Hi can anyone help me ouit please.
I sowed my last few Gigandes and had no germination, mind you they were 9 years old!!
I need to get a few more to start again next year.
I would like the real Greek Gigandes, the very big ones, mine were 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 inches
I have some others from swaps that have that name but the seeds are smaller and the strain seems different.
If you have any of the really big ones I will swap with anything from this side of the pond,I will order for you if I haven't got what you want as I desparetly want to replace my stock.
Thank you all
XX Jeannine
I have some from a swap, but I can't remember what size they are. That could be due to Britain's climate being smaller than Greece's, I suppose; were your originals grown here? I can check tomorrow.
Hi Robert, yes I grew them first in Canada then in the UK a few times. I did keep seeds usually and I thought I had more recent ones but I must have popped them in one of the swaps and could only find ones dated 2003 which would have been grown in the UK.They always maintained their size. I got the originals from a friend who got them in Greece sometime in the mid nineties.
I also bought some from Canada to use as dry beans but they were smaller and I have a couple of packets, home saved I think that turned up in swaps but again they are smaller.
A few months after Supersprout died someone sent me a few of hers and they were the right size so someone over there must have them as she shared them often I think. I cannot remember who sent them to me though.
I will try downtown in the Greek delis and see if I can find them there, if not I am stuck.
I would really appreciate you having a look though, thank you.
XX Jeannine
Jeannine, if mine come good they sounds like what you are after, so you are welcome. I got mine from swaps on here, and have selected the best for re-sowing. Huge things! I had 6 to start with, and this year I've sowed 12 beans, and planted out 9. It all seems to depend on the summer we have. So if the crop is looking good I'll give you a shout :)
They are nothing like anything else I've grown - huge fat juicy beans ;D
!066 that is smashing, you cannot mistake them, they seriously close to 2 inches.I will be thrilled.
There are some pictures on the site..if you tap in Gigantes then Supersprout name she put several lots of pictures on here.
XX Jeannine
OK will do a search, but in the mean time, cross those fingers!
Mine are about an inch long, and I can't be sure they're the same thing. I don't remember my original ones (from Supersprout) being any bigger, but I may be wrong.
I distributed mine to quite a lot of people a couple of years ago, and got a crop myself for eating and saving as seed.....but I ate most of them!
The sad story is that this year a friend brought me a packet of gigandes from Greece, and the germination was really poor. Maybe it was old stock in a local shop. So I am growing none this year.
I have found two Greek grocers in Vancouver who have them,one calls them Elephant Gigantes and swears they are the very big ones, the other said they are about a good inch..so waiting for a chance to drive in and see, both said they are Greek imports so feel sort of hopeful..will let you all know.
XX Jeannine
Is this
http://www.odysea.com/shop/product.php?id=143
any help?
you need to be a bit careful. Someone on our allotment had "gigandes" beans from somewhere - they looked identical to mine from franchi, but when they started growing they weren't the same - they were LIMA beans ( they didn't do very well unfortunately)
2 different beans with the same name
Quote from: Hector on July 10, 2011, 09:38:23
Is this
http://www.odysea.com/shop/product.php?id=143
any help?
Uhh...anybody noticed how much is postage cost.. :-X To buy that packet of beans with delivery..over a £10!! :-\
Quote from: goodlife on July 10, 2011, 11:50:05
Quote from: Hector on July 10, 2011, 09:38:23
Is this
http://www.odysea.com/shop/product.php?id=143
any help?
Uhh...anybody noticed how much is postage cost.. :-X To buy that packet of beans with delivery..over a £10!! :-\
Wow, well we can perhaps find the same make elsewhere\?
the problem with the Greek gigandes beans is that they have an EU regional protected status, so you can't buy the seeds for growing under that name. you can buy the seeds for eating and sow them, or buy the same seeds under a different name, like the Spagna bianca, or you can buy seeds from outside the EU, but you have to be careful, Purcell Mountain Farm have the gigandes/gigantes bean, but their's is a lima.
the French tarbais french bean is another one
I'm sure I've got Spagna Bianca; I hadn't realised it was the same thing, though I had noticed that the beans look the same!
I have the Purcell farms ones,I buy from them regularly actually, they give them more than one name but none are the big ones I am looking for, I have bought practically all their beans over the last few years, even when in the UK. The French Tarbais is much smaller and I do grow that one too as I prefer it for cassoulet. I also have Spagna Bianca, still not the size and not the same.
hector thank you for the link but without a size I don't know.
One thing I know for sure having put a lot of finger walking, reading and growing them for 2 decades,Gigantes, Gigandes, Greek Samos,Elephant..etc etc etc have to be the most ...mmm...mixed up bean I know.I hear of many folks growing them but there are so many wrongly named beans out there being grown/sold as the above it would be difficult to be sure.
I spent ages finding my originals and was thrilled when I did .I am am gutted that I was daft enough to not save enough seed when I had grown them for so long.
However they are out there and the ones at the Greek deli are Greek imports so keeping my fingers crossed.
I really do appreciate all your imput and any lead is welcome.
Thank you all
XX Jeannine
Quote from: artichoke on July 08, 2011, 21:16:24
I distributed mine to quite a lot of people a couple of years ago, and got a crop myself for eating and saving as seed.....but I ate most of them!
The sad story is that this year a friend brought me a packet of gigandes from Greece, and the germination was really poor. Maybe it was old stock in a local shop. So I am growing none this year.
Sorry to hear that, especially as I got my stock from a swap with you!
Yesterday I rogued out a couple of red flowering plants, and have left the rest, all white flowers. Maybe about 6 plants left now. They seem to be enjoying the warm weather so fingers crossed for a harvest. These beans are definitely huge, I'll see if I can dig out a photo, they are much larger than anything else I've seen.
Hopefully I'll be able to save some seeds and send some back to you.....
Could somebody fill me in with info regarding these beans...
Are the 'real deal' gigantes beans that Jeannine is after white?
..and are they growing more like broadbeans rather than climbers like runnerbeans?
Even better if somebody would have photo.. ;) ;D
I thought they were runners.
goodie - the ones I have are huge white beans that grow like a runner/french beans and have white flowers
[attachment=1]
[attachment=2]
not the best photos I've ever taken but hopefully this helps......
Climbers for sure,, white huge beans look like butter beans about 1 1/2 inches on average but I have had them bigger , they don;t grow at all like broad beans XX Jeannine
The reason I asked is that I ordered some from Creek deli..and they were supposed to be white gigantes..and what did they send me...gigantes- elefantes from Kastoria..and they are 'coloured'..looks like ordinary runner bean seeds to me... ::) They do have P.G.I logo on them so should be 'protected' for the location.. ::) But I'm not convinced.. :-\
Anyway..I've let them company know about their mistake and hopefully they send me the white ones...
Does anybody know anything about these 'coloured' gigantes beans ?
OH AND!...thanks a lot mentioning all these fancy beans and things..makes me want them too... ::) ;)
No problem, there is a colored variety. Kastoria grows some of the biggest Gigantes because of it's soil. You need to ask for white ones but the coloured ones are good in there own right.
I have grown both.
XX Jeannien
The knowledge on this site never ceases to amaze me ;D.
I went t5o dwontown Vancouver today and collectedv imported Gigantes beans from the greek shop, they are quite big but not the huge ones I have had in the past. I will do a germin ation test and see how they go'
I also got some huge lima beans.I read anb article about them and will give the info later as I don't have time just now.they are Peruvian Jumbo Limas, quite differnt to regular limas
Then I picked up some enormous fava beans, I have never seen them this big.
I will test all three and let you know
XX Jeannine
Hi Jeannine,
Your in luck i have some from a swap here they are the big fat ones, send me yor address and they will be on there way over :)
My hero!!! Pm on the way, thank you XX Jeannine
no problem hun its the lest i can do for you !!!!! there packed ready to go.
Yay... thank you a million, but I am going to send you something in return,you pick ..something for raised beds in the garden maybe...mmm shall think on that one. there has to be something here you can't get there..how about some of my mini dwarf tomatoes for the windowsill?
XX Jeannine
I emailed a local greek deli adn apparently they will ahve som eof the "massive" variety in soon as dried beans.... given my ongoing bean disaster this year I will save them for next eyar probably, but if there's plenty in a a packet I'll be passing them round :-)
Sadly the Greek deli I went to thought theirs were massive but I have seen much bigger ones.
I did buy 2lbs.
XX Jeannine
Well..I got some from Greek deli too.. ;D ;D..but as I don't have any previous experience of them in size wise can't really say if they are 'the real deal'..
They are bigger than runnerbean seeds though...and my runner seeds are BIG..
Chris..were yours pre-bagged?
Mine are Arosis brand...they do those 'in sauce gigantes' too..so I was thinking if they use the biggest and best beans to put in jar and left overs/ seconds are then packed into 'dry beans' bags...?
link for their site..www.arosis.gr (http://www.arosis.gr)
Don't know if they're Arosis, just they're big apparently...
chrisc
The ones I have may be 1 1/4 inch.
PIcked mine up a couple of days ago.... they seem to be big butterbeans.... will try cooking a few to see how they cook up....
chrisc
Mine didn't germinate.
They come in two sizes but the names get mixed up.. Giant.. and Elephant but lots of times the delis refer to them all as Elephantes. They go through a grading system and the very big ones have to be too big to pass through a certain size hole, the Giant ones have a smaller hole, apparently most don't make the biggest hole. My investigations have told me that most of them don't make it into any commercial packets fro export, but they are sometimes available in small supplies in Greece.
I sat and sorted the 1kg that I bought the other day and they varied very much, frankly few of them would have made it as Giants .
I have been on the Arosis site and it didn't offer the true Elephants either although the ones I got where not Arosis.
So the mystery continues.
I now have 9 small packets of beans marked Gigantes from various swaps etc, also I have Spagna and White Enorma and a few other white runners. I think this coming year I am going to plant the lot all in a row apart from the ones that flowers of Shona sent , then I am going to let the crosspollinate ans see what I get over the next few years just for fun.. then I shall have Jeannines Big White Runner Beans or some equally appropriate name and then stop chasing the elusive Elephantes.
Flowers of Shona beans I will isolate.
Either that or I am off to Greece next year to the correct area in bean season!!
XX Jeannine
Chris don't forget the term Butterbean is used different in the UK to other parts of the world.
I've just been sorting some photos out, and came across this pic I took (for reference) of my "gigandes" germinating -
[attachment=1]
Well it looks like my batch got cross pollinated last year and look even smaller! They are butter bean size, not Gigandes size, So I won't put my Gigandes up for swapping. :'(