*Our stock of Scotia is low, so unfortunately we won’t be able to offer it now. We will grow it out in summer 2026, and hope to offer it in fall 2026. We will leave this info up for reference.
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This heirloom green bean (collected in Nova Scotia in the 1890s) excels in every way – hardiness, productivity and taste.
Scotia was one of the highest yielding green beans we have ever grown, but we do have low stock because it was late to dry down in our Zone 4 gardens.
This pole bean has beautiful deep green leaves and vigorous vines that get up to 6 ft.
Taste-wise the green beans are delicious and have a wonderful beany, umami (salty-sweet) flavour.
The dry beans are tan coloured with chocolate brown swirls – it is amazing so much food can come from these small beans.
And Scotia’s history is so interesting!
Scotia was first introduced to the seed trade in 1892 by the Joseph Harris Seed Company of New York.
In their 1895 seed catalogue (see image), the Joseph Harris Seed Company writes:
“We introduced this bean three years ago and it has given the greatest satisfaction wherever tried. It was sent to us by a minister who obtained the seed in Nova Scotia. It is properly a pole bean but can be grown without poles [that might be tricky, in our experience]. The pods are light green, long, straight, crisp and solid and perfectly stringless*, and when cooked will be a revelation to those who have not been fortunate enough to know what a good bean can be.”
Mr J. H. Talbot, Colchester, Ct., says: “Your Scotia bean is certainly a wonder. With only ordinary culture it presented one mass of most beautiful beans from the ground to the top of the poles. Flavor delicious.”
Mr. Geo. A. Hansen, Plymouth Co., Iowa, says: “The Scotia beans did splendidly, were very productive and of very fine flavor and deserve all that is said of them. They were full until the first frost killed them.”
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Over time the Scotia bean became rare in the seed trade and hard to find. Our original seed source was the John Withee Bean Collection/ Seed Savers Exchange (Iowa) — which was the only place we could find them.
As far as we can tell, we are the first seed company (in recent times) to document the connection between Scotia beans and Nova Scotia.
Previously, the beans were thought to originate in New York state because the Joseph Harris customer (the minister who donated the beans) lived in New York state. You need to go back to the 1895 Joseph Harris Seed Company catalogue to get the origin information. Although the name Scotia should have given it away!
It’s also important to note that outside of the seed trade, this bean has had a long history.
The epic tome, The Vegetables of New York (a synthesis of information of all things vegetable published in various editions from 1928 to 1935), provides many aliases for this bean and lists sources that document the bean going back to at least the early 1800s. This information suggests the bean has had a wide distribution over a long period of time.
In another early publication — F.W. Waugh’s 1916 book Iroquois Foods and Food Preparation (published by the Department of Mines, Canada) — Scotia beans are described as resembling a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) bean called ‘atgo’a saheda’ or ‘Wampum Bean’ (as named by the Cayuga Haudenosaunee).
We have included a page from the book that illustrates some of the beans grown by the Haudenosaunee — Scotia resembles ‘b3’ indicated with the black underline. (The older Scotia beans in our collection — last image — look more like the historic bean image than the freshly dried beans.)
If Scotia and Wampum Bean (‘atgo’a saheda’) are the same bean (or strains of the same bean), the name Wampum Bean suggests this bean could have been used as a trade bean/ a bean to establish relationships and connections between Indigenous peoples — which would explain its wide distribution.
If you have any other information on this bean, please let us know. We are happy to help reconnect Scotia beans to their history!
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*As pointed out in The Vegetables of New York (1928): “The original strain as first introduced had pods which were stringless but this quality is lacking in most existing strains.” We will also add that the strings were minimal, and we didn’t find them a bother when eating the beans. You can destring the beans by removing the string before or after cooking. The beans’ excellent taste is worth it the tiny hassle of strings.
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How to Plant
Sowing: Plant bean seeds in the spring when the soil warms up — usually the end of May/early June. Keep soil moist until seedlings emerge (1 week or so).
Spacing: 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.
Within Canada only shipping on beans, thank you.
