'Alice Sunshine' Dual-Purpose Bean

Phaseolus vulgaris

Origin: Paynesville, Minnesota

Improvement status: Cultivar

Seeds per packet: ~35

Germination tested 10/2024: 91%

Life cycle: Annual

This is a wonderful dual-use short-season bean bred by the late great bean breeder Robert Lobitz of Paynesville, Minnesota (who also bred the beloved 'Koronis Purple' bean, among many others). Tasty six-inch snap beans start to appear roughly 50 days after planting, and dry beans about a month later. This is a productive bush bean that grows to about 20" tall without the need for a trellis. The flowers are white. The beans themselves are very striking in appearance, with a golden-orange splotch and scattered dots on a cream-colored base. Dusty grew these beans in Milaca, Minnesota — proudly bringing this great local bean back to the Gopher State!

GROWING TIPS: Direct seed after danger of last frost, probably early to mid-May, or as late as early to mid-June. Rows could be a 12-16 inches apart, plants could be 5-8 inches apart. Eat the green beans. Harvest dry beans in waves as pods dry, or pull entire plants when most of the pods are dry, all the while watching the amount of rainfall as heavy rains can mess with drying pods.