Rants Family Heirloom

Half-runner, all purpose bean. Used as a snap, shelling, and dry bean. Pods are green, curved, round, and measure 4-5" long; 0.5" wide. Pods develop a purple blush and stripes at maturity. Strong suture string. 4-6 seeds per pod. Seeds are small and tan-colored with a black pinto pattern and light grey flecking; slightly kidney-shaped with squared ends. Standard flavor as a dry bean. Plants are weakly climbing and may reach up 4' tall. Dark pink flowers. Leathery dry pods. Medium productivity when grown in 2016 at Heritage Farm. Early maturing. Donated to SSE in 2014 by the Burleigh County NDSU Extension Service. It was given to them by Isaac Grantham of Bismarck, ND. Isaac has been growing and saving seed of this variety since the 1960s. He received it from his mother, Gertrude (Rants) Grantham. Gertrude stewarded the variety in Washburn and Hensler, ND from the 1920s through the 1970s. The bean variety is from her parents, John and Mary Rants, who brought seeds with them when they moved from Iowa to North Dakota in 1902. SSE Accession # 132739