Rare Heirloom Beans: Growing and Cooking the World's Finest Varieties

Beyond the Green Bean The humble green bean conceals a world of extraordinary diversity. There are thousands of named bean varieties — climbing and dwarf, green, yellow, purple, and striped, eaten pod and all or shelled and dried. Many of the most beautiful and delicious were developed by Indigenous American, European, and Asian farmers over centuries and are now largely unknown to supermarket shoppers. Growing heirloom beans is simultaneously an act of culinary discovery and cultural preserva…