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Post by macmex on Mar 9, 2022 8:30:23 GMT -6
I need to grow Flossie Powell's again, soon. I did notice that Russ Crow has it. Russ is a big time bean collector/grower/breeder, up in Illinois. He gave a good description over at the Seed Savers' Exchange website.
"Pole Lima. Starts producing first dry pods in about 95 days. Productive plants introduced into the Seed Savers Exchange, in the 1980’s by Harold R. Martin of Hopkinsville, KY who got it from an aunt named Ethel Martin. Ethel Martin, in turn, received her start of seed from Flossie Powell in 1922. Source: TN CO J 2017."
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Post by john on Mar 14, 2022 11:33:16 GMT -6
I do like Limas and have grown many types. Too me their best use is in Succotash with a nice and sweet, sweet corn. I will spice it up a little with chorizo or Andouille sausage, bacon or salt pork can be used also. I cut the Corn off the cob and mix with the shelled limas. Choose the ratio of beans to corn that you like. (I prefer about 1/4- 1/8 lima to corn) I use milk and water perhaps a 50/50 blend. I fill the pot just enough to see the liquid start to rise to the level of the surface of the corn and beans. Then I simmer for several hours, I prefer to boil off most of the liquid, I make sure to leave some liquid. (if you are not careful it will burn.). The beans are done when they are the consistency of a boiled potato. I really dislike them if they are undercooked. I freeze many many quarts of this every winter and will eat those up first in preference over the straight sweetcorn. The dark colored limas will bleed a bit into the succotash and give it a grey color. So I prefer the green(white when dried) limas like King of the garden or Dr Martin for pole varieties, but in my opinion the absolute best succotash comes from the bush variety Fordhook which was introduced by Burpee . . (They are the fattest and plumpest). I have made good succotash from just about every type of bean their is. Scarlet runner,Horticultural and over grown green beans just to name a few. I think some people like succotash and and others don't. My kids all like it but my wife can take it or leave it. I found this and cut and pasted it from the usda website about the history of the fordhook bean "The modern conception of lima beans as a garden staple is owed in part to W. Atlee Burpee and the Burpee Seed Company. As described by their company history, In 1888, Burpee bought a farm near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, called Fordhook, and began transforming it into what would soon become a world-famous plant development facility....But occasionally he found what he was looking for surprisingly close to home. Such was the case of the first Bush Lima Bean, which he found growing in the garden of a man named Asa Palmer in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1890. Until then, lima beans had been strictly climbing plants needing poles for support. After cutworms had wiped out Palmer's bean patch one year, he was stacking his poles for winter when he noticed one odd little plant still flourishing. It was definitely a bush rather than a climber, only a foot high, and it had three little pods each containing a single bean. He planted the seeds the following season, and two of them grew into low bushes bearing a generous yield. He then sold the seeds to W. Atlee Burpee. By 1907, the bush lima bean as we now know it had been developed, and it was named The Fordhook . So exceptional are its eating qualities that it has remained a home gardener's favorite to this day. Lima bean aficionados speak of being "Fordhooked". W. Atlee Burpee & Co. (undated). The Legacy of W. Atlee Burpee. www.burpee.com/gardenadvicecenter/get-to-know/the-legacy-of-w.-a...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Mar 15, 2022 7:46:34 GMT -6
John, your post just made me remember so fondly my childhood meals of succotash on bread. My mother grew Lima beans, but she always made her succotash with corn and Horticultural shell beans. She would can many pints in the summer, and it was a regular meal for us in the winter months. She would bake bread every week, spread a slice with her homemade butter, top it with succotash and salt, then pour a little fresh cream over the top. Yum!
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Post by john on Mar 20, 2022 7:17:20 GMT -6
I agree Hort beans do make an excellent tasting succotash.
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Post by macmex on Mar 21, 2022 4:25:02 GMT -6
This is great cultural/historical information. Thanks. I'll probably grow Calico Willow Leaf Pole Lima this year. Maybe I can fix some for eating
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 21, 2022 9:48:15 GMT -6
chrysanthemum,
Is this Succotash recipe anywhere close to what your mom used to make? I'm pretty sure I'd opt for the horticultural shell beans too, Lima beans are kind of large and dry for my taste, but I'd still eat them. This recipe makes me wish it was already summer.
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil (Instead of olive oil, I use two slices of crispy fried bacon and its grease). 1/2 white onion, minced 4 cups frozen corn (or fresh corn cut off the cob) 2 cups frozen lima beans or 1 1/2 cup of fresh horticultural shell beans 1 red bell pepper, finely diced 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or 2 cups fresh slicing tomatoes chopped 1 teaspoon garlic powder or one clove minced fresh garlic ½ teaspoon smoked paprika ½ teaspoon ground sage 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste Fresh ground black pepper 1 tablespoon salted butter (or olive oil) or bacon grease 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, or fresh chopped dill, or fresh chopped basil, optional
Instructions Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes, until translucent. Add the corn, beans, red pepper, tomatoes, garlic powder, smoked paprika, dried sage, salt, and the fresh ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until all vegetables are tender and nearly cooked, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the salted butter and parsley (if using) and cook 1 minute more, until the butter is melted. Taste and add the additional salt if desired. Serve hot.
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Post by hmoosek on Apr 22, 2022 20:15:07 GMT -6
I need to grow Flossie Powell's again, soon. I did notice that Russ Crow has it. Russ is a big time bean collector/grower/breeder, up in Illinois. He gave a good description over at the Seed Savers' Exchange website.
"Pole Lima. Starts producing first dry pods in about 95 days. Productive plants introduced into the Seed Savers Exchange, in the 1980’s by Harold R. Martin of Hopkinsville, KY who got it from an aunt named Ethel Martin. Ethel Martin, in turn, received her start of seed from Flossie Powell in 1922. Source: TN CO J 2017." That’s where mine and your seeds came from. When you mentioned you’d like to grow it again, I reached out to Russ and it just so happened he had them. He’s a pretty nice fellow. Annette introduced me to him around 4 or 5 years ago.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Apr 22, 2022 21:41:37 GMT -6
heavyhitterokra, I’m sorry I’m so late in answering your inquiry. That recipe sounds delicious but nothing like my mother’s. I’m pretty sure hers was corn, horticultural shell beans, and some salt. Pretty basic but oh so good.
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Post by hmoosek on Jun 21, 2022 15:14:06 GMT -6
macmex George, Would a July planting be time enough for seed saving this variety? The middle of July last year is when I started Tennessee Cutshort. I think you said Flossie Powell takes 100 days, so that should be plenty of time.
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Post by macmex on Jun 21, 2022 19:30:33 GMT -6
I would think so.
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