Aunt Mollie

Pole/snap bean. Light green pods become yellow early. Snap beans are juicy and have a unique flavor with hints of vanilla or banana. Shelling beans have a soft texture and a sweet lima bean-like flavor. Difficult to shell. Pods are large and range from straight to curved to recurving. Suture string present. Mature pods average 6-10" long by 0.5-0.75" wide. Pods have pronounced constriction between seeds. Leathery podded dry pods, containing 5-7 seeds per pod. White, oval to kidney-shaped seeds of the great northern type. Dry beans have a mild flavor. Plants have a strong climbing tendency. White flowers. Late maturing when grown in 2014 at Heritage Farm. This variety was donated to SSE by Connie Krotz, who got seeds from her cousin's daughter, Catherine Simon, at a family reunion. Catherine shared with SSE that the beans were originally grown by her great-great-grandparents, Francis & Wilhelmina Brockman. The Brockmans brought seeds when they immigrated to the U.S. from Paderborn, Germany (Prussia, at that time). The family sailed in 1852 and arrived first in St. Louis in January 1853. That same spring they settled in Liberty Township, Johnson County, Iowa where Francis was a farmer and wagon maker. The beans are named for the Brockman's daughter, Amelia ("Mollie" 1849-1943), who was the primary seed steward. Amelia never married, so the beans have been passed down by the descendants of her sister, Christine (Brockman) Birrer. Christine is Catherine Simon's great-grandmother and Connie's grandmother. SSE Accession # 105711