Bean Mereville di Piemonte (60-25)

The Franchi bean that I grow and love is Merveille de Piemonte. I first bought these seeds about 8 years ago, because I was intrigued by the color. What started as a curiosity has grown into a passion. These beans are fantastic! The germinate readily in all kinds of conditions. I even planted them in mid-Spring this year, because the packet suggested they would germinate even in cool soil - and they did! As a result, we have been eating these beans since late June. I plant the seeds about 3" apart. I do not do anything special, other than an all-purpose organic fertilizer. The plants bear extremely heavily for about 3 weeks, then start to peter out. The flavor is a great meaty, bean flavor. These are among the best tasting beans I have ever eaten. They still taste great even when they get a little large - which is easy for them to do - because the heavy foliage conceals them so well. Other the Colorado bean beetle, which is problem with all beans, I have not had any major pest or disease problems. The biggest problem is the yield! It's sometimes hard to eat all of these wonderful beans. They have become very popular on my farm stand. Once people try them they keep coming back. I believe I may have been one of the first in our area to grow these beans, but I have started seeing them show up at other farm stands and at the farmers' market. I can't say enough good things about these beans!

Grazie Seeds from Italy!

Amazing size, flavor, and prolific. Amazing. I live in a hot dry area, but this been did well in my garden. The beans were so prolific some actually made it to the kitchen. Kids loved to eat them as fast as I picked them. This is our new garden variety of bush beans along with burre de Rocquencourt

I first tried these beans almost 10 years ago. I was first attracted just by the color, but once I tasted them I was sold for life. They have delicious bean flavor! They are easy to grow,extremely productive and, unlike most beans, tolerate a little coolness, so they are perfect for the shoulder seasons.

My favorite bean is the Mereville di Piemonte, why?
I have been growing this bush bean forever since I first bought from Seeds of Italy about 10 years ago. I prepare the garden in early-May with store bought manure and I wait for about a week before I plant the seeds an inch down from the soil and 5 inches apart. Every year I grow about 15 plants and I will have beans all summer to end of fall. I called this the “magic” bean because it keeps growing more and more after each harvest.

Mid July will be my first harvest. I prefer to harvest the beans when it’s around 7 inches long. It’s meaty, still tender and it’s great to sauté, to roast or to stew.

I like to sauté the beans with shallots and olive oil with a sprinkle of garlic salt. Or I like to roast them in the oven along with asparagus, eggplants, zucchini, red bell peppers, olive oil and whole garlic cloves. This combination makes a beautiful platter to take to potlucks. Beans in the stew are delicious as well.

This is the most beautiful bean I've ever planted and I will continue to grow them as long as I live. I just love the combination colors of the yellow and the violet together. The colors really make the garden very colorful. The beans are yellow with violet streaks and each bean has its unique streaks of light and heavy violet contrast.

I started a late crop of these in Southern New Jersey in August this summer, after a very wet and very hot early summer. They grew quickly and now, at the end of the September, I am enjoying a wonderful harvest of long, "meaty" and tasty beans. Very flavorful when cooked to tender-crisp. I will definitely plant these again next year.