Kelvedon Marvel

A runner like no other and a true marvel. Pods are delicious eaten as a traditional snap bean and are tasty even when a bit expanded. They are crunchy, sweet, fruity with an apple/grape type flavor. Oh so good! As a dry bean they are slightly sweet and earthy with a smooth texture and have a hardiness to them. Large purple seeds with dark purple speckling pattern. Fully expanded pods are slightly curved, have a suture string, measure 4-6 inches long and up to 0.80 inches wide. Dry pods brown in color. Non-shattering. 3-5 seeds per pod. Flowers are red and plants are strong climbers. A bit earlier than the other runners and average productivity when grown in 2016 at Heritage Farm. One of the 1,186 beans given to SSE in 1981 by bean collector John Withee of Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Kelvedon Marvel was developed by W. Deal & Sons Ltd., Kelvedon, Essex, England where it was introduced in 1950. John Withee purchased this runner bean in the 1970s from British seed house Thompson & Morgan who also produced a catalog for their American audience. SSE staff are unsure when the variety entered the US seed trade, though according to the GSI publications it was available from at least 1981-2004. As of 2014, it does not appear to be commercially available in the US. SSE Accession # 118958