Round Valley (Covelo) Bush Bean
This rare heirloom comes from the Round Valley in Northern California, where summer temperatures are often over 100 degrees. It is the most heat-tolerant bean we carry. It is popular in the Round Valley as a dry bean, and makes wonderful soup. Alsocan be used as a green snap bean, like a bush Romano. It has a bush habit and makes a heavy set of flat, 6" pods.
This is one of the very few Native American heirloom beans from the Pacific coast.The University of California has been unable to match it with any other known bean. It's also called the Covelo Reservation Bean, or Covelo Settler's Bean. Covelo is the only town in the Round Valley. It is now home of the Round Valley Tribes, descendants of the Yuki, Concow Maidu, Pomo, Nomlaki, Cahto, Wailake, and Pit River peoples who were forced from their homelands onto the reservation in the 1860's. It is likely that this bean was bred by them to cope with the local conditions of extreme summer heat, from beans grown by the settlers nearby. It has become extremely rare, and Mendocino County seed librarian Pat Sobrero has worked to make it locally available again. We are honored to provide the seed for that rematriation project, and to carry this historic bean.