I brag to anybody who will listen: I feel like the Johnny Appleseed of western North Carolina when it comes to rattlesnake green beans.
I started growing them 5 years ago, for the first time ever, here on The Little Half Acre homestead. I’m very pleased with this prolific pole bean. It’s an heirloom variety, so you can save seeds, and they have a very nice flavor and meaty consistency. The beans get their name from their mottled skin. But after cooking they lose that appearance.
I like them so well I knew that everybody else would too, so I started selling them at my farmers market table. I also told everyone I knew about my discovery. I believe you’ll like them too.
Until raising Rattlesnake green beans and experiencing them myself I had never heard of them. None of the area farmers or local people here in the mountains ever heard of them either. They had eaten Corn Field and Mountain Half Runners — just like I had– but never this new variety.
So I told other farmers and homesteaders about them. Now I’ve found that some of my other farmer and homesteader friends have been growing them, and are also selling them at the local farmers markets.
How to prepare them.
I was raised in Kentucky and my parents raised a garden nearly every season. Mom always cooked in the old-timey country fashion, cooking vegetables nearly to mush.
Rattlesnake beans aren’t best when sauteed. They’re best thoroughly cooked (though not to mush). The flavor is so good that I don’t even have to add bacon or any other fat, in the country style, just a bit of salt and minced onion.
I bought my Rattlesnake green bean seeds from Eden Brothers. The germination rate was excellent and the variety is quite prolific. They like direct sunlight. I grow mine on cattle panels. If you buy late in the season they may be scarce, but you can hit “Notify me” on the product page and get a notification email when the seeds come in.
(Note: I’m an affiliate of Eden Brothers. If you visit their site from my link and decide to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. However I’ve used this product and can unconditionally recommend it. Thanks!)
