Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: chriscross1966 on September 13, 2009, 14:54:45
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Hi Folks,
I've done a net search and drawn a blank, does anyone know where I can get seeds for the giant greek/eastern med beans that seem to go by the name gigante or giganda depending on where you are. THey look like a massive (ie about x4 size) butter beans. As I've found this year the fresh from the pod borlotti beans taste so good compared to either dried and soaked or canned that I'd like to do some others. As I'm not a fan of grubbing around on my hands and knees I'd prefer climbers to dwarfs....
I'm also planning on doing kidney beans (the yin-yang variety and the red ones), butter beans, borlottis again, and black-eye beans, and maybe some pintos if I can work out how to grow them from the supermarket dried beans (like any other half-hardy bean I'm guessing)
chrisc
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Not cheap and with no guarantee of germination
http://www.rizosonline.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=43
Cheaper with some guarantee
http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/269
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you can'tbuy gigandes beans for seed here, as they've got EU geographical protection, like things like Melton Mowbray Pies :D etc. So you have to buy the same thing under a different name like from Franchi
Same goes for tarbais beans, which I got from Jeannine from America
course you might get the dried Gigandes beans intended for eating from a deli - our deli sells them in jars, pickled in something - didn't look too close - eye wateringly expensive
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Didn't think Spagnas are the same... I've always thought they were smaller... I've got butter beans comin anyway..... might look at the supermarket/deli route for them too... I can test for germination straight off..... anyone else interested....
chrisc
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I might have a few seeds here that Jeannine sent me will have a look tomorow ;)
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I might have a few seeds here that Jeannine sent me will have a look tomorow ;)
Ooh... yes please!.... I've a plenitude of squash, various onions and tomatos, and lots of all-female cucumber seed if you want
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I had some gigandes/gigantes beans from Jeannine last year - I think she got them from Purcell Mountain Farm in Idaho -they were butter beans (lima) and didn't come to anything. The gigandes beans from Greece are runner beans, not the same at all, but the dried beans looked pretty identical
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Husband just back from a conference in Corinth last night and has brought back dried gigantes. If you pm me your address I would be happy to put some in the post for you. I take it these just have to be soaked and they will sprout? Never thought of growing them before - but going to try now. Love them cooked in tomato and onion (although around Athens they put some chilli in when cooking them in the winter).
Meg
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ps - the only place I found them was in a greek deli on Moscow Road, just off Queensway in London.
M
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Any chance of a few? I tried them last year, they did nothing, but I'm not sure anyone else's did either.
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I had about 6 seeds from the bean seed swap last year, I think from Jeannine.
2 of the 6 germinated, neither grew well outdoors and are struggling to flower now....so it doesn't look as if I will get any to try or save! :-\
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the yin-yang variety
Yin yang quite big plants but do not seem to climb. Made a bit of a mistake put them at the north end of a row of climbers. As plants they are rather unremarkable. Perhaps I was expecting black and white pods. ;D
Pintos - Should have no problem with growing from supermarket, except you will not know if they are climbers or not. My lottie neighbour grew borlottis from supermarket beans, seemed to be a bit random as to whether they were dwarf or climbers.
I am growing several beans from HSL, ODriscoll, Major Cook and Bridgewater. All produce quite nice large beans, and are nice fresh (not dried). My favourite is ODriscoll, nice tasty bean, very early to produce. Similar to pintos. Don't know why you can buy imported soya beans frozen when we could be eating these - they are lovely.
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Had a look, only have 6 so will send them to you tomorow hun :)
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interesting what you say about Soya Beans Digerro - a lot of the main seed suppliers simply don't stock them.
they are on my list of things to try next year
1066
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interesting what you say about Soya Beans Digerro - a lot of the main seed suppliers simply don't stock them.
they are on my list of things to try next year
Avoid 'Elena'. I made several sowings, all produced weedy plants which were reluctant to flower. (Unlike every other variety of bean I planted).
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Thanks for the insider info Sholls!
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Any chance of a few? I tried them last year, they did nothing, but I'm not sure anyone else's did either.
PM me your address and I will post some at the weekend - cant get to post office til then, sorry.
Meg
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interesting what you say about Soya Beans Digerro
Not sure that Soya beans do well in our climate, there are lots of climbing french type that produce nice large tasty beans rather than green beans.
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Hmm... if I can spare the space I might well try to get some mixed beans from the deli and just give them a go :-)..... argh... why can't it be spring already?
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interesting what you say about Soya Beans Digerro
Not sure that Soya beans do well in our climate, there are lots of climbing french type that produce nice large tasty beans rather than green beans.
I've read the same thing but its so tempting to try, just to get the fresh beans :-\
Roll on Spring !!
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Husband just back from a conference in Corinth last night and has brought back dried gigantes. If you pm me your address I would be happy to put some in the post for you. I take it these just have to be soaked and they will sprout? Never thought of growing them before - but going to try now. Love them cooked in tomato and onion (although around Athens they put some chilli in when cooking them in the winter).
Meg
Any news on how the Gigantes germinated and if they are growing?
Meg
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Mine are coming up right now. They put up true leaves, not the cotyledons, so they're not the same species as French beans.
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Mine are coming up right now. They put up true leaves, not the cotyledons, so they're not the same species as French beans.
Got a stash for cooking Robert - am I still in time to germinate and grow?
Meg
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Mine went in a week ago in a heated propagator. THis morning I moved them down to the polytunnel as they've basically all germinated.... They're easy to tell from the stadnard butter beans though.... Giganda beasn leave the cotyledons underground, the butter beans bring them up....
chrisc
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Mine are coming up right now. They put up true leaves, not the cotyledons, so they're not the same species as French beans.
phaseolus coccineus, aka runnerbeans have their cotyledons in the ground. Spagna beans are definitely runnerbeans. Guess that is what you are growing.
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I thought all the butter beans were Phaseolus lunatus.....
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I grew these last year from a pack of dried beans bought from a Turkish deli, they are definitely runner beans. I got very poor germination and managed to save a mere half dozen beans.
It is quite possible these home saved beans and have been cross pollinated with Scarlet emperor that they were growing next too,I hadn't realised at that point that the Gigante were runners too.
I will be sowing my home sown saved beans as well as my Franchi Spagna and we shall see what we get, of course I may get something unexpected from my home sown beans.
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Got a stash for cooking Robert - am I still in time to germinate and grow?
Meg
Yes, I only started mine last week.
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Well I've had good germination off the Gigandas that I got given (thanks :D), and they have a different growth habit at germination that the Butter Bean "Lima" that I bought from Premier Seeds (I think) so they're not butter beans despite the fact that they look like a big butter bean amd not a big runner..... Bit of a bum if they are runners cos I wanted to keep them seperate from anything that mioght cross in but I thought I'd be safe if they were lunatus as it's not common in this country and I could put the
Lima on the allotment and keep the Giganda in the garden...... hmm... oh well looks like the runner beans will have to go at one end of the garden amd the GIganda at the other......
chrisc