Lofthouse Landrace

Crop: Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Use/Type: Dry

Breeder: Joseph Lofthouse

OSSI Pledge Date: 10/16/2015

Release Date: 10/16/2015

Bred for Organic Systems: Yes

Commercial Availability: Yes

Variety Type: Finished Variety

Description

A landrace containing hundreds of varieties of dry beans. Bred to mature quickly in a cold mountain valley. Contains old heirlooms and new segregating hybrids. Growth habit tends toward bush beans or short-vines which don’t climb poles. Plants with super-long or twining vines are culled. The beans mature in about 75 to 90 days. I often harvest the food crop about ten days after the plants are killed by fall frost. These have been selected for easy threshing using human scale techniques like beating with a stick or stomping with feet. I typically harvest and thresh at the same time by pulling up the dry plant and beating it against the inside of a garbage can. Cooked as a bean soup mix. Some seeds stay firm no matter how long they are cooked while others disintegrate to make a rich broth. I plant a week or two after the last expected spring frosts. This variety is a plant breeder’s dream. There is so much diversity that something is likely to do well anywhere that it is grown. There are plenty of traits, colors, textures, and tastes from which to select while using this as the progenitor of new varieties. Bred by Joseph Lofthouse.

Availability from OSSI Seed Company Partners