As seed keepers, students at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, ME, rogue out any bean crosses as they shell heirloom varieties each fall. As plant breeders, they can’t resist growing out those crosses to see what happens! Dubbed “weirdo beans,” these glorious mutts spin out a ragtag rainbow of patterns, habits and ancestral forms. Like middle schoolers, they are colorful, unpredictable and, well, kinda weird. From the ranks of these hybrid misfits, Troy Howard proudly presents the PB&J Nebula Gene Pool! Lightly selected for vigor, yield, disease resistance and bush habit, but maintaining a high degree of diversity, these beans outyield almost all the other beans in the school’s collection. Parentage includes a bean called Tarahumara (presumably from the Rarámuri of Mexico, though the lineage is not certain), Bumblebee, and unknown others. The predominant forms are a range of peanut-butter browns and a constellation of jelly-colored nebular swirls with unexpected variations here and there. Great potential for selecting out new varieties—just keep them free under the OSSI pledge! F5 generation. Seeds grown and packed by the students—we split the proceeds.
PB&J Nebula Gene Pool Shell and Dry Bush Bean
Shipping
Items shipping from our garden seeds warehouse take 1-3 business days to process.
* We are currently receiving seed from our growers. We may hold orders for up to two weeks as we pack seed to complete orders.
Additional Information
Shell and Dry Bush Beans
About 70-190 seeds/oz packet. Seed size varies widely by variety.
Culture: In conditions of high nitrogen fertility some bush beans may develop vines in moist hot weather. Tender, will not survive frost. Plant 3–4 seeds/ft in rows 24–30" apart. Pick frequently for maximum yields, but avoid disturbing foliage in wet weather to prevent spread of fungal diseases.
Harvest at shelling stage when beans are plump inside pods. For dry beans let pods dry hard on the vine until pressing the beans with your fingernail leaves no indentation. If heavy rains or hard frost threaten before full dry maturity, either pull plants by the roots and hang them in a dry place to finish; or pick pods into mesh or paper bags and finish drying them indoors before threshing.
Beans
- All beans are open-pollinated.
- Days to maturity are from seeding date.
Culture: Tender, will not survive frost. Inoculate with a legume inoculant, then plant seeds 3–4" apart in rows 24–30" apart after all danger of frost has passed and soil has warmed. Minimum germination soil temperature 60°; optimal range 70–80°. White-seeded beans are generally more sensitive to cold soil temps than dark-seeded varieties. Legumes have moderate fertility needs and can fix their own nitrogen.
Saving Seed: Saving bean seed is easy! Leave pods on the plants to dry. Hand shell, or stomp pods on a tarp. To ensure true-to-type seed, separate varieties by 30 feet.
Diseases:
- ANTH: Anthracnose
- BBS: Bacterial Brown Spot
- CBMV: Common Bean Mosaic Virus
- CTV: Curly Top Virus
- DM: Downy Mildew
- HB: Halo Blight
- NY 15: NY 15 Mosaic Virus
- PM: Powdery Mildew
- PMV: Pod Mottle Virus
- R: Rust
- SC: Sclerotina
White mold, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, affects more than 300 plant species. In beans, low humidity, good air circulation and wider spacing, both between plants and between rows, reduce the likelihood of this soil-borne infection.
Germination Testing
For the latest results of our germination tests, please see the germination page.
Our Seeds are Non-GMO
All of our seeds are non-GMO, and free of neonicotinoids and fungicides. Fedco is one of the original companies to sign the Safe Seed Pledge.