| By Patty Glenn Leander
Contributing Writer |
One of the benefits of growing an open-pollinated vegetable is that the resulting seed will grow true to type, allowing you to save seed from year to year. This helps explain the popularity of heirloom vegetables, which are loosely defined as open-pollinated seeds that have been saved and shared within a family, community or geographical region and have been maintained at least 50 years. This long-term process of selecting and replanting a seed line so that it adapts to a local climate, soil or growing condition is what makes heirloom varieties so valued.
Developing your own open-pollinated variety that manifests desirable characteristics (such as flavor, earliness, drought resistance or cold tolerance) takes years of steadfast dedication. Earl Hall, a long-time member of the Austin Organic Gardeners, is a sterling example of such resolve. For more than 30 years he has been growing his very own heirloom-to-be variety of green bean in his Central Texas garden, each year selecting only the best and earliest pods for drying, saving and replanting the following year, faithfully repeating the process, season after season. He has developed a keen eye and a judicious hand; after all what’s the point of selecting and saving seed from mediocre plants? It’s the ruthless culling of plants that don’t measure up that makes a personal line of seeds so valuable. Over the years Earl’s efforts have resulted in a delicious green bean that is adapted to the unique microclimate and growing conditions in his garden. And when you’ve spent a good part of your life working to develop a family seed legacy, one of the rewards is naming it: ‘Hall’s Improved Half-Runner.’
The parentage of Earl’s beans is unknown. They were given to him in the 1980s by his sister, who obtained them from a farmer’s co-op in Stanley County, North Carolina. He planted the seeds the year he received them and they produced a bounty of 4–6” flat-podded and round-podded green beans. Over time the pods became more uniform in shape and length. Earl’s green beans are stringless when they are young, but like most old-fashioned bean varieties the strings develop — along with the flavor — as the beans mature. Each year, Earl dedicates a section of his garden to his half-runners and the tasty beans are a much-anticipated source of pride. Unfortunately, Earl does not have a big enough supply of seed to share with the Texas Gardener family, but, like most gardeners, he is happy to share the methods that have brought him seed-saving success: “For more than 30 years I have saved seed without a crop failure. Each year I plant a row to eat and a row for seed. I never eat a bean from the seed row.
“When I first planted the seed, the pods we harvested were mixed, some 4” green and flat, some 6” green and round and some 6” not round, not flat and light green, all with good flavor. They may be grown with or without support and are not stringless. One month before seeding I prepare two rows, 24” apart. This allows me to reach in from the side without trampling the plants.
“Dig a 6” furrow down the middle of each row and fill it with compost and sprinkle with organic fertilizer. Make another furrow on each side of the row and fill with compost. Keep the rows watered in preparation for seeding. Plant the seed 1–2” deep and 4–6” apart, and backfill with compost. Plant the seed as early as possible in spring (mid-March in Central Texas) and be prepared to protect them in case of a cold snap.
“The beans will start producing in about 60 days and will produce over 4 weeks, maybe a little longer if summer’s heat doesn’t come too early. These half-runners can be grown on a trellis, but I prefer to grow them closer to the ground where the beans are tucked under the vines and protected from wind and sun — even the bugs have to hunt for them. I might sidedress with a granular fertilizer, but a good rain is better than any sidedressing or foliar feeding.
“I let the seed beans all mature on the vine and dry to a brown color. Then I pull the vines by the roots, tie them with string and hang them in the garage to dry fully. I wait for a dry day of winter to shell them. It’s important to shell the beans when the humidity is low. If they get moist or damp, they will split on you. I pick off only the large pods and discard the small ones. I shell the beans, put them in a glass jar with an airtight lid and store them in the door of the freezer. At this point, after saving seed this way over 30 years, the 4” flat green beans are gone, the 6” round green beans are gone and we now have 6” not round, not flat, light green beans. In their present form they are one of a kind.”
Hall’s Improved Half-Runner. You can almost hear the pride in his voice. Earl grew up on the family farm and has gardened all of his life. He was close to 50 years old when he planted his first rows of half-runner beans and he turned 80 this year. Texas has a rich agricultural heritage and the stories of seeds and seed-savers remind us where we came from and what it took to get us where we are today. And long-time gardeners like Earl, with decades of experience and hands-on lessons in self-sufficiency, help teach us in ways that no phone app or website ever will. They inspire us to be seed-savers, leaving our own legacy of well-adapted, diverse and carefully selected heirlooms to benefit many future generations of Texas gardeners.
