http://www.frenchgardening.com/item.html?pid=SEVE21

http://www.b-and-t-world-seeds.com/carth.asp?species=Phaseolus%20vulgaris%20Comtesse%20de%20Chambord%20a%20ecosser&sref=458469

kokopelli may still carry them.

DarJones

DarJones, many thanks for these new leads, I'll definitely follow them up. Kokopelli no longer lists them, but these new leads give me some new hope.

Annette

Update, I think I've finally found a source, I might have to wait until next year but it does looks promising.

Annette

Annette, these sound very interesting - mind if I ask where your source is? I'd love to try growing these!

Angelina - well if you're as obsessed as I am about finding these bean :o). DarJones found the source for me, B&T World Seeds in France. I have placed an order with them and hopefully all going well will have them in a few weeks. A little pricey but what the heck, one less dinner out. I have a feeler out here in Canada which could mean a local source for this elusive little bean but this is a wait and see, fingers crossed proposition. Just in case this doesn't pan out I ordered from B&T, fingers crossed here too.

Annette

Annette, Let me know how things turn out. I will try to get some seed too and grow them for Sandhill. That would give us a commercial source for seed.

DarJones

DarJones you've got mail.

Annette

Update, the Comtesse de Chambord seed I ordered came in the mail 2 days ago, the 18 month search is over. I was quite surprised they only took a week to get here, now to get them planted. Because of lack of space I'll be planting this seed in containers in the greenhouse to be put outside later on.

Annette

Annette, got the seed today!

I will plant them tomorrow.

DarJones

DarJones, mine are up and growing in pots in the greenhouse. Let's hope we're both successful growing them :).

Annette

I should have also mentioned, watch the watering on this one, very sensitive to overwatering. When I put the seed to sprout one of the pots got a little too much water and the seed rotted. Once I got a handle on the watering no more problems.

Annette

mine are in the ground waiting on rain.

Got a row about 70 ft long.

DarJones

Heres hoping the weather co-operates and you have a good growout. I couldn't find much information on them other than they might need a little support to keep them from flopping in the dirt which could spoil them for eating green or saving seed, maybe twigs used for supporting bush peas would help. A little more care needed than most beans. I hope it's worth it.
I seem to have sparked a lot of interest in this little bean up in my neck of the woods, hopefully they will be available to all who want to try them in the near future.

I'm more interested in them as a little green snap than a dry bean, for what I've read they are very tender and sweet.

Annette

I too have been searching for these beans, and got them at B&T. This seems to be the only source! I promise to grow and list them. Also I will provide some seed to tha Salt Spring Seed Sanctuary. Marti

That's great Marti, when I was looking for these beans I contacted Dan to see if he had them or knew where I might find some, he didn't know about this variety so I'm sure he would appreciate some for the sanctuary. I've shared a lot of the seed I bought just keeping enough for a backup in case mine go bust. It's good to know these will soon be available for anyone wanting to grow them in the near future and not having to go so far afield to buy them :).

Annette

Do they look anything like the white rice beans at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds?

I was going to order them after my purplehull peas have finished but with the recommendations here, may just buy them elsewhere (and still go to BC, lol).

SO happy to find other heirloom gardeners.

Here is a link that might be useful: White Rice Beans

Heirloomveggies, it's hard to tell from a picture you'd have to see the seed side by side and then grow them out for further comparison and then they might be close but no cigar:).
I'm growing 3 rice beans this year, all in containers. I was given some Ritz Escoffier rice beans by a very generous GW member which look identical to Comtesse de Chambord they might even be the same bean, waiting to see if the green beans look alike. I'm also growing another rice bean Little White Rice this bean is slightly different in shape. It's slightly flater and a little more kidney shaped.

Hopefully if all goes well Comtesse de Chambord will available to those who want to try them from several commercial sources next year.

Annette

I had never heard of B-and-T World Seeds; do they have an online catalogue or do you just list the specific variety you're looking for? I searched for Haricots Pelandron and they offered the Latin name and a brief description but said it wasn't available. Actually I already have some seed for it, but I haven't found it anywhere but at my original source, which no longer carries it.

The Comtesse de Chambord sounds very interesting. If it becomes available I'd like to try it, too.

Comtesse de Chambord is currently unavailable at B&T, probably sold out for the season. The link below will take you to their home page.

Here is a link that might be useful: B & T World Seeds

Thanks, aftermidnight. I saw that after I figured out how to access their online catalogue.

What do you use Comtesse de Chambord for? It's always fun to try out new varieties.

This is a first for me, I will be trying them as a green bean, I've read they are tender and sweet when young. This is a very small rice bean, a bit finicky to grow and not the easiest to shell from what little I've read on them. These beans are used mostly in the dried form, but I want to try them as a green bean leaving just enough for seed for next year if we like them. There are several sources growing these out this year and will possibly be on their lists next year, two in Canada and one in the U.S. all going well.

That's weird; I posted a reply to that and it never showed up. I'm going to try to find some for next year. I'm growing Pelandron, Fortex, and Fingourmet, a very slender filet bean that a friend brought back from France last spring, and it would be nice to try something different.

Just a heads up that I got a small crop last summer and have plenty of beans to grow a row of them this year. I also sent a large package to Sandhill Preservation as a backup and so that Glenn can have someone else grow them if mine fail. They are an interesting bush bean to about 14 inches tall with beans about 5 to 6 inches long. The seed are not much larger than a grain of rice.

DarJones

A canadian source for this little bean is 'Two Wings Farm' they have them listed in their on line catalog this year.

I found these beans to be very tender and quite sweet. I grew them in containers because of a lack of garden space, another plus for me was I could move the containers undercover if the weather wasn't co-operating.

Hopefully through the efforts of a few dedicated growers this little bean will be saved from going down the road to extinction.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Comtesse de Chambord source