Waterloo County Mennonite Pole Beans

Zana · May 17, 2008

Some of you may remember the Mennonite Beans I've been trading with some of you. I have mentioned in the past that I wasn't sure of the real name of the beans, so only used a "working name" until I could identify them. I had tried talking with Old Order Amish Mennonites that I knew or met at the local Farmer's Markets to get an identification of them. I sent some seed to Gary Millwood in Louisville for the Applachian Seed Conservancy's (hope I got the name right, Gary)Seed Bank to see if they could identify them. No luck. Tried calling the Museum and either couldn't find the curator or the people I talked to couldn't identify the beans.

Finally a break in the detective work....sorta. I was at the Doon Heritage Crossroads Museum this morning for their annual heritage plant sale. And what's the first type of plants I spy but heirloom tomatoes! After grabbing a few varieties I didn't have seed for, scoping out the other plants and grabbing what I wanted, I went looking for the curator. And Eureka! I found him.

I finally got an "answer" from the plants curator Bob Wildfong at Doon Heritage Crossroads Museum. I had originally received W.C.M.P.B. seeds back about 7 years ago when I took their seed saving course. After the classroom segment, we got to wander the gardens of the museum , gathering seed. Somehow I didn't catch the name of the bean seed I collected at that time. So when I found the plants curator this morning, I asked him what the name was for it.

And here's the part that had me almost on my arse laughing..."we don't know the name....we got a handful of seeds from an Old Order Mennonite years ago who said that they'd been in the family for over 100 years, but there was no real name that they knew of for it." So I mentioned that I've been calling them "Waterloo County Mennonite Pole Bean" until I could find out what they're called. He laughed and said, "Well that's what we call them too." So I do believe that's settled.

So folks, if you have some of the seed already from me, you have the name. If I still owe anybody some in trade, please pm me, I lost some of my files with a computer crash.

cdntomato · May 17, 2008

Zana, Bob is also the Executive Director of Seeds of Diversity Canada. Does that provide context?

You may wish to contact the Ag historical group in Elmira or MCC in New Hamburg.

Jennifer who used to live down the street from Doon on Green Valley Drive and could tell you stories about the Doon garden programme...

cdntomato · May 17, 2008

And I just remembered that Bob grows it commercially for this colleague from SODC. Funny about the name, eh?

http://www.hopeseed.com/beans.html

Jennifer

Zana · May 17, 2008

No wonder I was getting such a run around from Doon....or should I say getting an answer from Bob before asking him face to face this morning. Hmmmm....curiouser and curiouser.

And although those bean seeds seem a tad smaller than what I usually get from my crops, they do look like them. And the purple flowers do match.

Regardless of what they're called, they do still seem to be a rare bean. I'm still willing to grow it to trade it..sharing what I've found to be one of my all time favourite beans. But I do make sure I get a personal stash of them put away in the freezer for over the winter. LOL....I'm selfish enough to want to eat them too.

Thanks for the heads up on hopeseed.com, Jennifer.

Zana

Zana · May 17, 2008

So the question now arises are they Waterloo County Mennonite Pole Beans or are they Mennonite Purple Stripe Pole Beans?

MikeH · May 17, 2008

Whatever they are called Zana,they are gud un's

.Glad you got a handle on the name from the horses mouth,so to speak.Always did like the name you chose!

cdntomato · May 18, 2008

Zana, I do suggest that you contact the group in Elmira or the MCC. SODC's definition of rare (and Andrea of Hope Seeds copies everything from SODC) may be suspect as it is with so many things.

You can't divorce Bob from Doon so who knows who 'named' and renamed the bean. All I know (or am willing to publicly state) is that Doon lists only one bean in the SSE Yearbook.
Under Bean/Pole/Dry:
Mennonite Pole: ONT DO H - HAS 90 days, long pods also good as snap beans, white with purple blotches, 5-6 seeds per pod, pink with grey speckles, good harvest, Waterloo County Old Order Mennonite heirloom, referred to as Purple Stripe.

How many names are you working with now from the supposed source of naming...??? You see, I'm not sure that 'straight from the horse's mouth' is anatomically accurate. I think MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) may be your best bet for correct source information.

Jennifer the shrinking violet with extended family littered over SW Ontario Mennonite country

May 17, 2008	#1
Zana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,521	Waterloo County Mennonite Pole Beans Some of you may remember the Mennonite Beans I've been trading with some of you. I have mentioned in the past that I wasn't sure of the real name of the beans, so only used a "working name" until I could identify them. I had tried talking with Old Order Amish Mennonites that I knew or met at the local Farmer's Markets to get an identification of them. I sent some seed to Gary Millwood in Louisville for the Applachian Seed Conservancy's (hope I got the name right, Gary)Seed Bank to see if they could identify them. No luck. Tried calling the Museum and either couldn't find the curator or the people I talked to couldn't identify the beans. Finally a break in the detective work....sorta. I was at the Doon Heritage Crossroads Museum this morning for their annual heritage plant sale. And what's the first type of plants I spy but heirloom tomatoes! After grabbing a few varieties I didn't have seed for, scoping out the other plants and grabbing what I wanted, I went looking for the curator. And Eureka! I found him. I finally got an "answer" from the plants curator Bob Wildfong at Doon Heritage Crossroads Museum. I had originally received W.C.M.P.B. seeds back about 7 years ago when I took their seed saving course. After the classroom segment, we got to wander the gardens of the museum , gathering seed. Somehow I didn't catch the name of the bean seed I collected at that time. So when I found the plants curator this morning, I asked him what the name was for it. And here's the part that had me almost on my arse laughing..."we don't know the name....we got a handful of seeds from an Old Order Mennonite years ago who said that they'd been in the family for over 100 years, but there was no real name that they knew of for it." So I mentioned that I've been calling them "Waterloo County Mennonite Pole Bean" until I could find out what they're called. He laughed and said, "Well that's what we call them too." So I do believe that's settled. So folks, if you have some of the seed already from me, you have the name. If I still owe anybody some in trade, please pm me, I lost some of my files with a computer crash.

May 17, 2008	#2
cdntomato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Kingston, Ontario Posts: 554	Zana, Bob is also the Executive Director of Seeds of Diversity Canada. Does that provide context? You may wish to contact the Ag historical group in Elmira or MCC in New Hamburg. Jennifer who used to live down the street from Doon on Green Valley Drive and could tell you stories about the Doon garden programme... __________________ There is no sincerer love than the love of food. -George Bernard Shaw Last edited by cdntomato; May 17, 2008 at 05:06 PM.

May 17, 2008	#3
cdntomato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Kingston, Ontario Posts: 554	And I just remembered that Bob grows it commercially for this colleague from SODC. Funny about the name, eh? http://www.hopeseed.com/beans.html Jennifer __________________ There is no sincerer love than the love of food. -George Bernard Shaw

May 17, 2008	#6
MikeH Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: West Central Illinois Posts: 47	Whatever they are called Zana,they are gud un's .Glad you got a handle on the name from the horses mouth,so to speak.Always did like the name you chose! __________________ Mike

May 18, 2008	#7
cdntomato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Kingston, Ontario Posts: 554	Zana, I do suggest that you contact the group in Elmira or the MCC. SODC's definition of rare (and Andrea of Hope Seeds copies everything from SODC) may be suspect as it is with so many things. You can't divorce Bob from Doon so who knows who 'named' and renamed the bean. All I know (or am willing to publicly state) is that Doon lists only one bean in the SSE Yearbook. Under Bean/Pole/Dry: Mennonite Pole: ONT DO H - HAS 90 days, long pods also good as snap beans, white with purple blotches, 5-6 seeds per pod, pink with grey speckles, good harvest, Waterloo County Old Order Mennonite heirloom, referred to as Purple Stripe. How many names are you working with now from the supposed source of naming...??? You see, I'm not sure that 'straight from the horse's mouth' is anatomically accurate. I think MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) may be your best bet for correct source information. Jennifer the shrinking violet with extended family littered over SW Ontario Mennonite country __________________ There is no sincerer love than the love of food. -George Bernard Shaw Last edited by cdntomato; May 18, 2008 at 06:42 PM.