Porotos Granados - A Seed Story and Recipe

 

This is a Seed Story with a recipe for Chilean Shell Bean Soup (to skip to the recipe please scroll down).

Seed Stories

The importance of a seed's ancestry and its journey parallels that of humanity, and increasingly we'd like to recapture the meaning and significance of our ancestral and heritage foods. I believe this is because seeds are the carriers of our cultures- they offer the comfort and spiritual nourishment we are often lacking. The beloved vegetables, grains and fruit of our people, whether we are immigrants, or from a certain region in the US, or Native American, these are precious parts of our cultural and ethnic wellbeing. 

The stories of our seeds are important in honoring our origins and worthy of safekeeping. 

The shell beans are green and tender

Porotos Granados - My Seed Story

Porotos granados is a very popular dish in my home country of Chile. Poroto is the word for bean, and granado means shelled. It's also the name for the bean used to make this stew-like summer food.

Although I was born in Chile, my family immigrated to California when my brother and I were very young. While we were growing up we recall hearing our parents talk lovingly and longingly (a lot!) about a Chilean dish called porotos granados,  It was only as an adult that I realized they were referring to a type of dish made with shell beans, which is the literal translation of ‘porotos granados’. This thick soup is a popular summer dish made with fresh corn, shell beans and winter squash, flavored with sweet basil and paprika. They are also used as a dry bean. 

The porotos granados seeds were sent to me by a generous gardener I met at the 2014 Annual Seed Savers Exchange Conference and Harvest, at Heritage Farm in Decorah Iowa. We sat down to lunch together at the conference to chat about gardening. As we chatted she told me she was going to Chile in a few months to work at a lodge with a chef (Mapuyampay Lodge Gastronomico, near Curicó). She wanted to experience working in the organic garden there, and to cook with the chef, Ruth Van Waerebeek, author of the book I have at home on Chilean food (The Chilean Kitchen). I was impressed by this serendipity! So I told her I would absolutely love to have seeds from the traditional foods, especially corn, beans and squash. In 2017 I received a stash of seeds from her collected from the garden at Mapuyampay. I am extremely grateful that she took the time and care to send them to me. 

The striking red color of the pods

The beans look very similar to the cranberry bean seen in our farmer’s markets in California (sold as shelling beans). They also resemble the Tongue of Fire bean, said to be from Tierra Del Fuego, and could very well be the ancestor of the Italian cranberry bean as it migrated to Europe with the colonists. I did find a reference in a catalog for the traditional seeds of Chile, that the poroto granado is "reputed to be from Araucania" which is central & southern Chile, and unceded Mapuche lands (People of the Earth, or Land).

The dried beans are also used in cooking

Porotos Granados with paprika oil

Porotos Granados Recipe

The following recipes were modified from the book by Ruth Van Waerebeek, The Chilean Kitchen. Used copies can be found on the internet.

Ingredients  

Olive oil, or other vegetable oil 

1 medium yellow onion diced 

1 clove of minced garlic 

Salt, paprika, pepper to taste 

2 ½ to 3 lb of porotos granados (or cranberry beans) in pods (at the shelling bean stage) 

2 fresh sweet corn cobs (about 2 cups of cut kernels) 

1/2 lb of winter, orange fleshed squash (called zapallo comote in Chile) 

8 sweet basil leaves or to taste

Method

Prepare the vegetables: shell the beans from their pods, cut the corn from the cobs, wash and chop the squash into medium-sized cubes. 

In a large pot, add enough water to cover the beans and chopped squash, add a little salt and about 4 basil leaves. Cook over medium heat for about 20-30 minutes. 

Sauté the garlic and onion in the oil (don’t burn) until translucent and soft; add 3-4 chopped basil leaves and the spices, stir and sauté for a few more minutes. Add to the beans when done cooking. 

Puree ½ to ¾ of the cut corn in a blender. Add the cut corn and corn from the blender to the pot of beans (when beans are done), stir well, and cook for about 5-10 more minutes. The soup should be thick, and not too soupy- but add water if needed during cooking to thin it. 

Serve with chopped basil on top, and if desired, drizzle “color chileana” on the soup (see recipe below). 

Color Chileana or Paprika Oil (Color is pronounced as in Spanish, có lor, slight accent at the front end) 

¼ cup oil or lard 

1 clove garlic, crushed 

½ tablespoon of sweet (or smoked paprika is nice too) 

Heat the lard or oil in a small pan, add the crushed garlic and sauté gently for about one minute (don’t burn). Discard the garlic, remove pan from heat and stir in the paprika. 

 *Chilean food is fairly bland- so we sauteéd some ají verde with the onions for some mild heat, or you can add some smoked chipotle powder!*

Enjoy!

                                                                                        Photos: Patricia Larenas, Urban Artichoke

The Beans of Summer: Rancho Gordo Bean Buddies

Besides growing my usual must-haves, which are snap beans such as Emerite, Royal Burgundy, and runner beans to dry for winter cooking, I grew beans sent to me through Rancho Gordo's Bean Buddies project to trial in my garden this summer. Rancho Gordo initiated this project with gardeners in order to get feedback on the germination, growth, and eating qualities of selected beans.

Shown in the photo above, the seeds I received were: Rattlesnake, Madeira, Jackson Wonder (a lima) and Florida Butter.
I planted all of them, and all grew except the Florida Butter beans (I think I planted too early - not warm enough?).

My summer garden is waning now and I'm collecting all the beans seeds that I can. Since I received very few seeds I figured I would expand them to plant next year and then test them in the kitchen. My dried seeds are in the photo below. I only grew two Madeira bean plants. I had five seeds that survived the shipping, and planted three. I like to keep a couple of beans to compare my own dried seeds with.

Madeira beans have pretty cranberry swirls and the same rosy color on the pod; I'll bet it's a tasty variety for cooking.

Madeira bean pods look like Cranberry bean pods

  
I didn't eat any of the Jackson Wonder either as I had only a few plants. This one is a bush lima with lovely seeds; I'll save these and also do an expanded planting next summer.

Dried beans clockwise from left: Jackson Wonder, Rattlesnake, Madeira

Rattlesnake Beans

The Rattlesnake beans are fantastic - wow. I ate a few as snap beans, but I saved most of the harvest for seeds. They have great rich flavor as a snap bean and are incredibly tender. They do have a bit of a string, unlike the beans I usually grow to eat fresh, such as Emerite. But they're so good it's worth bothering with the string. I won't have enough to  eat as dry beans, but perhaps next season!

Rattlesnake beans are mottled with purple

The Bean Buddies project is a generous undertaking by the folks at Rancho Gordo. I loved getting a selection of beans in the mail; it was like getting a special present.  I've never grown any of these before so it was a nice addition to my summer garden and I'm thrilled to discover new beans to grow and enjoy.

My backyard garden beds with bean teepees and a trellis of Rattlesnake beans

Photos: Patricia Larenas

Genuine Heirlooms are Seeds with Stories

 Genuinely heirloom seeds are seeds with stories. They were passed down through generations of families and communities. Typically, they traveled long distances with immigrants to new lands as cherished food plants. These traditional sources of food were a comfort, and beyond that, a necessity. In our urban supermarket and fast-food culture it’s easy to forget that at one time families relied on what they could grow, and the crops they grew were a rainbow of diversity.

What happens to these unique varieties of edibles when there is no one to grow them and pass seeds on to the next generation? Extinction. 

Many have already been lost, but there are heroic efforts underway to save as many as possible, along with their stories.

A Cucumber Lost, Then Found

For example, I love the story of the Collier Cucumber, named after a family who began growing it in about 1910, after being given seeds by traveling gypsies. Seed sleuth Sara Straate, was able to collect information through interviews with the Collier children. Straate, who is a Seed Historian with Seed Savers Exchange (SSE), learned that in the 1950’s the parents had planted all of the seeds they had. As fate (and weather) would have it, the entire crop failed. The family was crushed to have lost this much-loved cucumber, which they ate fresh and pickled.

Remarkably, a single plant came up the next year from a seed that survived in the ground. The father diligently protected it and was able to save the variety. 

Saving Stories Through the CORE Project

Through an ambitious project called CORE, the Collection Origins Research Effort, Seed Savers Exchange (SSE), the largest seed saving organization in the United States, is gathering, verifying, and filling in the gaps in the stories behind the thousands of heirloom seeds that they are entrusted with safekeeping.  Many of the seeds they have received are accompanied by background information, but it is often incomplete or consists of letters that are difficult to decipher. It’s Straate’s job to follow up on any gaps or inconsistencies in their records and attempt to reconnect with donors who have ties to and memories of these seeds. 

'Grandma Stout's Speckled’ lima

A Beautiful Speckled Lima Gets Its Name Back

Sometimes the historical information on file is handwritten and leads to misinterpretation. SSE has in their collection a 'Grandma Storrt's Speckled’ lima. This is a lima bean that SSE received as a donation in 1989 from a 70 year-old woman in California who was afraid it would be lost (it wasn’t growing well there). The lima had been cultivated by her family in Missouri since the 1800’s.  It had been a reliable and hardy source of food, even when all else dried up in the garden.  Misinterpretation of her letter led to the name Storrt's.  Straate was able to confirm that the proper name is 'Grandma Stout's Speckled’ lima by recruiting the help of the Historical Society in Johnson County, Missouri, to aid in tracing the family.

 

As Straate tells it in an Email message:

“Not only did the historical society correct the name of the lima bean itself, but their research helped identify the family members who had been stewards of the lima for over 120 years.”

'Three Heart' lettuce was brought to the USA in the 1880s

'Three Heart' Lettuce Lives On

My own fascination with growing and eating heirlooms led me to join SSE’s Member Grower Evaluation Network (M-GEN). I’m currently growing ‘Three Heart’ lettuce to provide cultivation data to the organization, which relies on member participation. I admit that it appeals to my romantic nature, and as a gardener, the opportunity to grow a rare, special variety is too enticing to pass up.

 I found the story of “my” lettuce poignant: 

“Three Heart’ was donated to Seed Savers Exchange in 2005 by Steve and Anna Marie Stoller of Indiana. In communication with SSE, Steve tells the story of how he received seeds of ‘Three Heart’ in 2003 from Amelia Scharlach Schini, a resident of a local nursing home.  Amelia indicated a family member brought ‘Three Heart’ with them when they immigrated to the United States from Alsace-Lorraine (Germany/Switzerland) in the 1880s. “

‘Three Heart’ is still grown today by a few members of the older generation of the Apostolic Christian Church, a small denomination of under 100 congregations worldwide".

SSE has long recognized that the stories that accompany these seeds are precious historical gems, as well as important for understanding the food plants themselves (cultivation requirements, uses, etc.). SSE co-founder Diane Ott Whealey chronicles this in her engaging book Gathering, the story of how she and her husband safeguarded not only heirloom seeds, but the accompanying tales that came with them. It’s been over 35 years since the founding of the organization and the collection now numbers in the thousands. 

Straate will be busy for a very, very long time.

The expected outcomes of CORE are:

1. Improved quality of information associated with each variety in the collection, enabling better utilization of its biological   and historical value.

2. An enhanced understanding of the practice of seed saving, including its cultural, familial, and agricultural implications.

3. Identification of varieties most in need of preservation and promotion.

For more information about the CORE Project click here. 

 This post was also published on Eat Drink Better.

Photo credits: 

Four Runner Beans by Patricia Larenas

Grandma Stout’s Speckled Lima courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange.

Three Heart Lettuce by Patricia Larenas

Edible Landscaping: Growing and Transplanting Seedlings

So you’ve started your seeds indoors to get a jump on spring, and like magic they are beginning to grow. Now you’ve got seedlings. The excitement of having grown your own starts for your vegetable garden can turn into panic if it is still too cold to plant them in the garden. Here are my tips and "how tos" for managing seedlings for your edible landscape.

What is too cold?

It’s still too early to plant warm season vegetables into your garden if:

1. Frost is still a possibility in your area (check for the last expected frost date).

2. Nighttime temperatures are still below 50° F.

3. The ground hasn’t warmed up enough.

Growing Your Seedlings

The young seedlings will grow fast indoors and if you don’t give them the right conditions they’ll become weak and spindly. If you plant them in this condition they’ll under-perform and it will be disappointing.

As I wrote in my How to Grow From Seeds post, to raise strong seedlings you need to meet three basic requirements in addition to moisture: light, nutrients and temperature.

Seedlings in my backyard cold frame

Light:

Once the seeds start to grow they'll need either direct sunlight, or exposure to lights indoors. Your options are to hang lights over the seedlings if they’re indoors (12 hours daily), or to move them outside into a cold frame in the sun. The cold frame works well if outside temperatures are at least 40° F. If nighttime temperatures are too cold, bring them back inside for the night.

Nutrients:

Feed the young plants with liquid fertilizer.  I use an organic dry fertilizer mix, such as Dr. Earth.  Soak it overnight in water (read the directions- it will be about 1 cup dry fertilizer to a gallon of water). Then use the liquid half strength to feed your plants weekly, and put the solids into your garden bed. You can also use a cup of mature compost from your compost pile to make a compost tea. Put the compost into a piece of cheese cloth to make a big tea bag and soak it for about fours days before you use it. It may not be as nutrient-rich as the fertilizer mix, but it’s good for the seedlings (remember: fertilizer is not necessary until the leaves begin to grow).

Temperature:

Protect from frost and temperatures below 50° F for warm season vegetables. I germinate seeds indoors, then keep the seedlings out in my backyard cold frame. I remove the cold frame lids on sunny days so it doesn’t get too warm, and close it up at night. Warm season veggies include: tomatoes, beans, squash, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplant. Spinach, lettuce, chard, kale, peas broccoli and cauliflower,

are all cool season veggies and have some degree of resistance to frost and prefer cool temperatures.

Transplanting Seedlings Into Containers

If your seedlings are in a flat, or getting crowded in their containers, transplant them individually into six packs or small pots to give them a chance to develop a healthy root system while you wait for the season to warm up.

Handle the seedling carefully to avoid damaging the roots or stem

1. Plant seedlings into damp potting soil (it has good drainage). Alternatively, a friend of mine uses his own mature compost and this seems to work.

2. Make sure your seedlings are in damp soil before you transfer them to the new pots.

3. Handle the seedlings by the leaves- avoid damaging the delicate stem or roots. Gently tease apart tangled roots and plant immediately.

4. Water well after transplanting and begin using liquid fertilizer.

For small seedlings, make a hole in the potting soil with a chopstick then gently push the root inside

Last but not least, after growing your plants indoors remember to acclimate them first before you plant them into the garden. Do this by bringing them out during the day to expose them gradually to direct sunlight (in a protected porch or cold frame) then bring them back inside for the night for about a week. This is called “hardening off”. It toughens them up for the outdoors.

Newly potted seedlings with room to grow

Enjoy nurturing your seedlings and watching them grow. You'll have the pleasure of starting your edible garden with the vegetable varieties you really want instead of having to grow whatever is available. But best of all, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you can grow your own food from start to finish.

Photos: Urban Artichoke

How to Grow From Seed

Butterhead lettuce and Dwarf Gray Sugar Peas transplanted into the garden from my cold frame

Growing vegetables from seed for your edible garden is a lot of fun and not hard to do if you keep in mind a few basics. Why go through the effort? There are lots of reasons, but my top reason is that I enjoy it: seeds are beautiful and mysterious and I love the process of nurturing them through their stages of growth. Second, I can grow heirlooms that are only available as seed, third, I can grow a larger quantity of plants economically, and in waves through the season.

It’s magical to propagate your favorite seeds successfully for generations! I hope you'll give it a try...

Purple of Romagna Artichoke seedliings watched over by a deity

Sowing Seeds in Flats Versus Direct Seeding

There are a couple of practical reasons for sowing seeds in flats or pots before putting them directly in the ground: you can start them earlier indoors so that they have a head-start by the time it’s warm enough that they can be planted outdoors (tomatoes, squash, cucumber- the summer heat loving vegetables) and better survivability.  When I sow seeds directly in the garden they have a bigger chance of drying out or getting munched on by critters.

How to Start

If you are new to growing from seed, I recommend starting with two or three vegetables or flowers to get a feel for it so you aren’t overwhelmed. Once the seeds begin to germinate you can’t forget about them- if they dry out they’ll die, and you’ll need to start over. Most seeds take about 7 to 10 days to germinate, and some take longer. It helps if they are indoors where you’ll be reminded to check them. As the season warms up you can keep your newly sown flats or pots outdoors.

Basic seed sowing equipment, including my saved seeds on the right

Basic Equipment

Potting soil (you can mix your own, but I found it’s easier to buy a big bag, premixed).

Labels, pencil, pen, or marker.

Flats or small pots, reused six-packs from buying seedlings (or other containers, such as waxed paper cups- but these need drainage holes).

Bucket or plastic container for mixing soil with water.

Spray bottle for water.

Seeds (there are several reputable organic suppliers ).

Sowing Basics

Moisten your potting soil first, then fill the planting containers

Fill the Containers

Tip: I use a bucket to mix the potting soil with water to just get it damp before filling the potting containers. It’s much easier to start with damp soil than to try and water it thoroughly once you’ve planted your seeds- trust me!

Fill the containers and lightly firm the soil (soil should be about ½ inch from the top of the container).

A comparison of sizes: squash, cucumber and lettuce seeds

Seed Size and Planting Depth

As you would guess, the sizes of seeds vary enormously from tiny lettuce or poppy seeds, to squash and bean seeds. Follow the instructions on the seed packet for the best chance of success.

Here are some general guidelines:

How deep to plant? For most seeds, plant as deep as the seed is wide (the width of the seed, not the length). So if a squash seed is ½ inch wide, it should be covered with ½ inch of soil. It is better to plant too shallow than too deep. When the seed germinates (sprouts) the embryo has just enough stored food to start poking out of the surface of the soil, and begin developing the leaves for photosynthesis, which will take over for food production. If it’s buried too deep it won’t make it to the surface. This is also why seeds don’t need fertilizer until they begin developing leaves.

Small Seeds

For tiny seeds such as lettuce, sprinkle the seeds on the surface (a flat is great for this) then cover with a sprinkle of soil. Spray the surface down with a water in a spray bottle. Next, I cover the flat with one layer of newspaper, perlite, or a fabric called a floating row cover. The idea is to keep the soil moist but to let light in until the seeds sprout, then remove the cover.

Set the containers near a sunny window indoors in a warm spot. Don't forget to label them.

Flats covered with a layer of perlite sitting in my cold frame for protection from frost

Let There Be Light

Once the seeds start to grow they'll need 4 to 6 hours of light daily. For strong seedlings move them outdoors if the temperature permits (after your last expected frost date). Alternatives are to move them into a cold frame, or keep them inside under grow lights, available from your nursery or garden supply center. Otherwise you'll have spindly weak seedlings.

Transplanting Your Seedlings

For most seedlings, wait until the second pair of leaves form. If your seedlings are in a flat, transplant them to six packs or small pots to give them a chance to develop a healthy root system before planting out in the garden. When they're ready to move outside, keep them in a protected area (a covered porch, etc.) for a few days so that they can adjust to outside temperatures before planting in the garden.

Remember:

1. Once the seeds are wet, don’t let them dry out- this is critical. Aim for even moisture when the seeds are germinating and have sprouted, but don’t let them sit soggy or they may rot (need adequate drainage).

2. Feeding the seedlings: fertilizer is not necessary until the leaves begin to grow. If you are going to transfer the seedling to a larger pot for more growth, you’ll need to give it nutrients.

For liquid fertilizer:  use an organic dry fertilizer mix, such as, Dr. Earth, soak overnight in water (read the label- some are about 1 cup dry fertilizer to a gallon of water).  You can also use a cup of mature compost from your compost pile to make a compost tea- this should soak about fours days before you use it. It won’t be as nutrient-rich as the fertilizer mix, but it’s good for the seedlings in a pinch.

Now for the hard part: choosing just a few to grow from hundreds of possibilities!

Got a favorite heirloom to grow? I'd love to know, really.

 Photos: Urban Artichoke

Published on Eat Drink Better