District Nurse Climbing French Bean (organic)

This particular Welsh variety of the Italian borlotti is suited to our cool, wet climate here in the south west. Back in the late 1900s an old lady in Cardiff gave some seeds to her district nurse, and the variety has been kept alive by local gardeners ever since, gradually adapting to the climate. It is now only available in seed libraries and from a handful of small seed companies.

The plants themselves are tall and bushy with lime green leaves, pretty lilac flowers and pods splashed with dark purple.

Drying beans are great, as they’re a fantastic source of protein, especially if you’re following a plant based diet. They’re tasty, healthy and can be stored for a long time without the need for complicated, high energy processing. You can dry pretty much any bean, but borlottis are my personal favourite as they’re not too big and have thin skins which means a velvety smooth texture when you cook with them later on. They’re great in soups, casseroles and chillies, and in my opinion, make the ultimate home made baked beans. They look fantastic in your garden, with their mottled coloured pods; and the speckled beans themselves are beautiful. A friend of mine once said they look like tiny dragons’ eggs!

Approx. 60 seeds

Originally stewarded by Garden Organic’s Heritage Seed Library.

Botanical name: Phaseolus vulgaris