Orca Dry Bush Bean

Black and white bush dry bean with a yin yang pattern. Brings balance to your garden and to delicious soups, stews, and chilis.

Seed Story

Here are four names for what appears to be the same bean:

Orca beans: The black and white pattern definitely evokes a killer whale; especially with the extra round bean shape.

Unlike orca whales, these beans are not great swimmers. They sink to the bottom and swell up to double in size. Not the best feature for surviving in the ocean.

Like orca whales, these beans love hanging out in pods.

Ying Yang beans: At first glance, the bean pattern does resemble the ancient Chinese symbol.

If you really pay attention, you notice that these beans do not always have a black dot in the white expanse, or a white dot in the black expanse. As such. These beans on their own might not bring balance to your life. As an active part of your diet, they can bring great balance to your body.

Starazagorsky beans: Semences Kokopelli lists these as a Greek heirloom bean.

Calypso beans: some sources list these as originating in the Caribbean about 400 years ago. These beans might have gone for a visit in Greece during the subsequent time.

Whatever their name, these bean’s stunning appearance simply invite you to bring them home and plant them in your garden. You can then harvest them and store them in jars to impress your friends and neighbors. I also hope you take the time to eat them.

CROP INTRODUCTION

Crop Species: Phaseolus vulgaris

Crop Family: Fabaceae 

HOW TO HARVEST

• Do not pick green beans!!!
• Wait until the bean pod turns tan and leathery.
• Pick pods and shell pods by hand,
• Dry beans at room temperature for a month before storing in a sealed container.
• Plants yield about 1lb of dry beans per 10 rowfeet.

HOW TO GROW

Planting Information

Luminosity: Full Sun

Seed Depth: 1-2”

Germination Temperature: 20C

Days to Germination: 7-10 days depending on temperature

Earliest Planting Date: After risk of frost has passed 

Latest Planting Date: by late June

Planting frequency: once

Days to maturity: 90 days

Harvest period: early September

Directions for Direct Seeding:

Pests and Disease:

• During wet and cooler seasons, plants can develop white mould and powdery mildew 
• Space plants further apart than you would for fresh snap beans to allow for ventilation over a longer season.
• Practise yearly rotation

HOW TO KEEP SEEDS

• Basically the same as getting dry beans!
• Allow pods to mature fully on plant. Harvest when they have dried out completely and are beginning to turn tan/brown. 
• Harvest pods and lay out to dry in a warm dry place for 2-3 weeks
• Shell beans in order to extract the seeds
• Store seeds in cool dry location