Bush Dry Bean, Öland Swedish Brown (Organic)
Phaseolus vulgaris. Brown. 90 days.
Small, round brown bean with a mellow flavor. Traditionally used in Swedish sweet and sour bean stew (made with molasses and vinegar), and we enjoy it in Boston baked beans. Brown beans have been a staple in Sweden for hundreds of years. Though they were once grown in several areas of the country, Öland, an island off the south-east coast, is now the only place where they are still grown. Featured in the Slow Food Ark of Taste, we found Öland Swedish Brown in 2010 when we attended Terra Madre in Turin, Italy.
| Geographical Origin |
|---|
Direct sow 1″ deep May through June in rows that are 1′ apart. Thin seedlings to 3-6″ spacing. Protect early sowings from frost. Stop irrigating in early August. Harvest beans from pods that are fully dry. Shell by hand, by dancing, or by driving on beans spread on a tarp. Winnow to clean. Test for dryness with a hammer – dry beans shatter.
Seed Saving
Some cross-pollination may occur, but beans mostly self-pollinate. For more info on growing dry beans, check out our blog post at: seedambassadors.org/we-love-growing-dry-beans-you-might-too/
LeeAnn Vick –
Where did you grow this variety? Washington
I can’t keep my fingers out of these beans that I’m shelling. I grew Swedish Brown beans years and years ago from Vermont Bean & Seed company. At that time I wasn’t saving seed, i loved them, made true baked beans, unfortunately they stopped carrying Swedish. I ordered some off of a mysterious site a couple of years ago and what arrived was a joke, not at all SBB’s. I took a chance and ordered seed from you folks, bracing myself for disappointment, the seed looked good, the crop was nice in spite of our super wet spring making for a late planting and then boom, no rain. I’ll be ordering again, just because I can’t deny my gut real baked beans. So please, do not stop carrying these beans!
Upvote if this was helpful (1) Downvote if this was not helpful (0) Watch Unwatch Flag for removal
Question
Kathy Garcia –
I purchased the Oland Swedish brown bean seed from Adaptive last year. They produced beautifully, but we had one plant that produced black seeds. This year we planted the remaining seed from last year and this year we have one plant that produced mottled purple with white seeds. I even planted the black seeds from last year in an area away from all other beans and got a variety of colors from the plants (no black but we got espresso brown with white ends, chocolate brown, white, & dark tan-darker than the original Swedish brown). Any idea on what caused this?
Upvote if this was helpful (0) Downvote if this was not helpful (0) Watch Unwatch Flag for removal