I sent the original Sicitalian Black Swamp beans to Glenn a couple of years ago. There is an interesting story that goes with them. They were given to a friend in CT by an elderly Italian gentleman who had grown them here in the U.S. for several years. He told a story of being given the beans while still in Italy by a friend who subsequently passed away. He put a handful of the beans into the casket as a going away memento.

I got the beans in about 2011 but was not able to grow them that year. I tried to grow them the next year, but germination was zero. I thought I had lost the start so contacted the guy I got them from in CT and he tried with his stored seed. He also got zero germination. I took the remaining seed and planted with the old seed start protocol that has been described here in the past and got quite a few plants though many of them had necrotic spots on the cotyledons. When they were ready, I planted them in the garden and took good care of them. They produced an abundant crop which I then shared with Glenn.

So how did they get the name "Sicitalian Black Swamp beans"? The friend who gave them to me goes by the name Swamper here and elsewhere. He said they were not named and were some beans a friend had gotten from Sicily. So I named them Sicitalian Black Swamp beans because it fit all that I knew of them. They are very vigorous and productive beans best eaten as shellies. They are exceptionally good for freezing as snaps holding their shape and flavor very well.