Putting the string back in string beans
Most people today call them green beans. Some call them snap beans. But it’s uncommon to hear anyone refer to them as string beans anymore. That’s because the pesky strings have been bred out in commercial varieties. But so have the flavor and tenderness, says Bill Best. Best collects, grows and sells the seeds of nearly 400 varieties of old-fashioned beans, and he is particularly fond of the type that mountain folk call greasy beans. Greasy beans lack the fuzzy texture on the outside of the pod, and instead have a smooth surface that indeed appears greasy.
Unlike commercial green beans, in which seeds are almost nonexistent at harvest time, greasies aren’t picked until the seed is fully formed inside the pod. The pods are still tender, and the cook snaps them, not shells them, after first removing the tough strings. Best says the flavor of the beans and pods, which some describe as buttery, is beyond compare.
Greasy beans appear to have originated in central Appalachia, and are often called “family beans.” Because beans mutate fairly readily, families would save the seeds of their own unique varieties, year after year. Best, who grew up in the wilds of North Carolina’s Haywood County, still grows and sells his aunt’s 150-year-old bean variety at farmer’s markets in his current home in Kentucky.
There’s still plenty of time to plant greasies (which are climbing varieties, or pole beans, that must be grown on trellises or teepees). These beans bear in 50 to 70 days, depending on variety. Best will fill mail orders as long as his 2008 seed inventory lasts. Beans are $6 per package (~100 seeds), which includes handling and shipping. At press time, Best still had North Carolina natives in stock, including the Small Lazy Wife Greasy from Madison County, the Grady Bailly Greasy from Polk County, and the North Carolina Speckled Long Greasy Cut-Short. You can view the catalog at www.heirlooms.org. Or contact Best via bill_best@heirlooms.org, Sustainable Mountain Agriculture Center, 1033 Pilot Knob Cemetery Road, Berea, KY 40403 or (859) 986-3204.