Phaseolus vulgaris
Origin: Gradoli, Acquapendente & Onano, Italy
Improvement status: Cultivar
Seeds per packet: ~35
Germination tested 01/2026: 96%
Life cycle: Annual
Known in English as "Purgatory Beans" these little round white Italian bush beans are said to date back to the Etruscans! Of course, common beans didn't arrive in Italy until after the European colonization of the Americas, but the legend testifies to the level of meaning with which these beans are imbued. More likely, this bean perhaps dates as far back as the 1600s in Italy, which is when the practice of holding an Ash Wednesday celebration called "Pranzo del Purgatorio", or Purgatory Lunch, is said to have begun in the town of Gradoli. It's possible that Etruscans were growing their own small white beans, but those would have been African peas (a.k.a. cowpeas), which have been grown in the Mediterranean region for a long time. Perhaps a pea like the Southern US varieties called "cream peas" was gradually replaced by these beans, but of course we'll likely never know. Nevertheless, these thin-skinned, delicate beans have woven themselves into the fabric of life in Gradoli and the nearby towns Acquapendente and Onano, in the northern reaches of the province of Lazio (of which Rome is the biggest city), near the border with Tuscany (which counts Florence as its biggest).
That Purgatory Lunch features the beans boiled and seasoned with nothing more than salt, pepper, and local extra virgin olive oil. The thin skin of these beans allows them to be boiled in about an hour with no soaking necessary. Other common dishes include pasta e fagioli (pasta and bean soup) and a soup of these beans with garlic, sage, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and olive oil. The region that's home to these beans is just north of large lake called Lago di Bolsena, and these beans are also often baked and served as an accompaniment to lake fish.
These seeds come from our friend Hank Keogh of Avoca Seed Farm near Corvallis, Oregon
GROWING TIPS: Direct sow once soil begins to warm in the spring (when you might plant sweetcorn). This is a semi-twining bush type bean, so it needs no trellis. Space plants 8-12 inches apart.
