These beans were incredibly fast growing. They first sprouted up after 5 days! The flowers arrived at about 5 weeks and they were small lilac blossoms. The seem to blossom once, make a pod and then the plant starts to fail. I've read severely cutting the water produces even more blossoms. I'll experiment next year.
Special watering techniques perfected by Nico.
The first blossoms.
The first beans!
The plants to start to fail and it's near time to harvest.
Nico helps harvest the bean pods.
Dried pods.
The beautiful Blue Speckled Tepary bean. Phaseolus acutifolius is native to the American Southwest and northern Mexico. There are still wild forms growing but the plant was domesticated over 5,000 years ago by various Indian tribes. Since they are an excellent source of protein and fiber, and are drought tolerant, they should be respected as an important crop. Here in California, we've been growing them commercially for almost a century.
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