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Vegetable Gardening

Cherokee Trail of Tears beans & Dragon's Tongue beans

tumblingtomatoes

15 years ago

HI, was wondering if I could get some opinions on two beans" Cherokee Trail of Tears & Dragon's Tongue.

Are they difficult to grow? Are they good tasting? Do they do better cooked as a "green bean" (eating the pods) or dry bean? thanks!

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Comments (10)

digdirt2
15 years ago
Dragon's Tongue is a dry bean, easy to grow, very productive, and quite tasty. Don't know Cherokee Trail personally but it is supposedly either a snap or dry pole bean variety.

Dave

PS: check out Vermont Bean & Seed Company for many great varieties.
tumblingtomatoes
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Dave, you always seem to have very good advice & quick replies, thanks! :)
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hi my name is ric in fairfield iowa . i bought trail of tears from seed savers ex. this spring and in spite of our torrential rains followed by prolonged drought i should have enough to share soon . they are not dry yet. i also have hidatsu shield figure and christmass limas growing with them . hope they dont cross.you may have more to trade than you realize. i just traded for honey mesquite and yellowhorn .i am very interested in shrubs and small trees that you might have growing like weeds . there is a small sumac that grows in the southwest i am looking for. i like to plant odd wild seeds and try to container grow them like bonsai or houseplants, let me know what grows in your area
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Over in the Heirloom forum, there is a 4 year, very neglected topic about Cherokee gardens. Earlier today, I responded to it and then thought the bean information might interest some people here on this forum. Here is a cropped copy and paste from the heirloom forum response: ... When it comes to beansÂthe most commonly seen is the Trail of Tears. This is a prolific drought tolerant highly productive bean producing decent quality green beans (when small) and high quality slim shiny black dry beans. Another good but much lesser known bean is PriceÂs Cherokee. This bean has been traced back to the 1830Âs, came over the Trail of Tears and later the family then moved to California (1920Âs) where it was later collected by the U.C. Davis Seed Saving Project of the 1980Âs. This is a nice cream colored dry bean of good production. A very good green bean is the Cherokee Greasy Bean, highly productive, has a white dry seed and is still grown in western North Carolina. A good dry bean of larger size is the October Bush Bean, a nice cream bean with purple flecking, great for shelly beans of dry beans. There are many good eastern Tennessee and Kentucky Cherokee heirlooms. Cherokee Cornfield is a good example, a beautiful mixture of seed types that has been traditionally grown together for hundreds of years. Then there is the Cherokee Butterbean, actually a true Runner bean (P. coccineus)... Most of these items are very rare today, mostly still grown by isolated families or being preserved by seed savers. Raises more questions than it answers for some I guess. Blueflintcolor>
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Dragon's Tongue is my favorite snap bean. Pick them when the pods are full size but before the seeds swell, and they are tender, juicy, and flavorful. MUCH better than any green or purple bean IMO. I'm told they also make good dry beans, but haven't tried them that way. I usually saute them in olive oil with garlic or shallots, then finish with sherry and/or cream. Heavenly! They are also very good raw. Downside: They are a bush bean, and the pods hide beneath the leaf canopy, making them a real pain in the back to harvest. Grow them in a raised bed if you can, it makes picking a lot more tolerable. I wish these were available as a pole bean! Second downside: You can't freeze them. They get tough and lose all flavor. :( Have no idea how they will do in your climate. Here on the cool Mendocino coast, they germinate well and grow more reliably than most P. vulgaris.
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booberry85
15 years ago
I grew Cherokee Trail of Tears as a snap bean this year. I planted them late (end of June.) They started to produce before Kentucky Wonders which I planted at the same time (End of August.) They are a good tasting bean and prolific. They are still producing now. They are on my list to grow again.
P POD
15 years ago
You may find more people who have grown these two beans in the Bean & Legume Forum. Post or try a search over there......

Another place to visit for information is the Seed Sanctuary, Canada.

(I haven't purchased seeds from them yet), but Heritage Harvest Seeds in Canada has a huge bean collection. You'll find some information at each variety listed. They ship to the US.
remy_gw
15 years ago
Hi,
I grew Cherokee Trail of Tears last year. (Booberry, did I give you seeds? Lol, I can't remember. If I did I'm glad they did well.) They were a good grower for me. I liked them as green beans, very tasty. They did get quite stringy if left to grow larger though so you need to keep up on the picking. The plants are pretty because of the lavender flowers and the bean pods that turn purple.
I haven't grown Dragon's Tongue yet.
Remy
tumblingtomatoes
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks very much everyone for the input! They are really pretty in the pictures & part of family's heritage. I think I will look to order some from the sources you all have mentioned!
cozy
15 years ago
A pretty bean all the way around. Fairly productive pole that made good snaps and dried. Pretty blooms that remind me of Contender ;)

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tumblingtomatoes
Original Author
15 years ago
pretty photo, love the photos the flowers are adorable, which is it?
cozy
15 years ago
I'm sorry! Those pics are of Cherokee Trail of Tears. Seeds were from SSE.
tumblingtomatoes
Original Author
15 years ago
they look soo fresh & yummy! thanks for mentioning where seed came from!

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