Pole Bean/ Snap Bean
Why do we like this bean?
This is the go-to bean for many people. It has that traditional “good wholesome flavour” you are looking for in a bean and a beautiful deep green colour. Blue Lake beans are tender and crisp. This is an easy to grow pole bean.
A bit of history:
In the 1920s-1950s Blue Lake was the backbone of the bean canning industry, in particular in the Blue Lakes area of Lake County, California. That is where the name Blue Lakes originates (now more commonly called Blue Lake). But where did this bean come from?
Our research suggests Blue Lake was a selection of an old bean called ‘White Creaseback’ which has an even older name of ‘Fat Horse’. I’ll mention two amazing sources we used to help us trace this history: 1) Dr James Baggett’s book and 2) old seed catalogues from the Corneli Seed Company.
1) Dr James Baggett was a famous plant breeder at Oregon State University. He developed some quite well-known varieties, such as Cascadia pea, Oregon Giant pea, Honeyboat squash and Siletz tomato. And he co-wrote a book on the history of the Blue Lake bean. You can read it here.
To summarize his findings: Blue Lake is a selection of White Creaseback (Fat Horse); White Creaseback is an old bean that can be traced to the Upper Missouri region and Indigenous people living in this region. To be even more specific, this is likely an Indigenous bean originally grown by the Mandan people. This is a story we will pick up with information from another reference (Vegetables of New York) when we grow White Creaseback in the summer of 2025.
2) See image 3. We include a page from the Corneli Seed Company catalogue which directly connects Blue Lake bean and White Creaseback. It clearly states that Blue Lake is a selection of White Creaseback. Below is the description of “White Creaseback or Blue Lake” from the 1953 Corneli Seed Catalogue:
An old bean commonly grown, particularly in the South, for home gardening. Our stock is the Blue Lake strain known to canners for its fine quality and flavor. Vines 4 to 5 feet tall, good climber, hardy, productive, dark green, long bearer.
How to Plant: Plant bean seeds in the spring when the soil warms up. For us that is the end of May. Space seeds 3 inches or so apart and sow 1 inch or so deep. For pole varieties, sow 3-4 seeds per pole (no need to thin). Pole beans will twine/climb around poles and other vertical substrates. You can also start bean seeds indoors about 2-3 weeks before you want to plant them outside to get a head start on things.
Within Canada only shipping on beans, thank you.
