New Garden Bean Mixes

A wonderful selection of garden bean seed mixes.

Every gardener loves to grow beans, they are easy to grow, provide an abundance of food and are delicious.
Most seed companies however, seem to offer the same standard fare when it comes to bean seed, or they charge a very high price when it comes to offering unique selections.
Another thing that discourages gardeners from sometimes trying new selections is limited garden space. If they buy a two ounce packet of one type of bean seed, they feel obligated to plant all of the seeds ( why be wasteful? ), and sometimes they do not have enough garden space to dedicate to another two ounce packet of seeds, just in order to try them out.

With all of this in mind, Jim has been experimenting in his gardens with different selections of bean mixes and has come up with a great way to save money, labor, time, and get the maximum amount of harvest from one single planting.

What do we mean by mixes? It means that several varieties of seeds are mixed together to provide an economical blend that have different harvesting periods. These varieties are not separated, but blended together. With our mixes, you can get different varieties of seeds in a single mix, and by planting different types, not only do you get to enjoy the different flavors, the harvest time is greatly extended as different varieties have different harvest periods, this keeps you from having to plant staggered crops, saving you even more time, effort and money.

JB01 Jim's Snap Bean Mix

This is an incredible selection for snap bean lovers. We've combined our favorite 4 ( most favorable in our opinion ) snap bean varieties into one blend. Each pack of JB01 Jim's Snap Bean Collection contains equal parts:
Red Swan
A truly unique development for snap beans. The result of a life-long passion of bean breeding by the late Robert Lobitz (1941-2006). A stabilized cross between a purple snap bean and a pinto. Best described as dusty red-rose, pods are 4-5" long, well flavored and free of strings. Bush habit, 52-58 days.
Painted Pony
A great dual purpose bean. Long thin pods are stringless and good for snap beans. One of the best for soups, retains markings. Very productive. Bush habit 60 days for snaps and 80 days for dry beans
Dwarf Horticulture
68 days. This variety dates back to the early 1800s and is reported to have been brought to the U.S. from Italy. The plants are semi-runner type, 14 to 18 inches long. Does well in cool climates. The seeds are tan streaked with dark-red. They are good early as a snap bean but generally used as green shell beans.
Also known as Speckled Bays, this pre-1800 heirloom bush shell bean produces cream-colored pods early. Pods are ready to shell when carmine-red splashes appear.
Maxibel
The First Full-sized Stringless Filet! The gourmet "European" bean served in elegant restaurants!
59 days. This is the elegant bean you see in European-style restaurants. Most filets available from seed are miniatures, but Maxibel is a full-sized, 7- to 7 1/2-inch pod with all the "gourmet" flavor you expect! As easy to grow as other snaps, Maxibel arises on tall, erect plants that harvest easily. The beans are stringless and very slender, with a dark green color, straight form, and mouth-watering tender flavor. The first full-size stringless filet bean is also the best!

Each pack of JB01 Jim's Snap Bean Collection contains 1/2 cup of seed, enough to plant 35-40 feet of row.

  JB01 Jim's Snap Bean Mix ( 1/2 cup seeds ) $5.95

JB02 Jim's Pole Bean Mix #1


Sieva Pole Lima
Good in the South, but also grows well in the North where it matures in cooler conditions. Small white seeds have excellent flavor and are often referred to as "butter beans." Dark green 9-10' vines, broad flat medium green 3-4" pods. Excellent home and market variety. Pole habit, 60-75 days.
Lazy Housewife
The 'Lazy Wife' bean, which dates from at least 1882, got its name because it was prolific and set beans in clusters that were easy to pick. In its heyday, this bean was a vegetable superstar. In 1907, the 'Lazy Wife' was the third most popular bean in the US. That same year, the USDA rated only one other bean better tasting, and that one did not survive. Going beyond ordinary catalog hype, Burpee's 1888 catalog heaped praise on them, "...they are broad, thick, very fleshy and entirely stringless! Many persons have testified that they never ate a bean quite so good in distinct rich flavor." Other seed companies agreed. 75-80 days.
Golden Lima
Similar in appearance to limas, but not a true lima. Beautiful flattened golden seeds with darker striping. Originally offered by Abundant Life Seed Foundation in the 1980s. Attractive and flavorful dry bean, vigorous vines, heavy cropper. Pole habit, 85-90 days.
King of Garden Lima
88 days - Largest of all limas. Old favorite is a strong grower that clings well to poles. King of the Garden Lima Beans are very productive, bears 4-6 in. pods until frost, each filled with 4-6 big cream-colored seeds.

Each pack of JB02 Jim's Pole Bean Mix #1 contains 1/2 cup of seed, enough to plant 35-40 feet of row along fence or trellis.

  JB02 Jim's Pole Bean Mix #1 ( 1/2 cup seeds ) $5.95

JB03 Jim's Pole Bean Mix #2


Climbing French
In the 1930s this was reportedly the most widely grown climbing French bean in England, according to The Beans of New York. Lilac flowers, 4-7" stringless pods. Excellent fresh eating qualities. Shiny dark-purple beans. Pole habit, 65-75 days.
Rattlesnake Pole Bean
73 days. Also know as "Preacher" beans as they are so productive. Especially good for sandy soil. 'Rattlesnake' is a heavy producer in the hot, humid areas of the coastal Mid-Atlantic and South coastal areas where sandy soil prevails, but grows just as well in any garden soil. Steamed snaps are sweet, rich, and full flavored. Stringless when pods are small to medium size. Vines are vigorous climbers which bear 7 in. round pods containing buff-colored seeds splashed with brown
Romano Pole
Distinctive, full flavor and very heavy yields. Romano, Italian Pole. 60 days. Distinctive, full flavor and very heavy yields. Vines are loaded with long, stringless, flat-podded green beans. Delicious fresh and terrific for freezing. Sun.
Yard Long
Yardlong Bean, also called Chinese Long Bean, is a vigorous climbing annual and the plant begins to produce long pods, ranging from 14 to 30 inches, 60 days after sowing. The pods hang in pairs that should be picked for vegetable uses before matured. Yardlong Bean is a subtropical/tropical plant and is widely grown in Southeastern Asia, Thailand and Southern China. It is a very interesting plant to grow - you almost need to check/harvest long beans everyday because they grow very quick in warm climates. Grow like common beans, it is recommended to rotate the planting locations every year for getting the best results - do not repeat planting at the same spots within 3-4 years. Edible pods are very crisp, tender and delicious. Long beans are cut into shorter sections and cooked like common green beans.

Each pack of JB03 Jim's Pole Bean Mix #2 contains 1/2 cup of seed, enough to plant 35-40 feet of row along fence or trellis.

  JB02 Jim's Pole Bean Mix #1 ( 1/2 cup seeds ) $6.95

JB04 Jim's Bush Bean Mix


True Red Cranberry
Excellent dried bean with remarkable color when dried. Use like any dry kidney bean, excellent flavor. Pole habit, 95 days.
Golden Bacau
Made available SSE, comes from the northern city of Bacau, Romania. Extremely productive, 6-10" long, 1" wide, flattened golden romano-type beans. Excellent flavor, always stringless; even when the seeds begin to form they are still edible, tender and sweet. Pole habit, 60-70 days.
Hutterite Soup
One of the best heirloom varieties for making soup. Beans soak up water well and cook very quickly. Makes a truly excellent creamy white soup. Very productive, greenish yellow seeds with a distinctive dark ring around the eye. Bush habit, 85-90 days.
Dixie Butter Pea
75 days. Bursting with flavor, Dixie Butterpea combines meaty taste with succulent texture. The beans are nearly round and pure white, filling mid-sized pods all over exceptionally vigorous plants. The yields are tremendous -- and so is the flavor! Bush lima beans produce earlier than pole varieties and need no support. They need warm growing conditions, so sow the seeds direct after the soil has warmed in spring. Space plants 8 inches apart, and harvest when the pods are plump yet still fresh.
Pinto III
Seems to be everyone's favorite soup bean. Vigorous bush type. Pods 3 to 4 inches long, flat, green and can be used for snap beans when young and tender. Also used as a dry bean.

Each pack of JB04 Jim's Bush Bean Mix contains 1/2 cup of seed, enough to plant 35-40 feet of row.

  JB04 Jim's Bush Bean Mix ( 1/2 cup seeds ) $6.95




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