My Favorite Pole Bean--Emerite
You may be pondering which pole bean seeds to purchase for the coming season. Consider Emerite. Hands down, it’s my favorite. I’ve grown it in my zone 10b, SoCal garden for ten years.
Catalog descriptions can be effusive and overstate the virtues of a variety. Not so with my reading of Emerite prose. Some samples:
Emerite is a long, elegant filet pole bean from one of the oldest French breeders. The pods of these classic “haricot verts” beans are slim, rounded, and grow 7 to 9 inches long. Emerite’s flavor is sweet, delicate, and the long pods have a crispy snap that makes them especially delicious when just briefly steamed or quickly stir-fried. Emerite’s tall vines are vigorous and productive with high yields of extra-fancy pods. (Renee’s Garden)
This photo from the Renee’s Garden website mirrors clusters of Emerite in my garden.
Émérite is a true Filet Bean from France, generously borne in cascading clusters on graceful vines growing to 8' tall. (Kitchen Garden Seeds)
Pick this variety at 4-5" for delectable filet beans with that classic, sweet beany flavor. Or, let them grow to 7" and harvest them as delicious snap beans. A heavy producer of attractive, light green, straight, pencil-slim round pods. (Vermont Bean Seed Company)
Slower to turn bulgy and stringy than American-style green beans, Emerite, a pole French filet bean, these slender pole beans stay tender even when picked a bit late. (Hudson Valley Seed Company)
If you’re not yet convinced of the advantages of Emerite, read Why I Love Emerite Pole Beans. The blogger also makes a strong case for growing pole beans.
Only last season did I learn that Emerite is open-pollinated. Last fall I let the seed pods dry on the vines to save the seed. Every year, selecting the best seeds to plant, the Emerite pole beans will be increasingly adapted to my local growing conditions.
I have plenty of seeds to share with garden friends and plan to give some to San Diego Seed Company to trial. They now offer a number of seeds I’ve given with them over the years.
Emerite pole bean seeds are widely available. Find sources on the Mother Earth News Seed and Plant Finder.
