BEAN CLIMBING ‘Portuguese Butter’
Botanical Name: Phaseolus vulgaris
An heirloom Portuguese romano butter bean with yellow, 2cm wide, yellow fattened pods, 15cm long. The young 2cm beans are tasty, very fleshy, and stringless. Once the beans are more mature, filling out with the bean seeds, the yellow pods are traditionally eaten as a tender and delicious shelled bean. When mature, the dried pods contain beautiful purple and cream mottled seeds to use as a dried bean.
Plant Type: Annual climbing bean
Plant Height: Grows to 2 – 3 m; requires a trellis
Sow When:
- Temperate Subtropical: Spring to early summer
- Tropical: All year if frost-free; avoid Dec-Jan
Germination:
- 4 – 10 days
- Depth: 2 – 4 cm deep
Position: Full sun
Sow Where: Direct into the garden bed
Soil Type: Fertile, well-drained, pH 6.2 – 7
Spacing: 10 – 15 cm apart at the base of a trellis
Details: Hill plants, up to 10 cm deep, to protect from wind damage; water well once after sowing seed and then do not water again until seedlings appear
Harvest: 75 days: pick daily, early in the morning
