HERB - Kidney bean thoughts
LrdRas@aol.com
LrdRas at aol.com
Fri Jun 4 05:59:09 PDT 1999
In a message dated 6/4/99 1:00:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
owner-herbalist at Ansteorra.ORG writes:
<< hyacinth bean
(probably the period "kidney" bean) >>
I found your plant list interesting. It varies considerably from my own but
that is the way of gardeners. So many varieties so little space. :-)
Anyway, I was curious to know what leads you to believe that the hyacinth
beab may have been the 'kidney' bean of the Middle Ages. My own research,
which admittedly is sketchy does include an illumination from a manuscript
that clearly shows a plant, beans, growth habit and leaf structure that has
led me to believe that the Chinese yard long bean is a more likely candidate
for the kidney bean. Unlike the hyacinth bean, it is edible in both raw and
cooked forms and it's dried mature seeds, while small look exactly like
miniature kidney beans. It is also a non-faseolus variety.
On another thought , there are places where period fruit varieties can be
gotten for no more money than regular fruit trees. Stefan's Flori-thingy has
extensive files convering medieval and SCA period varieties of vegetables and
fruits. It is definitely worth the time to take a look at the pertinant files
there.
Also additional vegies for the 'period' garden would be Italian edible
gourds, luffa gourds, bird house gourds and bushel basket gourds (all edible
when young and all Lunaria sp.), swiss chard (bottomless beets), yellow,
white and red carrots, kale, collards, broccolli, garbanzo beans, and lentils.
Thoughts, please.
Ras
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