Monachine Pole Dry Bean

Phaseolus vulgaris

This dry bean, originally grown in the Northwest by Italian professor and food lover Angleo Pelligrini, has become a bean of legends.  In true deep culture seed style, this is a bean that travels with a story.   Part of the story I know comes from a Seattle Times article by Nancy Leson from 2013.  Read the article here if you are interested! 

There is a Vashon connection as well.  These seeds traveled hand to hand among bean lovers in the Northwest starting in the 1960's.  Margaret Hoeffel, who has organized Shoulder to Shoulder cooperative farm at Vashon Co-Housing for almost 20 years, received a handful of these beans from a friend in the early 2000's.   Hoeffle passed them to sustainable agriculture advocate Mark Musik who then passed them to Rob Zimmerman, owner of the Herb Farm restaurant.  Zimmerman both grew them in the gardens and put them on the menu making them more widely known.  

I received my bundle of Monachine's, meaning "Little Nuns" from Island Bean Queen and dear friend Dana Illo.   I now sell them and also offer them for free in our annual Island seed swap each February.  Passing them on makes me feel like a tiny bit of the story.  So please grow them, save some, and pass them along to a fellow bean lover!

Growing Dry Beans

Plant when soil has warmed in Early May.  Water weekly through mid August then stop so the plants begin to dry down.  Harvest the pods when plants are brown and crispy and the beans inside are dry enough to not leave an indentation with your thumbnail. Enjoy threshing with friends and family!  It’s hard to resist a bowl full of bean pods waiting to be opened.  

85 days to maturity

Packet contains ~ 60 seeds