'Ali Chukson S'oam Pawi' Tepary Bean

Phaseolus acutifolius Origin: Ali Chukson, Tohono Oʼodham Nation Improvement status: Landrace Seeds per packet: ~45 Germination tested 11/2024: 95% Life cycle: Annual We love tepary beans. This underutilized species of bean is the result of a separate domestication event from common bean, lima bean, and all other bean species. It was domesticated from tiny wild beans that still live in what's now northern Mexico and the US southwest, home to many Indigenous peoples whose ancestors first began consuming Phaseolus acutifolius directly from the wild, before eventually bringing it into cultivation and improving it year after year through intentional selection. The result is a plump, protein-rich, delicious bean species incredibly well-adapted to its desert home. Indeed, there are stories of tepary plants sprouting and growing to full maturity on just a single irrigation. This species may one day prove pivotal to the future food security of humanity, since they are among the only beans that