Turkey Craw Pole Bean | Appalachian Heirloom | Snap and Dry Favorite

Turkey Craw is celebrated across the American South as a premier workhorse bean that feeds the family all season long and keeps the winter pantry well-stocked.

• Dual-Purpose Culinary Marvel: Harvested young, the straight, fleshy 6-inch pods are tender, succulent, and stringless, making fantastic fresh snap beans. Allowed to fully mature and dry on the vine (80–100 days), the pods shell out to reveal stunning, plump brown seeds marbled with delicate tan flecks and distinctive brown eye rings.
• Rich, Full-Bodied Flavor: As a snap bean, it delivers a tender, sweet, old-fashioned green bean flavor. As a dry baking bean, it cooks down into a creamy, savory soup and chili bean with rich, velvety broth.
• Ideal for Preservation: Renowned among homesteaders for its preserving qualities, Turkey Craw holds its firm texture and deep flavor exceptionally well when pressure-canned, blanched and frozen, or stored dry in mason jars.
• Vigorous Pole Habit: The strong, high-climbing vines easily scale trellises and poles, producing heavy clusters of pods from midsummer right up until frost.

"Turkey Craw represents the very best of heirloom seed-saving. Beyond the incredible folklore of being found in a wild turkey's craw, it is simply one of the most dependable and delicious pole beans you can grow. The vines climb vigorously and hang thick with tender, stringless pods, and shelling the dry beans at the end of the season to reveal those speckled, patterned seeds is like opening a small treasure chest in the garden."

• Sowing: Direct sow outdoors 1 inch deep in warm, well-draining garden soil in full sun after all danger of frost has passed and soil temperatures reach at least 65°F.
• Support: As an active climbing pole bean, plants require a sturdy trellis, bean teepee, or cattle panel support standing 6 to 8 feet tall. Plant 4–6 seeds around each pole, or space seeds 3–4 inches apart along a trellis line.
• Harvesting: For tender snap beans, pick regularly when the 6-inch pods are smooth and tender. For dry beans, allow the pods to turn dry, brittle, and papery on the vine in autumn before shelling and storing the speckled seeds in an airtight container.