This bean was in a Joseph Simcox collection that I had acquired. I was able to look up the bean by name on a USDA seed bank site and it said origin UK. I think it's on a site when you google Grin Global. There isn't much else about the bean on the site as far as I remember.
Thanks for your explanation about where you found the very small amount of information about Ferrat bean and its apparent UK origin. Using your explanation here I found the databank entry at
It does indeed suggest that it was given to the data bank by Joseph Simcox and that before 2005 it came from UK. The puzzling thing though is that it states that the seeds are white whereas the network seeds are tan coloured. It seems that it was last grown in 2013 but this doesn't look like the discolouration which comes with age. Also you've marked on the packet 'Tan short seed' which I assume confirms that tan is the true colour of this strain. So a bit of a mystery all round. Did Joseph Simcox collect from UK I wonder? As far as I know it's no longer known in UK.
So finally getting around to making some decisions about what I'll plant this year and started comparing seed packets to my inventory list and discovered two bean varieties were missing. So several hours later and I've found one of the packets with some flower seeds I intended to plant last year but the other is still MIA. Not a Network variety but an Appalachian bean that I pushed back the previous two years due to lack of space.
Good news is that I can still aquire the bean from the local grower I originally purchased it from. I was planning a small order anyway but hopefully I find the missing seed packet before then.
Would I have realized the bean was missing had I not checked against my inventory? Maybe. Would I have realized in time to acquire more seed? Doubtful. Do I recommend keeping some sort of inventory system? Absolutely!
I have no idea where Joseph collected the bean that I have of Ferrat in a packet. But I am just going to continue to go by what I have of this bean as it is.
In 2016 I made a large donation of beans to this same seed bank. 168 varieties in all. I checked many of the entries they made of my donation and they made mistakes. I think they had a bunch of limas as Phaseolus Vulgaris. I'm sure I gave them the correct species on all the beans. It wouldn't surprise me if someone at that seed bank made an error in color when entering Ferrat into their records.
The USDA websites have changed a very lot since 2016. I used to be able to click on a plant species like Phaseolus Vulgaris and it would then open to a page with all the accession numbers starting at the begining of the accessions. There were page number links at the bottom of the page to click on further to more pages of beans. I could browse all the accessions which included the bean name and country of origin. I had opened an account with them in 2016 and still can log onto their website, but that doesn't give me anymore than you see now. I had a list of beans I wanted in 2016. Old commercial snap beans from the 1930's and 1940's and some old dry beans. I was able to order 18 varieties in 2016 and get them sent to my address. I got 5 seeds in each sample. Some of these beans were bean names I had seen in the book "Beans Of New York". The USDA websites don't seem so easy to navigate anymore.
I also had information from the fellow in Kentucky who bred the bean Fountain Pitts Allen. His parents were plant breeders and I bet they helped him navigate things. My Kentucky contact gave me the address of the seed bank and the name of the currator of all the Phaseolus beans. I still have this man's name. After I had donated 168 varieties that I did. The currator called me on my phone. We had a little bean conversation for awhile. I don't remember the details of that conversation but the one thing he said about himself that I've never forgotten was he said he "I really love my Job".
Louisiana - Pole Snap. This has been one of my all time favorite snap beans since the early 1980's. I believe this bean has been grown by a Reverend in one of the Parishes in New Orleans. It is widely adapted. Highly productive of beautiful round green pods with purple stripes and speckles. I heard someone say at one of the seed swaps I go to that this bean might be a different strain of Rattlesnake. Louisiana pods can produce 7 to 9 seeds per pod. I didn't need to grow it for seed this year but was going to grow a bunch of plants for snap beans for the freezer. The grow out got away from me and I just let it all go to seed. I can go through quite a few packets of this bean at seed swaps when people looking for snap beans ask me what is my favorite snap bean. Louisiana is without a doubt. I can go through 15 to 20 packets of this bean at a swap in a couple hours.
Lucie - Pole Dry. My acquistion of this bean came from a grower in Drevhostic, Czech Republic in 2020. It is a very beautiful bean. I can not attest to it's productivity. It must not have liked the summer season here in 2025 as 8 plants produced just enough seed to fill two 3 x 4 inch ziploc baggies (93 g). A very poor showing for sure. However heirloomgal says she got almost two pounds (816 g) of beans from 3 plants. That is a big Wow !
Louisiana - Pole Snap.........................................................Lucie - Pole Dry
Malawi Green - Bush Dry. This bean comes to me from a grower in Little Chute, Wisconsin. I didn't pay attention when planting this bean and it was grown in the shadows of pole beans. So not a lot of seed production but I believe by the number of plants I had the it's productivity would be comensurate with other bush dry beans. It did produce a nice quality of seed which is the same shade of green as Fort Portal Jade. My phone camera really didn't capture the color of the bean at all.
Malawi Pinto - Pole Dry. This bean did well in 2025 and produced a nice quality of beans. I would call this bean pretty productive and it might be even more so in different locations. The bean was a gift to me from Joseph Simcox in 2013 after he spent an evening with me at my home in Woodstock, Illinois. It was truely fun to meet this world traveler and seed hunter.
Malawi Green - Bush Dry.....................................Malawi Pinto - Pole Dry
npgsweb.ars-grin.gov
