Anyone heard of Turkey Crawl Beans?

Actually it's Turkey Craw, not Crawl, beans and yes, they have long been available thru specialty heirloom seed companies as well as many listings in the SSE Yearbook.

There's also "goose" beans, etc.

The story for many of them says such and such a person shot such and such flying critter and found such and such beans in the craw of the bird.

And that way they get different names depending on the person who shot the flying critter and the type of flying critter involved and the coloration of the specific bean seeds found. (smile)

Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn! I'm glad somebody new something about them. Have you eaten them b4? and what is thier growing habit. I didn't find much info on the internet...maybe cause I was spelling it wrong..hehe Any info or site you have would be great!!
Cheers, botanybabe

Turkey Craw is a very prolific pole snap bean, Botany Babe, with vines stretching 8-10 feet. Although found throughout the mountain South, it is most popular in Tennessee. I've just finished harvesting seed for it, in fact, from this year's grow-out.

As Carolyn notes, "found in the craw (or crop) of a wild bird" stories are endemic to heirloom beans. And all of them are probably apocraphal with the possible exception of the Mostoler Wild Goose. Mention that to a seed source, however, and they always say, "but this one is true, I know who shot the bird." Uh, huh. Until you press them. And then it turns out the hunter was a friend of their uncle's son-in-law's cleaning woman's ex-husband's cousin twice removed.

It's a good tasting bean, that works well as either a snap or fresh shelly. In some areas it's the preferred bean for making Leather Britches. As you can see from the samples you have, they are frosted with the base color, making for a very pretty bean. It's also known as "Turkey" and, in the case of at least one Tennessee family, "Turkey Claw."

The last, no doubt, resulted from a mishearing of the name by some family member, similar to your Turkey Crawl mistake.

I think you'll enjoy growing them.

Garden Lad:

"Leather Britches"?

Garden Lad:
"Leather Britches"?

It's not what you think Regina. LOL

I'm not Garden Lad but I do know what Leather Britches are even though I'm a northerner. LOL

Garden Lad was once a northener as well and had to learn what Leather Britches are when he moved south. LOL

Below is an article first published in Mother Earth News back in 1970 which tells you what they are and how to string them, etc.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Leather Britches

Ahs oh'ays knowed what dey was, Carolyn. :>)

Like they say, American by birth; southern by choice.

Seriously, anyone trying this should be aware. If you use old time varieties it's a good idea to remove the zipper fibers before stringing the beans.

Don't matter how long you cook 'em, nor how much you chew. Those strings will not dissolve.

BTW, leather britches are also known as shuck beans in many locales. Very often, instead of stringing them the beans are trimmed, then laid out on racks to dry.

Until her demise my adoptive granny, Sarah Lou Back, made leather britches every year. Her bean of choice was Greasy Grits, and there were so many strings of them hanging from her porch you couldn't see through what superficially looked like a bamboo curtain.

Ha-- I'll have to try that! I wonder if my Tennessee folks make those. It's usually early summer when I visit so I don't know. They do garden and preserve a lot of produce.

GardenLad, are you an East Kentuckian, i.e. Appalachia?

Reginak,

Certainly Volunteers make leather britches. Nowadays you have to hunt them out, however, because most folks in the rural south can their beans instead.

I'm in east/central Kentucky, Madison Cty., "where the bluegrass meets the mountains". But I do a lot of seed collecting in the mountains of eastern Kentucky.

I'm also the managing director of the Appalachian Heirloom Seed Conservancy, a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve the heirloom food plants and sustainable agricultural practices of the mountain south.

Fusion: To my tastes, Goose is best as a fresh shelly. It's not high on my list as a snap bean, and it's only a fair-to- middling dry. You sure have to admire it's size though.

Speaking of Goose, Bill Best says it's one of the few common beans that readily cross-pollinates, and should be grown in isolation. That hasn't been my experience, but it's certainly something to take note of. Bill usually knows what he's talking about.

GardenLad,
My folks definitely do can beans. I've never heard of them making leather britches, but now I'm curious, I'll have to ask them.

Does the AHSC have a website? I'm interested. Do you network with the Cherokee and/or other Appalachians whose people (and their agricultural & culinary history) go back before John Smith?

No website yet. We're a new organization (started in January), and a website is in the planning stages but won't be implemented for awhile.

We have not, as an organization, networked with those people. But our individual members do. Tony West, for instance, is an avid collector of Native American varieties; particularly those of the Cherokee. In fact, at our first Fall Conference last week, Tony gave a presentation on that very topic. One aspect I found particularly interesting were the pre-contact varieties vs those they'd adopted from Europeans.

If you send your snail-mail addy to me at KentuckySeeds@hotmail.com I'll get an AHSC brochure right out to you.

GardenLad,

You can have a website up and running for $120. This includes a 5 year name registration and 1 year of hosting. You would have to design your own webpages or find someone who would do so for membership or something.

Fusion

Thanks for all the info guys!!! I am excited about my turkey craw beans, and next year I might even try to make leather britches. I will keep you guys posted. You have been lots of help. I'm trying to do all my veggie beds with heirlooms,so I'm sure ya'll will here from me again soon!
Thanks,
botanybabe

>I'm trying to do all my veggie beds with heirloomsGood for you, Babe!!

It might be a good idea to concentrate on varieties from the Pacific Northwest for starters. They're already adapted to your conditions.

There are many of them. And there are several companies that specialize in varieties from your area. I would check out Territorial Seed; Horizon Herbs; and Victory Seeds for starters. I don't have their URLs handy, but you can find them with a web search easy enough.

Territorial is now the custodian for Abundant Life Seed Foundation accessions, and you might find some really interesting varieties when you check that out as well.

Growing seeds fron the PNW was my origanl plan, but who can resist the turkey craw!!LOL Anyway, thanks for the tips on seed suppliers. I just moved here from TX and didn't know where to start, now I do!!
cheers, botanybabe

Turkey Craw shows up here in TN under the names "Turkey Breast" and "Turkey Eye". It seems to be very stable, and is a very good bean. It behaves most like a cutshort, but does not have flat ended seeds like a cutshort. If you will gently peel open a ripe pod, you will see why. The beans are laid in the pod like a display of tires that have fallen over. They do not touch on the ends like a normal cutshort, but they do touch. The seeds look a good bit like the round seeds of a Lazy Wife bean, but have strings like a cutshort. Donna

Some reading I've done seems to indicate that Turkey refers to the country, or at least Europe, vs the bird.

Some reading I've done seems to indicate that Turkey refers to the country, or at least Europe, vs the bird.

Just curious where that reference might be b/c I've never seen a reference to Turkey or to Europe re this bean, which has been well described as to origin, regardless of the so called different strains of it, etc.

Carolyn

I'm with Carolyn on this one. So please, please, post what that reference is.

There is no question that Turkey Craw, by whatever name, is a New World Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and I'm not aware of any Old World antecedents for it. I've sent samples to collectors in several European countries, and none of them were familiar with it.

Interesting observation, Donna. I'll have to check that out next time I grow them, as I've mostly grown them for seed, and didn't look that closely at how they were oriented.

I've heard of Turkey Eye (but not Turkey Breast) before, but didn't realize they were the same bean.

I don't know how reliable the source is, but this is what I read:

" Turkey beans have a long tradition in this country and many localities have beans, which are said to have come from the crop of a turkey or goose. The diary of Col. Francis Taylor, of Dinwiddie county records Goosecraw beans in 1794. . However, because all the beans listed for sale in Williamsburg and Richmond stores seem to be imported from Europe it is more likely that the name, Turkey, in this context, refers to the country and not the bird."

Here is a link that might be useful: beans

turkey beans are great if you like them you save some seed ,for next time if you plant.we don't eat any thing else

Yes does any one have any for sale thats all my family eats