*these seeds are easy to germinate if you follow our tips! Nick a little piece of the orange seed coat off with nail clippers but careful not to injure the embryo inside. Soak overnight and plant the next day. Seeds are very hard and resistant to germination without this step!*

This is a really unique bean, a new one to us that we'd been waiting to try for a long time. She didn't disappoint! This cool bean from New Guinea is a 4-sided ruffled bean that is quite large and definitely something folks will stop to look at in your garden! Referred to as "asparagus bean" because its supposedly similar to asparagus, which is a novelty in Florida because it's such a challenge to grow. Although some gardeners are not fans of the flavor, others say it's their favorite legume ever!! This tropical perennial is entirely edible from root to pod. The tuberous root is eaten as a starch cooked or raw, its leaves are eaten like spinach, the flowers are sweet and edible, and the bean is edible raw or cooked as a green pod, or cooked as a shelled bean.

Local seed saver Eugene Fueyo grew these and gave us the seed that we're offering. He grew it from seed purchased from Baker Creek where it was called "Urizun Japanese Winged Bean" Here is what he had to share with us:

"Day length neutral and the pods, seeds, leaves, and tuberous root are all edible. It did great in the horrible soil (but full sun and decent moisture and I did inoculate them) I had direct planted them and they produced tons through the worst of summer heat and rain. Grew about 8-10 ft long with multiple vines per root. Pest were limited to ants trying to eat the pods in the late season, but they only made aesthetic damage. Hummingbirds and bees were all over the beautiful blue flowers. The sprouting was erratic and I had read somewhere that presoaking the seeds was not a good idea after I had planted some that way. Most sprouted for me eventually whether I presoaked or not."