HERB - Kidney bean thoughts

[LrdRas@aol.com]

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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