CANNELLINI BUSH BEAN (Phaseolus vulgaris) is a beloved European bean traditionally used in minestrone and salads or to make a fabulous white bean sauce favored in many French dishes. The Cannellini is so popular in Tuscany, Italy that folks there are called "mangiafagiole" or "bean eaters." I have distinct and warm memories of being put to work during summer visits shelling these beans for my Italian Grandma, which she used in canning a family favorite - antipasto. Cannellini have a smooth texture and nutty flavor. The small white beans come wrapped in long, straight, fleshy medium green pods. Use as fresh shelling bean when young or dried. Great for second sowing mid-summer, so get plenty! Bush habit 65-75 days. Shown here in a gorgeous Danforth Pewter bowl (sold separately). 25 seeds.
ZUPPA DI FAGIOLI RECIPE: A fairly standard Italian soup recipe, open to revision and culinary artistry from your own garden! Make in abundance and freeze so you can enjoy its fulfilling warmth all winter while you pour over the new garden catalogues! SOAK OVERNIGHT: 1/2 C Cannellini Beans and 1/2 C True Red Cranberry Beans, rinse. Begin your soup in a stockpot by gently SAUTEEING your seasonings in good olive oil: chopped onion, leek, celery, carrot, garlic, rosemary, thyme, parsley. When the onion is translucent ADD vegetable broth (there are now very good low sodium broths in the supermarket and peeled/deseeded chopped tomatoes using all juices. Let it just come to a simmer and then add your rinsed beans. SLOWLY SIMMER UNCOVERED until beans are soft. PROCESS IN BLENDER about 1/3 of the soup and return the mix to the pot. ADD chopped kale (I like to use the "baby kale" thinnings of my fall starts for this soup) basil, salt & freshly ground pepper to taste and when the soup is "right" serve garnished with grated cheese (any good Italian cheese, depending on your taste) and serve with croutons or crusty bread. Buono appetito!
GROWING TIP: All beans and peas are legumes and benefit from "inoculating" with rhizobecteria. These bacteria do the work of taking gaseous nitrogen from the air and "fixing" or concentrating it in pink root nodules which then slough off, adding nitrogen to the soil in a form other plants can take up as a nutrient. Inoculating your beans and peas will increase germination, and the health of your plants, helping them growing large roots and thus healthier plants. Growing pole beans with corn provides an extra shot of nitrogen to the corn, a wonderful natural symbiotic relationship that the Native Americans understood very well. You will see a big difference in overall results. Healthy legumes should also be turned under the soil when production ends as they are excellent green manure for your next crops.
CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM GARDEN SEEDS & PLANTS offer hundreds of heirloom and vintage open-pollinated varieties! Most have histories dating back centuries and are tried and true producers. Some are rare, or threatened with extinction. When you grow a plant from heirloom seed and save that seed, you are participating in a practice that goes back for generations. Our grandparents and their grandparents grew these varieties. Often the seeds were prized possessions carried to the New World when they emigrated.
Ever notice how most seed catalogs require you to buy (and pay for) much more seed than you could ever possibly use in a season? If you have a budget for garden seeds, this limits your choices! Although seeds can be viable for longer than one growing season, it requires that they be stored at a consistent temperature and humidity. Few of us do this. CherryGal sizes its seed packets for the home gardener, because we know you may want to grow 5 different lettuces, or three different corns, and don’t want to have to take out a second mortgage to do so! CHERRYGAL SEEDS ARE A TREMENDOUS BARGAIN!
All seeds offered are FRESH stock, with high germination rates. Varieties are specially selected for home gardeners. If you want the flavor you remember from grandma's kitchen garden or the beauty of her cottage flowers, choose CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM SEEDS.
ABOUT OPEN-POLLINATED SEEDS . . . All CherryGal Heirloom Seeds are heirlooms (dating at least 100 years) or vintage (mid-20th Century or older) OPEN-POLLINATED varieties. This means saved seed will be true to the parent. Don't be dazzled by the never-ending array of hybrid seeds promoted by gardening suppliers. First, seeds from that produce will not grow true to the parent -- you have to keep buying hybrid seed. Second, most hybrids are developed for market – not home -- growers with an emphasis on extended shelf life, storage and shipping qualities -- NOT flavor, texture and all those other elements that home growers seek.
All CHERRYGAL HEIRLOOM SEEDS come from reputable growers (most of them small farms) and wherever possible ORGANIC suppliers (so noted). By buying CHERRYGAL SEEDS you are supporting the growing worldwide movement of SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE and with a little practice you will be able to save even more money in the future by growing open-pollinated varieties and saving seed for next year. Please Note: CherryGal Heirloom Seeds are guaranteed to be fresh stock, but are not guaranteed as to results (sorry - we wish we could, but there are too many variables in gardening) so please do not ask to return. However, we think you will be pleased and would like to hear about your gardening success!
SHIPPING: I endeavor to ship my seeds as quickly as possible - usually within 24 - 48 hours. If there is a need for more time, as in the case of resupply or early 2008 initial supply, you will be advised at time of purchase and shipped as soon as possible. In the event an item becomes unavailable or temporarily out of stock I will offer you a chance to substitute another selection or refund you immediately. I package my seeds for shipping in a manner appropriate to the amount and type of seed - larger orders and larger seeds require more packaging. I also combine multiple orders of the same seed variety, where practical, in one envelope unless you request otherwise. This is an ecological measure, not a cost-saving one.
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