"Tavera" French Filet Beans
(Phaseolus vulgaris)
The
French cannot resist tinkering with filet beans and no one does it
better. This introduces "Tavera", a new filet type that is making the
rounds in Parisian markets.
Tavera is a "tres fin" type meaning it is very slender and quite straight. It has enormous yields and reportedly it is resistant to the typical pests and plagues. Tavera is not, however, without its demands upon the gardener. Like other filet beans it needs to be picked frequently and it likes to be watered "just so." After all it is French.
Despite its modern and commercial origins this is one bean with much to recommend it. I've grown several heirloom filets and I find Tavera to be their equal in taste and texture if properly grown. The qualifying phrase "if properly grown" is its own tale. Very few filet beans are properly grown and harvested. The perfect stage for harvesting a filet bean is a narrow window of time, perhaps only a day or two in the heat of summer. Vigilance, a sharp eye and lots of handwork are needed to gather a basket of perfect filet beans.
My experience with Tavera is only one season deep. After my crop of heirloom Fin de Bagnol filet beans sucummed to a late frost I vowed to "modernize" my last twenty feet of beans. So I committed heirloom heresy and planted Tavera. It's a keeper.
These Tavera filet beans were grown organically in my garden in the Valley of the Moon.
C Lindquist
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