Generally speaking, beans belong to the oldest and most important staple foods of mankind worldwide. They are enjoyed in soups, salads, as bean pastes and even in puddings. It is lovely to eat the young crunchy pods or most commonly their seeds, the typical beans of all sizes and colours.
Less known is the fact that there are a lot of unusual bean varieties originating from Asia, South America and Africa.
For this seed kit we therefore hand selected 4 uniquely exotic bean varieties:
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Azuki/ adzuki/ aduki bean (Vigna angularis)
Azuki beans are a sweet tasting East Asian, red bean variety, which is a popular delicacy in Japan, often used in puddings and for cake fillings.
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Hyacinth bean/ lablab bean/ bonavist bean/ dolichos bean/ seim bean/ Egyptian kidney bean/ Indian bean/ bataw/ Australian pea (Lablab purpureus)
This African bean variety is a beautiful climber, with very decorative purple flowers and pods, which are prepared similar to our common garden beans.
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Lima bean/ butter bean/ sieva bean (Phaseolus lunatus)
This attractive, tropically colourful South American bean variety is easy to grow and thrives even when cultivated in pots.
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Yardlong bean/ cowpea/ asparagus bean/ Chinese long-bean (Vigna unguiculata)
This is an exotic, tropical bean variety, which can produce pods with up to 1m lengths, which are prepared similar to our native green beans.
The seeds of each variety are packaged in a separate sachet.
All these bean varieties are definitely something for experimental gardeners. They all come from very warm regions and therefore need special conditions and attention in our climate. If you are not at home in the wine-growing climate, we recommend growing them in greenhouses with a pre-culture from mid-
April onwards.
If you feel like something special, you will enjoy these beans very much.
