Brinker/Carrier Bean

Last year’s Seed Savers Exchange M-GEN Program included a trial of 4 different beans to see if any of those which did well at Seed Savers Exchange headquarters at Heritage Farm in Iowa, would also do well across the country.

Of the 4 beans, my favorite was the Brinker/Carrier Bean which was donated to Seed Savers Exchange by the Brinker/Carrier family of Iowa.

The bean tastes great, is very healthy, productive and looks much like one expects a green bean to look.   If left on the vine, it produces white beans much like Great Northen Beans which store well and also taste good.

The official write-up on this bean says it is:

A pole bean with a strong twining tendency. White flowers. Green flat pods become yellow as they mature. Straight, flat pods have a thick beak. Mature pods average 5″ long by 0.5″ wide. Weak suture string. Good as snap bean and shelling (horticultural) bean.  Standard productivity. Leathery dry pods average 2-6 seeds per pod. Large, white bean; great northern type with standard flavor. Mid-season maturing.

We’ll have Brinker/Carrier green beans for purchase until frost.