Karenni Purple Bean

Karenni Purple Bean is a purple bush shelling field pea. Karenni farmers from Burma shell this field pea for a fresh bean, often cooked in soup with squash leaves and fresh long beans. This freshly shelled bean can made into fritters by blending the beans with flour then formed into balls and deep fried. The beans can also be steamed then smashed and fried with meat.

This variety is stewarded by Rosa Meh, a leader of Karenni Hope Farm, a community farm at Providence Farm Collective outside of Buffalo, NY. Rosa grows Karenni chilies and specialty beans for local grocers in Buffalo and is beginning to sell seeds in 2024.

Days to maturity: 60-65

Seeds per pack: 35-40

Germination rate: 87% on 02/05/2024

Planting / harvesting notes

Direct sow southern peas safely after frost, any time between late May and mid-July. Full sun, plenty of room and airflow. Thin to 2-4" in row, but give at least 12" between rows. Harvest leaves for cooking when still young and tender! More leaves will follow.

Seed keeping notes

Southern peas are self-pollinating, though it is best to isolate different varieties of V. unguiculata (including black-eyed peas, southern peas, field peas, cowpeas, and long beans) at least 20 feet, if not much farther to avoid unwanted cross-pollination. At our farm, we give them a hundred feet of isolation between different varieties. Allow pods to dry fully into a brown crispy state. This is when they are ready to harvest for seed. If necessary, lay them out to dry a little longer in their pods.

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