Mezcla Butter Beans

I may finally have found a replacement for the Sieva Pole Butter Beans, also known as Carolina Beans, and it is called Mezcla.  It is believed that the commercial growers have switched to Mezcla because of resistance to nematodes which have plagued the Sieva production.

Last year, I bought what I thought was Sieva Pole Beans and I expected them to climb up the bean poles but they did not even reach half way.  There is no difference in appearance and taste of the beans but the climbing Sieva produced more, was easier to pick, and took up less space in the garden.

I've called several nurseries and garden centers along the East Coast, including Monticello in Virginia, but they did not carry the Sieva and they could not give me an explanation as to why they did not.  I have checked on seed catalogs on the Internet, but to no avail.

Recently, my husband and I spent some time with his brother in Hampton Roads and he called around to find seed stores.  He was successful in finding Clark's Feed and Seed in Hampton, Virginia.  We all went there and I liked it long before I got out of the car.

It was the kind of place where gardeners hunker down and talk about weather and growing conditions, how that seed or plant did, and what fertilizer to use--no hurry and no worry.

The Clark's had rows of large jars filled with seeds and my eyes immediately fell on Mezcla labeled "a replacement for Sieva Pole Butter Beans".

 I bought a very small bag of beans, enough for replacement of the Butter Beans that we have already planted.  I sowed them in two rows on either side of the wires and strings attached to the poles and between what we believe to be Sieva Bush beans.

We doubt that the Butter Beans that we have planted and are coming up but without runners are pole beans.  We are indeed going to have a very tight two rows of bush (?) beans on the outside of two rows of pole beans flanked by the bush beans; that is, if our hunches, weather, water, and fertilizer will help.

A gardener is always optimistic with visions of the best vegetables dancing in his/her head.

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