Smith's Vermont Cranberry

Dry bean. Tan, kidney-shaped beans with brown to maroon striping/mottling. 4-6 seeds per pod. Green pods develop a red/purple blush at maturity. Moderate climber. Pink flowers. Evaluation provided by VEG participant Jeff Scott. This heirloom bean was stewarded by Alfred Smith of Lyndonville, Vermont and grown by his family before him. In 1985, SSE member Leigh Hurley (VT PI L), was looking for the "Vermont Cranberry" beans a former roommate in Lyndonville use to grow and cooked with in the 1970s. Leigh wrote about this bean search on her blog "The Extreme Gardener," saying: "In 1985, I discovered that one of Lyndonville’s most colorful characters was a great gardener. The embodiment of extreme Vermont thrift, Alfred Smith saved his own seed, much of which was handed down from his parents…he had what he called “Vermont Cranberry Pole” beans that had been in his family for as long as he could remember." Leigh estimated that Alfred was 65-70 years old at the time and she dubbed the beans “Smith’s Vermont Cranberry Pole.” While this didn't turn out to be the exact bean Leigh was looking for, she says it is and excellent variety that she uses as a dry bean, just as Alfred did. Leigh Hurley later donated seeds to SSE in the 1990s. SSE Accession # 104500