Holstein

Half runner type, weakly climbing. Best used as a dry bean. Good flavor; sweet, meaty, savory, earthy. Pods slightly curved. Strong suture string. Immature flat pods and fully expanded immature pods uniformly green. Pods measure 3.2-5.0" long and 0.5-0.6" wide. White flowers. Yellow mature pods contain 4-6 seeds. Oval, red and white, Anasazi type seeds. Low productivity. Donated to SSE in 1981 by bean collector John Withee of Lynnfield, Massachusetts and the Wanigan Associates. Withee received this variety from the late, Lyman Fitzgerald (1909-1991). Fitzgerald learned to garden and save seed as he grew up during the Great Depression, after his retirement he became a market farmer and bean collector. He gardened and saved seeds for over 20 years in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fitzgerald's stewardship of this variety is largely unknown. A variety by this name was offered in the North American seed trade by H.W. Buckbee in 1894. The advertisement included that the name was derived from the seed coats likeness to red and white Holstein cattle. SSE Accession # 101351