FREMONT BEANS.
I'm sure this post will shoot right to the top of Trending! Why not? Everyone loves beans, yes? Anyway, I thought I'd share this little bit of information with you.
My brother-in-law gave these beans to me recently. They were recovered from an ancient native American cliff dwelling somewhere in southern Utah a few years ago. The Fremont Indians were a tribe of natives that lived in the region that goes from the far eastern borders of Nevada all the way over to the border of what is now Colorado.
Native Americans tribes in this area started cultivating corn and squash and beans thousands of years ago. The earliest "Fremont" corn is radiocarbon dated to about 2,300 years ago, but corn may have been cultivated much earlier than that.
These beans pictured above are actually 500 years old! Amazing isn't it? They are quite large and colorful. I gave some last year to an avid gardener friend of mine and he was amazed to have a flourishing crop! According to my friend they were quite tasty.
Little is known about the Fremont Indians other than they had their own distinctive art, basketry, clothing and built permanent structures and villages that were inhabited for hundreds, if not thousands of years.!! They lived in permanent villages and were farmers and hunter/gatherers. It is assumed they were assimilated or evolved into other better known tribes such as the Utes, Paiutes and Shoshoni peoples and were perhaps, in part, assimilated into tribes such as the Hopi and Navajo.
The question is, are you going to plant them?
Not all of them. But I will surely plant some in just a few weeks. Will be strange to eat the beans when they mature. Imagine that!
Be sure they are not going to bring back the giants! You may be Jack with the magical beans! LOL
We love beans. All kinds of beans. I used to make a chilli with 21 different kinds of beans, but where we live now, I am to grow a few kinds but buying them in a market or a supermarket is a no go. These look really interesting. The light coloured or white beans caught my attention.
The ones pictured are actually 500 yeas old. The beans that came from these are also white, and that kind of purple color but also had some very dark purple ones. Perhaps over time the color fades. A "21" bean chili. That's what I call bean dedication!
How freakin cool is that!! 500 years old?! And they still reap a good crop, imagine that. Its crazy how large they are.
Yeah. Totally amazing. They make a really beautiful colorful plant. I'll take pics this summer and post. Peace.
Perhaps if you added a bit of poetry?
Here I'll donate one to you if I can think of one...
hmm ... thinking ... hmm ... Eureka!
Beans Beans the musical fruit
The more you eat the more you toot
The more you toot the better you feel
That's why I eat beans with every meal!
🎯
Seriously, that's a very cool story @mistermercury!
Ha! that's the poem that came to my mind too. Yes now there are more beans out there ready to plant very soon.
That is so amazing! Nature always finds a way! I was gifted tobacco seed from first nations that is over two thousand years old they figure. It is amazing how we can help keep the medicines alive. Did you grow any? I love that they are different colours. Love heritage seed. :) I wish there was more on the Fremont peoples.
I'll send you some if you want to try them. But they were grown in a very different climate. don't know how they would do up there. But I may have just shown my ignorance on the subject.
i dont even know if they are allowed past the border? There are so many restrictions...we dont have a wall here yet...LOL
Well, consider the offer. No wall? WTH?
those look very much like what we call Scarlet Runner Beans.
It will be interesting to see what come up. Scarlet runners are known for being the only perennial bean there is. The plant dies back each year, but as long as the roots do not freeze, they will come back up the next year. They vines can run up to 15 foot long and they are very prolific, especially if you pick off the majority when they are young to use as green beans.
Hmnnn.... the only kind of beans I've ever picked were the ones you pick off the shelf! But I'm going to try these out this year. They do look similar to your scarlet runners. Interesting.
LOL, it is possible it is the same bean, there are various recorded instance of them from the early days of the US. I don't remember if they are native or were brought over. But if they are native, they could have been used by natives long before anyone came over here.
They are only now becoming popular, probably because the major seed providers never wanted them to become popular. They are much more prolific than any other type of bean.
I am growing them this year on a fence about 20 feet long. I don't eat beans but I want to add them to the seed vaults I am putting together this fall. These things are expensive. Most places only sell them by about 50 at a time. I purchased 5 pounds so I could share and it was $25 for just 5 pounds. Imagine going to the grocery store and paying $5 a pound for dried beans, lol.
You deserve to have some of these Fremont Indian Beans. I know I'm being rather forward on a platform that tends to be protective of identity but if you'd like some I'd be delighted to send them. I live in Nevada but that's no big deal at all. Just need your mailing address. Then you can test out your theory. I'd love to know, also, that they are being honored. That seems like a good word.
I would be honored to try them out.
I am not worried about people knowing who I am. I know how to stay within the law and still cut a few corners and I am far enough out in the country I only answer the front door if my 9 mm is at hand, lol. I keep an email address specifically for Steemit. I can email the address if you like.
You can contact me at [email protected] if you like.
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