Snap Bean (String, Green or French Bean) 'Oregon Giant'

From Pacific Northwest Garden History: "A pole bean with a delicious flavor, 'Oregon Giant' produces huge green beans that are still tend...Read Moreer and nearly stringless when they are more than a foot long. Picked young (and with these beans, that means at twice the size of ordinary beans), they are sweet and flavorful - an excellent snap bean. Left to mature, 'Oregon Giants' are popular as shelly beans. What is less well known about them is that 'Oregon Giants' will germinate in cold soil (some claim they will even germinate in mud). Because they will grow when other beans rot, gardeners can plant them early and harvest them long before other pole beans are ready.

This variety, which is now endangered, dates at least to the 1920s, and perhaps earlier. The Portland Seed Co. listed it in 1921, calling it 'Dickenson's Yount.' Their description explained that "The origin of this bean is unknown but it has been planted in home gardens in Oregon for many years and the fortunate few who have obtained seed consider it the best bean for table or canning green."

Today, this old-time bean has largely disappeared, shunned by consumers who think the giant, speckled pods must be tough and woody. Astute gardeners know better, enjoying a mighty tasty bean that thrives in the maritime Northwest. "