Library
Eligible for Membership Deal
Limited quantities of this variety mean it is available only to members of the Seed Library. Click here to learn about joining, or if you're already a member click here to login.
Translation, "Purple pods are simple to spot and perfect to pick." These deeply saturated purple pods are born out of delicately bi-colored flowers making this climbing pea both ornamental and edible. Brought to New York by the Dutch, these soup peas are also known as "Capucijners" and "Blauwschokkers" after the Capuchin Monks who developed the strain during medieval times. Tasty as fresh pods when small but traditionally used for dry stock soup peas during the winter. Great beginner seed saver variety. Our first seeds came from the Gardiner Library storytime children who planted, grew, and saved seed in the library's front garden. If three year olds can do it, so can you!
50 seeds per pack.
Well, I couldn't wait for your reply, and my googling lead me to this....
http://www.amishlandseeds.com/images/bluepeas8.jpg
Does that look like your purple peas? They're listed as "CAPUCIJNERS BLUE POD HEIRLOOM PEAS -aka POIS A CROSSE VIOLETTE" halfway down the page. There's a picture of the flowers too.
http://www.amishlandseeds.com/legumes.htm
Yep, that'd be them! I didn't grow alot of them, so I used them all fresh - didn't even consider them a soup bean.
I'd like to try some of those next season. Very interesting. My mother's ancestors were among the first Dutch settlers in NY.
Hmmm, I thought I had my garden all in, but now I think I have to get some of these seeds to try. I'll have to figure out a place to put them.
They really don't take up much room if fake them a trellis.
I wish I could give you some seeds, but I sent my definites to bluecat in MD. Towards the end of the season I got tired of saving seeds so I just threw the pods into one pot. Now they are the pea-pot...only God knows which are which. If I end up with some in the garden, I will be more diligent about saving them properly!