Cherokee Trail of Tears pole bean
Jun 10, 2021 8:06:37 GMT -6
heavyhitterokra, rdback, and 2 more like this
Post by macmex on Jun 10, 2021 8:06:37 GMT -6
Most years I plant something in the little 8X4' garden we have at my place of work. It was constructed by the class of 2014 and shortly thereafter, abandoned. I keep it going. There's a real advantage to having a growing space that is so isolated from other garden crops that one could produce pure seed by planting just one variety. Last year I planted Hamby pole bean there. The year before I planted Ruth Bible pole bean. Next year I may well plant some other kind of crop, just for rotation's sake.
This year I planted Cherokee Trail of Tears pole bean in the spot (June 4, 2021. I have only grown this variety once before, in 2016, when a friend gave me some seedlings in small starter pots. I managed to get two poles going, a bit too close to my Tennessee Cutshorts and we ended up with some crossing. You can read about that here.
I've had fun with that cross, but really neglected to write much about Cherokee Trail of Tears itself, which is, in itself a very good bean. It is not an Appalachian style "full bean," meaning the pods are not exceptionally tender. Still, the ones I grew were quite good as snaps, if picked young. I thought they compared favorably to Kentucky Wonder, my parent's favorite, when I was growing up.
Now, last year on social media I saw comments from a number of Oklahoma gardeners who had planted Cherokee Trail of Tears and were very disappointed, as the pods toughened up too quickly. They didn't like them as snaps. That wasn't my experience in 2016. I suspect there are more than one strain of this bean out there. In fact, I heard a rumor that Abundant Life Seeds offered a strain which as better for snaps than others out there. I suspect that the original strain, carried over the Trail of Tears, had both tough and more tender podded beans, all mixed. This kind of mix is fairly typical of the indigenous beans I encountered in Mexico.
Anyway, I hope to do a more thorough evaluation of this variety this year.
Why this variety? After all, my passion is the tender podded "full bean." Well, for one thing, though not a full bean, this variety is plenty good for snaps and it produces a lot of them. Here's a picture of just the bottom half of a pole of these beans, taken in 2016.
That year I handed out samples of seed to a number of our local members, and, to this day, this is a very popular bean among our local members. One reason could be that we live in the capital of the Cherokee Nation, and Tahlequah was the primary landing place for those coming off the Trail of Tears. I have to think, however, that this bean's popularity has more to do with it's productivity, resiliency and beauty. It has gorgeous violet colored flowers and produces many pods, which can be used for snaps, and if not, produce an abundance of delicious black beans.
Cherokee Trail of Tears appears as resilient in heat as Rattlesnake or Coopers Running Snap.
Yesterday I saw my first beans coming up. Today, most were already fully open and dark green, ready to grow!
June 9, 2021
Today, June 10
This year I planted Cherokee Trail of Tears pole bean in the spot (June 4, 2021. I have only grown this variety once before, in 2016, when a friend gave me some seedlings in small starter pots. I managed to get two poles going, a bit too close to my Tennessee Cutshorts and we ended up with some crossing. You can read about that here.
I've had fun with that cross, but really neglected to write much about Cherokee Trail of Tears itself, which is, in itself a very good bean. It is not an Appalachian style "full bean," meaning the pods are not exceptionally tender. Still, the ones I grew were quite good as snaps, if picked young. I thought they compared favorably to Kentucky Wonder, my parent's favorite, when I was growing up.
Now, last year on social media I saw comments from a number of Oklahoma gardeners who had planted Cherokee Trail of Tears and were very disappointed, as the pods toughened up too quickly. They didn't like them as snaps. That wasn't my experience in 2016. I suspect there are more than one strain of this bean out there. In fact, I heard a rumor that Abundant Life Seeds offered a strain which as better for snaps than others out there. I suspect that the original strain, carried over the Trail of Tears, had both tough and more tender podded beans, all mixed. This kind of mix is fairly typical of the indigenous beans I encountered in Mexico.
Anyway, I hope to do a more thorough evaluation of this variety this year.
Why this variety? After all, my passion is the tender podded "full bean." Well, for one thing, though not a full bean, this variety is plenty good for snaps and it produces a lot of them. Here's a picture of just the bottom half of a pole of these beans, taken in 2016.
That year I handed out samples of seed to a number of our local members, and, to this day, this is a very popular bean among our local members. One reason could be that we live in the capital of the Cherokee Nation, and Tahlequah was the primary landing place for those coming off the Trail of Tears. I have to think, however, that this bean's popularity has more to do with it's productivity, resiliency and beauty. It has gorgeous violet colored flowers and produces many pods, which can be used for snaps, and if not, produce an abundance of delicious black beans.
Cherokee Trail of Tears appears as resilient in heat as Rattlesnake or Coopers Running Snap.
Yesterday I saw my first beans coming up. Today, most were already fully open and dark green, ready to grow!
June 9, 2021
Today, June 10