Bean type: Pole Bean

Growing Notes: 108 days to dry seed. Fairly vigorous climber to 6 feet. Lives up to the general reputation of pole bean flavor being excellent, with more depth of flavor when compared to bush type black beans. Best as a dry bean, but also can be used as a shelling or snap bean when young.

NYU Seed Library Member

Leigh Ollman

Where did you find your bean?

I procured my beans from Russ Crowe at A Bean Collector’s Window. Russ was really generous with his time and has a fascinating (and extensive!) collection of beans. I highly recommend visiting his website, which you can access here.

What is your connection to the bean? Why did you choose this particular bean?

I conducted interviews with my extended cousins on my dad’s side of the family. They met about 5 years ago – actually they tracked each other down after one of them went to visit Ellis Island, where my great grandparents entered the US before WWII (before the rest of the family was killed by Nazis). That side of the family lived in a town called Mostyvelke, which is now in the Ukraine. I have a treasure trove of pictures and other family memorabilia that I am sifting through. I have actually found several beans that seem to have originated in Western Ukraine, but I was drawn to the Poletschka bean because I was able to trace it to a town in the Ukraine located about 4 hours from Mostyvelke. While no one in my family can recall what beans were enjoyed by my great great grandparents, I imagine that these were available.

Here is a recipe for Vegetarian Cholent, a traditional Jewish dish featuring beans. It’s actually one of the only (or at least most common) bean-centered Jewish dishes I came across. I made this dish for the first time because of my participation in the Bean Project, although I am sure it was something my ancestors ate every week back in the “old country.” Making this meal, which is closely tied to the observance of the Sabbath and so a symbol of Jewishness in itself, really made me think about my own Jewish identity.