Snap Bean (String, Green or French Bean) 'Mountaineer Half Runner'

Production is really good with this variety. They taste really good but I try to pick them before they become too large because of the t...Read Moreough strings. Be sure to have something for them to run on.

My Grandmother always grew this bean in South-Western Virginia and she used to tell me that her great-grandmother taught her how to grow ...Read Morethem. In any case I always grew this bean in my garden in Central Florida (no problems, easiest thing in the world to grow) and when I moved to California I tried it here, again, with no problem. The first patch I planted in CA came from a jar of seeds my Mom had been given about 15 years ago (she kept it tucked in the fridge all that time). I'm now watching my 4th year's planting come up. And, I've always grown this trellised, a few light stakes and some string does fine. If we don't eat these as fast as we grow them we snap and freeze the surplus or can them.

The Mountain Half Runner is one of the best of the half runners. A tender round snap bean that does well without support. Yields well and...Read More actually tolerates the Georgia heat. Dixie Half runner is more popular here but they are very similar. In Virginia, the dried snaps referred to as shuck beans by Kentuckians are called leather britches. Most often a pole bean like Kentucky Wonder is used for that purpose.

The very prolific 'Mountaineer Half Runner' has been traced back to eastern Kentucky. This Heirloom variety is one of the best tasting gr...Read Moreeen beans you'll ever eat. Also great when the entire bean pod is strung, snapped and dried completely (preferably for several days in the sun) and then cooked with ham during the winter. We call these "shucky beans." While half runners are classified as a bush bean, they do far better when grown as a pole bean. I also lived in Utah (a very arid area) and grew these beans very sussessfully in an irrigated garden there.