Is 'Blue Lake' still the best bean?

Sunset, April, 1996 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

Yes. But the perennial winner now has competition

For years, 'blue lake' has been considered the standard-setting pole bean. Although it has rather humble origins as a canning bean, many gardeners and growers now consider it a gourmet bean. Its succulent crunch and mild bean flavor are tough to beat. Fine grocery stores and produce markets usually identify it by name (instead of selling it as a generic green bean), particularly when it's harvested at the immature stage and sold as baby 'Blue Lake'.

But with all of the new bean varieties now available through mail-order catalogs, does 'Blue Lake' still rate at the top of the pack for flavor? Last season we grew and tasted a dozen different varieties of green pole beans. Five of our six tasters still considered 'Blue Lake' the best.

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HOW THE CANNING BEAN TURNED GOURMET

In the early part of this century, 'Blue Lake' was the bean grown for canning in the Blue Lake District near Ukiah, California. In 1923, this variety arrived in Oregon, where much of the bean research has since been done. By 1952, western Oregon grew 10,000 acres of the beans, according to James Baggett, retired horticulture professor at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

Early on, 'Blue Lake' beans were stringy, and some strains had colored seeds. But seed companies improved the bean and released new strains, and by the '50s, the only beans grown were stringless, white-seeded strains resistant to common bean mosaic. The current 'Blue Lake' is descended from developments by Ferry-Morse Seed Company.

WHAT MAKES IT THE BEST?

'Blue Lake' beans are dark green, round in cross section, stringless, firm, and straight. Our tasters described their flavor as mild and sweet and the texture as tender-crisp. Tasters reported that other beans, such as 'Romano', tasted beanier (which some people prefer) and less sweet, and had a mealier texture.

In our test garden, 'Blue Lake' was extremely productive. Vines grew taller than 8 feet and produced for a long period (about two months).

RUNNERS-UP

'Kentucky Blue', a cross between 'Bush Blue Lake' and 'Kentucky Wonder', has a flavor much like that of 'Blue Lake' and came in a close second in our tasting. "Fresh, bright, and sweet," one taster called it. When raw, it's particularly juicy. It's very tender, but Baggett warns that it gets stringy as it develops on the vine.

Tied for third place were 'Cascade Giant', a sweet, round stringless bean developed by Baggett; and 'Kwintus', a flat-podded bean bred in Europe that's very productive over a long period, and flavorful and tender whether small or very large.

We also grew 'Bush Blue Lake' to see how it compared with the pole variety. We found the bush variety less flavorful. Flavor can vary among 'Bush Blue Lake' beans; hybridization has brought out the characteristics of some non-'Blue Lake' parents.

WHERE TO BUY SEEDS

'Blue Lake' pole beans are available on seed racks everywhere (plant seeds as soon as soil is warm). You can also order 'Blue Lake', 'Kentucky Blue', and 'Cascade Giant' from Territorial Seed Company (541/942-9547). 'Kwintus' is available from The Cook's Garden (802/824-3400). Catalogs are free.

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Is 'Blue Lake' still the best bean?

Sunset, April, 1996 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

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