 This is an easy to grow vine that starts to bloom in midsummer
with clusters of delicate rose purple flowers the look like sweet peas
and, if deadheaded, will continue until frost. The dark maroon, edible
bean pods are almost as beautiful as the flowers. Though grown mostly
as an ornamental, here, in other parts of the world (Asia & Africa)
it is grown as a food crop. As the beans mature, the pods will dry
and shrivel. Inside you will find another beautiful surprise, jet
black seeds with a white ridge along one edge. We use these seeds
in crafts as well as to plant.
Hyacinth beans are grown in Monticello kitchen garden. In his
Garden Book in 1812, Thomas Jefferson mentioned, "Arbor beans white, scarlet,
crimson, purple . . . on the long walk of the garden."
WARNING:
Native: to tropical Africa, it is now grown throughout most of
the world and is an important food source in some African and Asian
countries. However, like raw lima beans and almonds, the seeds
should not be eaten raw.
The immature seeds can be boiled and eaten like any shelly bean. Dried
beans should be boiled in two changes of water before eating since they
contain toxic levels of cyanogenic
glycosides. |
