Cherokee Trail of Tears Beans

[897tgigvib]

Most of my beans rebloomed late too. Cherokee Trail of Tears have some of the coolest pods, and are a true multi purpose bean.

 

[retiredwith4acres]

Marshall, someone gave me about 10 seeds of Trail of Tears. I guess that will be enough to get me some more seeds next year. When you say multi use, what are the uses?

 

[Smart Red]

I have some Cherokee Trail of Tears beans grown from a few seeds I received last year. The ancestors of these seeds were carried on that terrible ordeal by a relative of the Native American who shared them with me.

This is the first year I actually got enough produce from them to actually use.

Love, Smart Red

 

[897tgigvib]

They are good as string beans when young to middling. They need stringing, but have a good mellow meaty flavor, and are extra filling if not picked too young. String both sides down the back. They are good shelly beans cooked into a stew or soup. Flavorful and good, but not as big as some shelly's. They shine as dry beans! Deep dark soup, or the darkest chile around.

As string beans they go mostly green after a few minutes. Very colorful.

Linn Bee, I sure hope you can get the stories your friend has, not just about these beans, but of the whole horror. A friend of mine's ancestors were forced partway on that death march. I wonder if you might have a different accession of the same variety. (An accession is of the same variety, but grown somewhere else genetically separated for several or more generations. There can be many accessions of the same variety. mmm, compare that to an official definition and let me know if I'm off by much.) My accession here came from high mowing seeds to replace the ones I got from seed saver exchange years ago that were lost in a move.

 

[Smart Red]

Linn Bee, I sure hope you can get the stories your friend has, not just about these beans, but of the whole horror.

Yup! Jon hosts another garden/homestead site that I am on. He is constantly relating stories of his youth and family histories. Not only does he share his stories, but he's a great storyteller!

Love, Smart Red