'Munsee Wampum' Bean

Phaseolus vulgaris Origin: Munsee Lenape people (New Jersey/New York/Pennsylvania) Improvement status: Landrace Seeds per packet: ~20 Germination tested 12/2024: 98% Life cycle: Annual 'Munsee Wampum' is a beautiful and productive heirloom pole bean of the Lenape people. We got our seed-stock from our dear friend Sylvia Davatz, founder of Solstice Seeds in Vermont, and she doubtless received it from Dr. William Woys Weaver and his Roughwood Seed Collection. According to Dr. Weaver, his grandfather H. Ralph Weaver collected the seed in the 1930s from the Cuddeback family of Minisink, New Jersey. The town of Minisink is actually located across the border in New York, but that whole region has a long history as a center of Munsee-speaking Lenape culture (it is today home to the Ramapough Lenape people). Most beans of this variety are tan and dark purple (evoking the purple and white colors of wampum shells), while some are tan and brown. Every so often a plant will produce beans that are