Mixed Cornfield

Pole, dry bean. Dry beans exhibit many different colors, as confirmed by donor, including: solid brown, brown and white, solid purple, mottled purple, and white. Seed donor also lists 'white beans with dark purple hilum' as a possible type, which we did not see in 2014 growout at Heritage Farm. Donor has listed as a snap bean but SSE staff found green pods are non-edible, fibrous. Pods develop red blush at maturity with some having light red stripes. Flowers either white or light pink depending on seed type. Dry pods shattering. Beans have a mild flavor. Mid-season maturing; low productivity when grown in 2014 at Heritage Farm. This is one of six bean varieties that Effie (Howard) Neeley (1908-2000) brought to Michigan from Magoffin County, Kentucky in the 1920s shortly after she married. Effie's mother, Suzanne (Wireman) Howard, told her that if she kept them alive, Effie would always be able to feed her family. Effie later shared seeds of this variety in 1985 with her neighbor and SSE member, Richard Bott (MI BO R), while living in Jackson County, Michigan. Previously distributed by SSE as 'Cornfield, Mixed.' SSE Accession # 105288