Sommers Bean

Staff favorite for taste as a dry bean! Bush bean, 10-16 tall. Green stems and leaves. Pink flowers. Pods green when flat, yellow with red stripes at shelling stage, leathery-podded when dry. Pods are pear-shaped in cross-section, slightly curved, with medium, straight and upward-pointing beaks. Mature pods 4-5 long, 0.5 wide. A snap bean with strings, best when flat. As a shelling bean, has a light creamy texture and sweet flavor. 3-6 seeds per pod. Seeds slightly kidney shaped, cream with maroon striping. Dry beans have a sweet, earthy flavor, smooth texture, and thin seed coat. Early maturity when grown in 2013 at Heritage Farm. Donated to SSE by Laura Paine (WI PA L) who received the bean in 1995 from Scott Sommers of Pardeeville, Wisconsin. It was grown by Sommers' aunt, Evelyn Sommers, and by Evelyn's mother. SSE Accession # 104815 WI PA L, 1998