Hi, I have a bean that has bean in my family for generations, I have tried many times to find one like it and failed. I want to offer it around but need to be sure it is not a commercial one I have somehow missed. I don't have a picture as I can't do the camera thing but I think the following will do.
Pole bean
Flat pods, but it is not a runner
Pods are pale green , but, in a good light when you look very carefully there is just a very hard to see trace of a pinky streak, it is barely there, very very faint and is not visible at all until the bean is very mature.
Seeds are the color of a Borlotti shown as picture #1 below but they are the wrong shape.
Picture #2 which is a cranberry variation is the right shape but the wrong color.
I like it as a cooked green bean, but my son in laws father who I got the seed from uses it as a fresh shelled bean. It makes a great dried bean. It does not freeze well.
History as much as I can get is that it was grown in Europe as a family bean , brought to Canada with an immigrant . My SIL's grandfather who got the seeds from the original owner passed it to his son who has grown it himself for more than 60 years which makes the bean pretty old now.. I guess it has changed over the years and acclimatized it self to my SIL fathers garden. I have personally grown it for about 20 years. It has not changed during my time.
Any ideas?
I have bought dozens of different seeds over the years to try to identify it but have never done so.
It is an excellent tasting bean.