So thankful I found this garden forum this morning! I have always grown Fortex pole beans for pressure canning. For the first time, we are growing Helda beans that were ordered from Jung seeds because Fortex bean seeds were sold out pretty early. We had some saved Fortex seeds but were hesitant to plant them because they were saved from diseased plants last year. I noticed Helda green beans cook easily and quickly so we are wondering if they will hold up well in pressure canning? Will they turn out mushy? Any feedback on your experience? Thanks in advance!
Helda develops stringy fibers in the beans if they get even slightly mature (meaning beans form in the pods). If you pick them early, they make decent Romano type beans. For other beans that are better for the purpose, Alabama #1 pole bean from Sandhill Preservation is hard to beat. Blue Marbutt is a family selection from Alabama #1 with slightly more blue/purple color. Emerite is a pretty good bean canned. Musica is a romano type that is a bit soft but cans very well and is highly productive. If you want to grow a pole bean for freezing, get Sicitalian Black Swamp bean from Sandhill. Sandhill also has Fortex albeit only 30 or 40 seed in a pack.
Fusion Power, thank you very much for your detailed recommendations. Do you mean that Helda pole beans will be good for canning as long as I pick them early? (I appreciate Sandhill preservation and buy my tomato seeds, summer and winter squash seeds from them.) Again I appreciate your quick response and assistance.
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I have 5 or 6 jars of Helda in the cabinet from last year. As stated, pick them early before they develop internal fibers and they are decent. I also have several jars of Blue Marbutt beans in the cabinet which are my first choice when opening beans to eat. In other words, Helda is ok, but Blue Marbutt is a better flavored and textured bean for canning. Blue Marbutt grown side by side with Alabama #1 from ARS-GRIN is very nearly identical with only a small difference in color.
Yes, as I am finding out now, Helda beans tend to get stringy quickly. We have been growing Fortex and like the productivity but they tend to get rust quickly in our area (West Michigan) I could not find Fortex seeds this year and did not want to order the ones from Sandhill because the description says the strain Sandhill has is problematic. We will definitely try Alabama #1 pole bean from Sandhill next year. This year, I tried Seychelles too and find that I like how they look canned—they retain their green color very well. Again, thanks for your advice including what variety freezes well!