Rufus

This bean came labeled as a multicoloured dry, tepary bean from the southern desert with great drought resistance. Over the years of growing it out, it stills showed great resistance to dry conditions but the colour changed to all red beans within a few seasons. It is now so obviously different from any known variant of a tepary  bean it has been reclassified as Phaseolus vulgaris and renamed after our late beloved standard poodle.

Rufus the dog originally came to guard the fields and scare critters out of the garden.  Rufus was scared of confrontation and his shadow, but ended up fulfilling a role as loveable living companion and protecting our growing kids.  Guarding against loneliness and the cruelty of the human world was his true mission. A great red bush bean now named after a great red dog.

Rufus, the red bean, matures early, does not shatter in the field, but is easy to shell after harvest. Easy to grow with little effort and an abundant yield of beautiful red beans.

In the words of Michael Franti , “Red beans and rice I could eat a plate twice”. When you grow Rufus in your garden, you can eat these red beans all the time and experience a little bit of love in every bite.