Post by macmex on Jun 2, 2016 11:42:06 GMT -6
Jerreth and I obtained seed for Tennessee Cutshort in 1985. Her Aunt Clara and Uncle Doy Henny, in Salem, Illinois had been growing this bean as their primary canning bean, for some time. They had received the seed from an aunt named Olive Stroup, who had brought the seed back from a family visit in Tennessee, around 1950. When she brought the seed back she told her relatives that this bean was “grown all over the South.”
I can still remember the crisp fall day, when Grandpa and Grandma Swalley (Albert Leon and Cora Swalley) took us about 20 minutes to the Henny’s home and Aunt Clara and Uncle Doy took us out to the garden. There were some tripods of Tennessee Cutshort with dry seed on them. They handed me the toe of an old nylon and told me to “get me some seed.” I did. I doubt they could have understood that their gift was better than almost any Christmas present. To this day I treasure this variety.
Aunt Clara was sister to Cora Swalley. Jerreth and I had married in 1981 and her grandparents quickly discovered that we shared a love of gardening. But most interesting to them, I was passionate about discovering old seed, unavailable in seed catalogs. They had obtained seed for Barksdale Wax Pole Bean from an aunt who was 101 years old at the time. She couldn’t remember where she had gotten the seed. But she had grown it for 40 or 50 years. I know Grandma Swalley mentioned that Clyde Barksdale, a neighbor when they still lived on the family homestead outside of Salem, had grown the bean for years. But I doubt that this aunt was Olive Stroup, who supplied the Henny family with seed for Tennessee Cutshort. My experience with that generation was they they tended to grow only one or two varieties of any sort of bean, and that they didn’t think about preservation. Their motivation was primarily frugality. They didn’t want to buy seed and they liked what they had. Yet, if something came along which caught their fancy, they might just drop an heirloom without thinking about the fact that no one else had it.
The first time I grew Tennessee Cutshort my young family and I had just uprooted from four years of living in Northern Indiana and moved back to my native New Jersey. I was unable to plant a garden that year. But my father, in Colts Neck, graciously let me plant an entire trellis of this bean in his garden. The variety grew vigorously and produced quickly, for a pole bean. But after a relatively brief harvest, all the vines dried down. The vines didn’t grow much over 6’ tall. I ended up with plenty of seed, which I then shared through the Seed Savers Exchange.
At the time of that first growout I had no idea about tender podded beans (old fashioned string beans). So, I just assumed that one had to pick them young to use them as snaps. The tips were especially hard and my wife insisted that we remove the tips before cooking them. I had been accustomed to leaving the tips on my snap beans. But, I was quite impressed with the large size and plump form of the dried seed. It struck me that this bean could make a good dry bean.
I lost my seed sometime after we moved to Central Mexico in 1988. I don’t have any record of growing it again until 1999. By that time almost my entire seed collection had expired. I requested this and other beans from Seed Saver Member Mark Futterman in 1999 and grew it in Los Remedios, Tasquillo, Hidalgo, Mexico; picking up the family tradition of maintaining this bean. It did alright at the 20th parallel.
In 2001 we moved back to NJ and in 2002 Tennessee Cutshort was right in there with the first things I planted in our new garden. We’ve grown it every year since.
This bean has never dried down like that first grow out in 1986. I’ve harvested dry seed as early as 76 days and found that the main seed crop seems to come in at around 91, depending on climate. The vines, ever since 1999, have lived past their main production and given a trickle of snaps, right up until frost. When I take down my trellis’ I generally find quite a few dry seed, hiding in the foliage. Here in Oklahoma I can plant in April or early May, eat snaps from that planting, harvest dry seed and then plant another planting which will give abundant snaps in late summer and early fall. I've also planted it in the middle part of July and still managed, not only to get snaps, but also seed.
This bean, though called a “cutshort” rarely exhibits any sharp edged seeds. Pods produce between 5 and 8 seed. Back around 2009 I started selecting for 8 seed to the pod. But a couple years ago, I realized that I was starting to get sharp edged, “cutshort” type seed, making this bean nearly indistinguishable (at least to me) from Frank Barnett. I then opted to stop this kind of selection with a view of preserving the distinctive seed shape of Tennessee Cutshort.
I have grown this bean on poles, cattle panels and corn. It has done well on all forms of support.
An interesting note:
In 2007 I received seed for Childers Cutshort, a Kentucky heirloom, from Gene Hosey. He contacted me through the Gardenweb site, asking if they might be the same bean. I answered him, mentioning that I thought it doubtful, after all, what were the odds that two brown seeded beans be identical? He insisted on sending me some seed of his family heirloom, which he had just received from his elderly mother in the fall of 2006.
The seed arrived and looked very similar to Tennessee Cutshort. I planted some in 2007 and found that the plants, growth habit and seed were identical! Gene told me that his parents received their seed from Eddie Childers of Merrimac (Taylor County), KY in 1975.
Looking on the map I found that Merrimac is close to part of Tennessee. So, I suspect I know more or less what part of Tennessee Olive Stroup visited!
Interestingly, Gene Hosey commented to me that his mother considered Childers Cutshort to be a half runner and had always grown it as a half runner which needed support. I grew it on poles, and it easily topped 10.’ In 2009 I used three broken handled spading forks as support and planted them with Childers Cutshort, just to see what would happen. The plants covered the forks and threw runners. They didn’t top 4 ½.’ But they produced! This tells me that some beans are quite adaptable in regard to growth habit.
(2016) I still have some frozen seed of Childers Cutshort and need to grow it out. My life has gotten so full that it is hard to grow out all of my beans let alone all the intriguing heirlooms which are sent to me.
